During the MIT Mechanical Engineering course 2.670 (Mechanical
Engineering Tools), I fabricated the parts for and assembled a
miniature Stirling
Engine. Each of the finished parts below was machined from brass, steel, and aluminum stock.
This project included many machine-shop operations including bending, drilling, tapping, lathe, and milling.
The tolerances on most parts was 4 mill, and all operations were done
by hand. The engine is powered by a flame from a small bottle of
denatured alcohol. Below is a transparent picture of the engine. The
pistons can be seen, as can the fact that they are 90 degrees out of
phase. The linkage mechanism maintains that phase difference.
I conducted several analyses of the engine, such as the power output
of the engine. The power integral is shown below. Using Matlab, this
evaluates to a fraction of a Watt, which agreed with experiments
conducted in lab.
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