The Romance of Engines - Takashi Suzuki Cap1-3-Red

Chapter I

Why Was the Englne Needed? The needsfor human happiness and water for Versailles result in tite need for an invention.

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Water Keeper Christiaan Huygens' Idea Accordi ng 10 th e historical rccords(l·I), me first long-distance automobile trip, Ihat ¡s, Ihe grand touriog, was mude by Madum Berthu Beoz, wife of Gcrman enginccr and inventor Kurl Benz, and her two ehildren. The secooo long-distanee driving trip was mude by Armand Peugcot, who foundcd Ihe Pcugeot MOlor Company. Peugeot traveled me Paris-Bresl-Paris route. If a travele r were ridin g on an express lrain from Bres! to París. he would see on the left side of Ihe lrack, appro1t imalely 20 minules 10 Ihe Montparnasse train station in pans. Ihe famou s Palaee of Versailles. The Palace of Versailles was con verted by King Louis XN from a royal hunting lodgc 10 the premier palaee of Ihe Westem world_The palaee and lIS auxiliary build¡ngs 100k 21 ycars to complele, from 166710 1688. The 425-meter-loog muio building was lurge enough 10 entertain 10,000 guesls and was DOled for lIs lavish fumiture aOO innovativc architccture (sec Photo 1-1). The palacc grounds wcre exlensive. A mlle-long canal was dug al !he fronl of the building. permitting boaters 10 leisuTely sip a glass of aperitifbefore a glorious dinner. The formal gardeos of Versailles were Ihe pride of Louis XIV aod eomplemenled Ihe splendor of Ihe palace wilh a beau!y Ihat was admired by all me royalty of Europe. Broad aveoues were lined with sy mmetrical plantings of trees. Hedges were planted in elabornle e mbroldercd pallems, and founlains spewed jels of water into pools (see Photo 1-2). Flowers and bushes were arranged in pallems of vibrant eolors_

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Th~

HOm(Jnu 01 EngintS

I'hOIO , -, Vusai/les P% u (166710 1688}: From ¡he unru af /he mDi" buildi"g /O Ihtl sOlllh ..,ing.

PlwlO /-1 Vtrsaiflu Polou: Vitwing mi/t-/DlIB conallor hotIDrro gutsufrom LnIOfltl Founrai" (¡ht garden olont luu mortl 1M" ItI" 1u.rllriousfounloinsJ.

Allhou gh lhe gardens were designe'dy).

beco poslul ated by Huygens with his earlier engine. In this version, however, gunpowder had bcen replaced by sleam as the powerin g force.

Young Man Potta's Tenacious Spirit In Newcomen's engine, aClua¡ing Ihe val ve, shuuin g off Ihe Sleam, and spraying Ihe water had 10 be done fo r each pumping stroke. Since Ihese pans of Ihe cycle had lO be perfarmed manually, an aucndant was hired 10 carry out this functi on. Dne of (he first men hired 10 monitor ¡he condensation cycle was Humphrey Potla. This young man is credited with having aut omated so rne of mese laborious procedures lO simplify operation of the engi ne. After extensive trial and error. he had the waler flowing inlo Ihe cylinder on Ihe 10p of me piston. This water fl ow also cooled the lealher seal on Ihe piston. Potta also atlached a dasp and a strap to a lever, which opcned and c\osed the val ve. The Newco men engine was the fi rst steam engine that co uld successfu lly pump me ground wate r from flooded mine shafts. 1ñe removal of Ihis obstaele allowed the sinking of deepe r shafts 10 mine coal seams Ihat prcviously would have becn unworkable. The Newcomen engine spread rapidly among

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ChaplU 2

Boam

Pislan

Water pipe

l Ilon boiler usad lor making "':'''"'

Tha laboring MI. Pana Fig. 2-1 NelllCQnretl t tlgine ( 1712); The t tlgine lilas complelt d lhanb 10 Ihe Polla pro{'(lsal.

the British mining di stricts, greatly expanding the production of coa!. This engine removed one of!he great bottlenecks restraining me economic growth

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Tht Romance 01 Engints

Phoro 2-2 Pis/orl Qua ol/he Ntwcomtn tngint (Mun ich. German muuum).

of England. As a result, the industrial revolution exploded in England. Thus.

PaUa 's tenacious spirit served as Ihe trigger for the industrial change in England and subsequently Ihe world.

