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Ground Propulsion
Ground propulsion is any mechanism for propelling solid bodies along the ground, usually for the purposes of transportation. The propulsion system often consists of a combination of an engine or motor, a gearbox and wheel and axles (or caterpillar tracks) in standard applications. The primary and most natural type of propulsion is the use of muscle power. The invention of the wheel allowed for the development of vehicles like Carts and Wagons that make more efficient use of muscle power, allowing larger loads to be transported. Vehicles drawn by humans and domesticated animals are not economically as important as they once were, but they still exist. Examples of human-powered vehicles are rickshaws and cycle rickshaws. The development of the steam engine and internal combustion engine allowed for the development of rail vehicles and motor vehicles, all of which have some form of a powertrain. The electric motor allowed for quieter vehicles with lower emissions, and frequently h ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Propulsion
Propulsion is the generation of force by any combination of pushing or pulling to modify the translational motion of an object, which is typically a rigid body (or an articulated rigid body) but may also concern a fluid. The term is derived from two Latin words: ''wikt:pro, pro'', meaning'' before'' or ''forward''; and ''wikt:pellere, pellere'', meaning ''to drive''. A propulsion system consists of a source of mechanical power, and a ''propulsor'' (means of converting this power into propulsive force). Plucking a guitar string to induce a vibration, vibratory translation is technically a form of propulsion of the guitar string; this is not commonly depicted in this vocabulary, even though human muscles are considered to propel the fingertips. The motion of an object moving through a gravitational field is affected by the field, and within some frames of reference physicists speak of the gravitational field generating a force upon the object, but for general relativity, deep the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Steam Engine
A steam engine is a heat engine that performs mechanical work using steam as its working fluid. The steam engine uses the force produced by steam pressure to push a piston back and forth inside a cylinder. This pushing force can be transformed, by a connecting rod and crank, into rotational force for work. The term "steam engine" is generally applied only to reciprocating engines as just described, not to the steam turbine. Steam engines are external combustion engines, where the working fluid is separated from the combustion products. The ideal thermodynamic cycle used to analyze this process is called the Rankine cycle. In general usage, the term ''steam engine'' can refer to either complete steam plants (including boilers etc.), such as railway steam locomotives and portable engines, or may refer to the piston or turbine machinery alone, as in the beam engine and stationary steam engine. Although steam-driven devices were known as early as the aeolipile in the f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stirling Engine
A Stirling engine is a heat engine that is operated by the cyclic compression and expansion of air or other gas (the ''working fluid'') between different temperatures, resulting in a net conversion of heat energy to mechanical work. More specifically, the Stirling engine is a closed-cycle regenerative heat engine with a permanent gaseous working fluid. ''Closed-cycle'', in this context, means a thermodynamic system in which the working fluid is permanently contained within the system, and ''regenerative'' describes the use of a specific type of internal heat exchanger and thermal store, known as the ''regenerator''. Strictly speaking, the inclusion of the regenerator is what differentiates a Stirling engine from other closed-cycle hot air engines. In the Stirling engine, a gas is heated and expanded by energy supplied from outside the engine's interior space (cylinder). It is then shunted to a different location within the engine, where it is cooled and compressed. A piston (o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Turbine
A turbine ( or ) (from the Greek , ''tyrbē'', or Latin ''turbo'', meaning vortex) is a rotary mechanical device that extracts energy from a fluid flow and converts it into useful work. The work produced by a turbine can be used for generating electrical power when combined with a generator.Munson, Bruce Roy, T. H. Okiishi, and Wade W. Huebsch. "Turbomachines." Fundamentals of Fluid Mechanics. 6th ed. Hoboken, NJ: J. Wiley & Sons, 2009. Print. A turbine is a turbomachine with at least one moving part called a rotor assembly, which is a shaft or drum with blades attached. Moving fluid acts on the blades so that they move and impart rotational energy to the rotor. Early turbine examples are windmills and waterwheels. Gas, steam, and water turbines have a casing around the blades that contains and controls the working fluid. Credit for invention of the steam turbine is given both to Anglo-Irish engineer Sir Charles Parsons (1854–1931) for invention of the reaction turbine, and to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Engine Efficiency
Engine efficiency of thermal engines is the relationship between the total energy contained in the fuel, and the amount of energy used to perform useful work. There are two classifications of thermal engines- #Internal combustion (gasoline, diesel and gas turbine-Brayton cycle engines) and # External combustion engines ( steam piston, steam turbine, and the Stirling cycle engine). Each of these engines has thermal efficiency characteristics that are unique to it. Engine efficiency, transmission design, and tire design all contribute to a vehicle's fuel efficiency. Mathematical definition The efficiency of an engine is defined as ratio of the useful work done to the heat provided. : \eta = \frac = \frac where, Q_1 is the heat absorbed and Q_1-Q_2 is the work done. Please note that the term work done relates to the power delivered at the clutch or at the driveshaft. This means the friction and other losses are subtracted from the work done by thermodynamic expansion. Thus an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Electric Motor
