Anyone who appreciates the precision art of engine design ought to get a kick out of this offering from a Spanish engineer named Patelo. Starting with hunks of aluminum, bronze and stainless steel, he spent over 1200 hours designing, milling, turning and drilling what he claims is "probably" the world's smallest V12 engine. Powered by compressed air injection (0.1kg/sq cm), this little marvel boasts a total displacement of 12 cubic centimeters from its twelve 11.3 mm diameter pistons and works like a charm. Best of all, you can see it come together in the detailed video that follows.
Built primarily for educational purposes, Patelo has no plans for selling the mini-motors. In fact, seemingly to prove this lengthy exercise in metallic accuracy was truly a labor of love, he dedicated the engine to his four grandchildren. He crafted all 261 pieces of the engine from scratch, but drew the line with the 222 screws, which he purchased, presumably so he'd have at least a little time to spend with the grandkids.
Here's an English translation of the terms in the video in case you don't have a Spanish dictionary handy (watching it'll be nine minutes and change well-spent):
- Construimos el ciguenal: Building the crankshaft
- Comenzamos el montaje: Begin the installation
- Montamos el ciguenal en el bloque: Fit the crankshaft in the block
- Cojinete de apoyo del ciguenal: Crankshaft bearing support
- Taques: Tappets
- Arbol de levas: Camshaft
- Cojinete de apoyo del arbol de levas: Camshaft support bearing
- Engranajes de la distribucion: Timing gear
- Volante: Flywheel
- Cilindros: Cylinders
- Pistones: Pistons
- Comprobamos con un taladro que todo esta en orden: Check with a drill that everything is in order
- Culatas: Cylinder heads
- Balancines: Rockers
- Varillas de balancines: Rocker shafts
- Colectores de admision: Intake manifolds
- Colectores de escape: Exhaust manifolds
- Tapa de distribucion: Distribution cover
- Bombas de refrigeracion: Cooling pumps
- Enfriador de agua dulce: Fresh water cooler
- Filtro de admision: Inlet filter
- Pruebas de funcionamiento: Function tests
- Camara lenta: Slow motion
- Numero de piezas/tornillos: Number of pieces/screws
- Horas de trabajo: Hours of work
Maybe it's the music in the video but precision machining doesn't get much more exciting than this.
But is it an engine if it runs on compressed air? I guess so if you consider the compressed air energy.
Still it would be really cool if he could make it an internal combustion engine of some kind.
Compressed air engine would be the only efficient type of engine at that small of a scale. the imperfections in designing millimeter scaled parts would not be able to withstand a true ICE. Real engines are made so precise, that none of the cylinders have any sort of gaps and whatnot, but when a piston is 11.3 mm diameter, the margin of error in them being perfect grows exponentially.
http://www.modelengineershow.co.uk/
I don\'t see why he should stop there. It is possible, once Mr. Patelo has rested and been further motivated by public (us) applause, he could set about doing the impossible, making it a true ICE (maybe compression ignition, first). Lubrication with solids coatings, cooling with air (mechanical fan), etc. To acheive machining tolerances, much polishing & watchmaker technology.
In time to come (when everyone has gone electric) these could be auctioned off for huge sums. Mr. Patelo, thanks for inspiring us..
Yes, another fine work of engineering art, by Gizmag.
Also notice the complete lack of bearings anywhere but at the ends of the crank and camshafts. That wouldn\'t withstand running on fuel.
It\'s a very nice air motor, but not an engine.
http://www.artus-motor.com/
The air-cooled version has a total 87cc capacity
Sounds great d;-)
The main problem with making a V12 I.C.E. engine of this size would be cooling. Air would not be effective enough as heat would build up between the cylinders, and in the main part of the block, where the air could not get to. This would limit the engine to running for only very brief periods.
Could an engine of this size be built with the jacketing needed to allow effective liquid cooling? I believe it could, but it would be well beyond my capabilities. :-)