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Chapter 3

The Watt Stearn Englne Grew from a Model Steam Englne A new engine is created as a result o//ailure analysis.

An Indispensable Problem-Solving Technique In 1763, a model of the Newcomen sleam engine thal had been used as a leaehing 1001 al Ihe Univer.lily of Glasgow slopped working. Sinee James Wan was the inslrumenl maker al me UniversilY, he was askcd 10 repair tbe engine. Wau's work wim this engine is me reason mal his engi ne appears 10 be so similar 10 Ihe Newcomen engine. \Vall, ralher than Newcomen, is rcc· og nized a s the inventor of Ihe modem Sleam engine bccause his steam engine was the forerunner of Ihe engines Ihal utilize the pressure of steam ilself, unlike an atmospheric cnginc, as detailed later. \Van began a syslemalic e¡¡a minalion lo determine why the Newcomen engine model failed to operatc satisfactorily, cven though it was made 00 almosl the same scale as thal of a full-size engine. In modem lerminology, his approaeh lo lacale the problem can be called a failure analysis. In erreet, fai!ure analysis mea ns that if ¡he maehine has broken down or has been damaged, ¡hen the investigator muSI systematieal1y determine the cause of lhe problem. Then he musI study Ihe proble m in a logical manner lo providc a solulion. Eve n Ihough these problem-solvi ng techniques may nOI have been called failure analysis over ¡he years, it has becn ane of the most importanl aspt!Cts of improving and developing me engi nc .

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Chaptt r 3

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Watl's Idea for Bis New Engine Carne from the Newcomen Engine When WaU began repairing Ihe Newcomen model engine al the University of Glasgow, he feh Ihat Ihe engine produced an insufficient volume of steam in view of lhe amount of heal put into the engine. Today, we know Ihat the cylinder wall of the Newcomen engine model may have been 100 Ihick, requiring excessive steam to raise the lemperature of the cylinder and then an excessive amount of water 10 cool the cylinder. Watt heated and cooled the engine for several cycles, finally detennining Ihe exUCI volume of steam required 10 operate Ihe machine. During lhis process, Watt uncovered a contradictory point in the Newcomen engine in thal a large amount of water was requíred to coollhe healed cylinder, and in !he neXI cycle, Ihe cylinder had 10 be healed agaín by a large amount of steam. To reduee his need for so much water and Sleam, WaU added to the eogine a separale chamber for condensing steam, thal is, a condenser. Further, he Ihoughl that even beuer results mighl be oblained by supplementing almospheric pressure with the prcssure of the steam ilself afler!he steam was relumed to Ihe condenser. As a result, he applied the sleam's pressure to the cylinder. However, Ihe pressure was reponedJy only one atmosphere above ambient pressure. In Ihis manner, WaU instalJed Ihe condenser and eompleled a steam engine in which the pistan i5 being driven direell y by sleam pressure.(2-l) The sleam engine was said 10 have beeo completed in 1776, 13 years afler WaU's failure analysis began. Photo 3-3 shows Watt's early sleam engine. NOle Ihal almosl a1l the leeth in me gear used 10 tnmsfer!he power from the engine were broken. The gear teeth used in today's engines are based on a curved line called the involute, and their strenglh has been sufficiently calculated. However. in WaU's era around Ihe 1770s,!he industrial gear was still in ils formative slages. Since the jnvolute curve-bascd gear had nol appeared yel, gea~ wcre based on Ihe curved line known as an cpicydoid. The fil"lil pernon who calculaled lhe slrenglh of gear leeth was Walt. His assistanl, Mauhew Bou1l0n, wrole Watt a lelter aclvising mal gear profiles must be machined more prccisely 10 protecl gear leelh from damage p·l) Machining processes and their accuracy are inseparable problems thal are nol limiled to cngines, but are Ihe basis of all mechanical producIs (see Chapter 38). Machining or manufacluring process and Ihe aceurncy for Ihe desired product are !he mast basic and imponanl pans of all mechanical products. This conccpl originaled wilh Wau's engine.

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The Romance 01 Engints

PholO J.J TIre use OfWllt/'S Sfeam enginr: spuad lilu: wildfire rhroughoUl modem European na/ions. This engine is ¡he one IrUJde by Wall in 1788 wilh 476-mm bore.

/200-mm s/rake. and 13.75 PS. Thefocllhallhe powtr-lrarumitting gear lu th are 011 broken corwinus me Ihul Walr wa.s rhefirsl puson /O ptrform rhi! slr