An electric motor is an Electric machine, electrical machine that converts electrical energy into mechanical energy. Most electric motors operate through the interaction between the motor's magnetic field and electric current in a Electromagnetic coil, wire winding to generate force in the form of torque applied on the motor's shaft. An electric generator is mechanically identical to an electric motor, but operates with a reversed flow of power, converting mechanical energy into electrical energy. Electric motors can be powered by direct current (DC) sources, such as from batteries, or rectifiers, or by alternating current (AC) sources, such as a power grid, Inverter (electrical), inverters or electrical generators. Electric motors may be classified by considerations such as power source type, construction, application and type of motion output. They can be powered by AC or DC, be Brushed motor, brushed or Brushless motor, brushless, single-phase, Two-phase electric power, two-p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Powertrain
A drivetrain (also frequently spelled as drive train or sometimes drive-train) is the group of components that deliver mechanical power from the prime mover to the driven components. In automotive engineering, the drivetrain is the components of a motor vehicle that deliver power to the drive wheels. This excludes the engine or motor that generates the power. In marine applications, the drive shaft will drive a propeller, thruster, or waterjet rather than a drive axle, while the actual engine might be similar to an automotive engine. Other machinery, equipment and vehicles may also use a drivetrain to deliver power from the engine(s) to the driven components. In contrast, the powertrain is considered to include both the engine and/or motor(s) as well as the drivetrain. Function The function of the drivetrain is to couple the engine that produces the power to the driving wheels that use this mechanical power to rotate the axle. This connection involves physically linking the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Motor Vehicle
A motor vehicle, also known as motorized vehicle or automotive vehicle, is a self-propelled land vehicle, commonly wheeled, that does not operate on Track (rail transport), rails (such as trains or trams) and is used for the transportation of people or cargo. The vehicle propulsion is provided by an engine or motor, usually an internal combustion engine or an electric motor, or some combination of the two, such as hybrid electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids. For legal purpose, motor vehicles are often identified within a number of vehicle classes including cars, buses, motorcycles, off-road vehicles, light trucks and regular trucks. These classifications vary according to the legal codes of each country. International Organization for Standardization, ISO 3833:1977 is the standard for road vehicle types, terms and definitions. Generally, to avoid requiring people with disabilities from having to possess an operator's license to use one, or requiring tags and insurance, powered ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rail Vehicle
The term rolling stock in the rail transport industry refers to railway vehicles, including both powered and unpowered vehicles: for example, locomotives, freight and passenger cars (or coaches), and non-revenue cars. Passenger vehicles can be un-powered, or self-propelled, single or multiple units. A connected series of railway vehicles is a train (this term applied to a locomotive is a common misnomer). In North America, Australia and other countries, the term consist ( ) is used to refer to the rolling stock in a train. In the United States, the term ''rolling stock'' has been expanded from the older broadly defined "trains" to include wheeled vehicles used by businesses on roadways. The word ''stock'' in the term is used in a sense of inventory. Rolling stock is considered to be a liquid asset, or close to it, since the value of the vehicle can be readily estimated and then shipped to the buyer without much cost or delay. The term contrasts with fixed stock (infrastructu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Internal Combustion Engine
An internal combustion engine (ICE or IC engine) is a heat engine in which the combustion of a fuel occurs with an oxidizer (usually air) in a combustion chamber that is an integral part of the working fluid flow circuit. In an internal combustion engine, the expansion of the high-temperature and high-pressure gases produced by combustion applies direct force to some component of the engine. The force is typically applied to pistons ( piston engine), turbine blades (gas turbine), a rotor (Wankel engine), or a nozzle ( jet engine). This force moves the component over a distance, transforming chemical energy into kinetic energy which is used to propel, move or power whatever the engine is attached to. This replaced the external combustion engine for applications where the weight or size of an engine was more important. The first commercially successful internal combustion engine was created by Étienne Lenoir around 1860, and the first modern internal combustion engine, known ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cycle Rickshaw
The cycle rickshaw is a small-scale local means of transport. It is a type of hatchback tricycle designed to carry passengers on a for-hire basis. It is also known by a variety of other names such as bike taxi, velotaxi, pedicab, bikecab, cyclo, beca, becak, trisikad, sikad, tricycle taxi, trishaw, or hatchback bike. As opposed to rickshaws pulled by a person on foot, cycle rickshaws are human-powered by pedaling. Another type of rickshaw is the auto rickshaw. Overview The first cycle rickshaws were built in the 1880s, and they were first used widely in 1929 in Singapore. Six years later they outnumbered pulled rickshaws. By 1950 cycle rickshaws were found in every south and east Asian country. By the late 1980s there were an estimated 4 million cycle rickshaws in the world. The vehicle is generally pedal-driven by a driver, though some are equipped with an electric motor to assist the driver. The vehicle is usually a tricycle, though some quadracycle models exist, a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Transportation
Transport (in British English), or transportation (in American English), is the intentional movement of humans, animals, and goods from one location to another. Modes of transport include air, land (rail and road), water, cable, pipeline, and space. The field can be divided into infrastructure, vehicles, and operations. Transport enables human trade, which is essential for the development of civilizations. Transport infrastructure consists of both fixed installations, including roads, railways, airways, waterways, canals, and pipelines, and terminals such as airports, railway stations, bus stations, warehouses, trucking terminals, refueling depots (including fueling docks and fuel stations), and seaports. Terminals may be used both for interchange of passengers and cargo and for maintenance. Means of transport are any of the different kinds of transport facilities used to carry people or cargo. They may include vehicles, riding animals, and pack animals. Vehicl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
