Group 26 - Product Name Here

Revision as of 23:03, 9 October 2011

1994 Honda CBR 600 F2 Engine Dissection

SUNY University at Buffalo's Introduction to Mechanical Engineering course consists of a semester long project involving the reverse engineering of a consumer product. Our group was assigned a 1994 Honda Engine from a CBR 600 F2 bike. The project consists of five separate gates which consist of planning, dissection, analysis, explanation, and delivery.

Gate 1: Planning

Project Management: Request for Proposal

Management Proposal To accomplish our task in an appropriate amount of time, we have decided to meet twice a week, on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 5 PM. Meetings in which we will be dissecting the engine will be held in Furnas 621, and meetings in which we are compiling work will be held at a point which will be determined by the group that week. In the event that we underestimate the amount of time needed to complete a gate, extra meetings will be scheduled by our Communication Liaison, in order to meet our deadline.

Roles and responsibilities

1. Dale Higgins: Project Manager- Lead team meetings, provide members with updates on project, make sure deadlines are met, divide work on gates between members

2. Prince Joseph: Communication Liaison- Keep members in contact, contact instructor about project complications, schedule extra group meetings if necessary

3. Nate Sutorius: Technical Expert- Compiles extra research/information about the product, assists members technical issues, adds additional information to entries

4. Ryan Grace: Site Manager- Regulates and makes necessary changes to wiki, checks all parts for accuracy, compiles and enters appropriate information

5. Peter Hubert: Documenter- Takes relevant notes/pictures of the disassembly and assembly processes, compiles information from meetings for the wiki, asserts assumptions made during meetings with fact checking

Group conflicts

All conflicts resulting between group members will be resolved as group, as this project is a summation of our collective work. Small issues such as member’s responsibilities and work will be settled by the project manager. If the manager alone cannot settle an argument, an abrupt group meeting will be called to mediate the issue. Conflicts in this setting will be settled by a majority rule, unless a solution cannot be met. In any case such as, the issue will be brought to the instructor.

Work Proposal

The process of disassembly is going to take place over multiple group meetings, as we are simultaneously analyzing each part of the engine, and also we need to take note of the engine at each state, since we will need to efficiently put the parts back together. The dissection will need to be very carefully done, as the engine has become worn in some parts from past projects groups, and also some minor pieces (nut and screws) are missing. The placement of these minor pieces will be crucial, as the engine should appear as it did when it was first given to us, so we will need to take that into account.

Our group should not have a problem with the dissection process, but our lack of knowledge of combustion engines would be our only significant shortcoming. Although a few of our group’s members are well versed in engines, some of us do not have that advantage. Too meet this challenge, we plan to do outside research to become more accustomed with our product, and as the project progresses, we will begin to pick up on the subtleties of such an engine. Any extra questions we have will be referred to our Technical Expert, who has the most sufficient knowledge of combustion engines, and will prove to be a great asset. All things considered, with the appropriate tools and a sufficient amount of work, this project should prove to be an interesting and enlightening learning experience.

The following tools are what we decided from our first analysis would be necessary to effectively dissect this engine. They are as follows:

• Wrench set

• Screwdriver set

• Allen key set

• Hex ocular socket

• Camera

• Plastics bags

Disassembly Process

Since we have not yet fully analyzed the engine, we can only speculate as to what components are on the inside. However, from what we could see, we can develop a rough idea of how we will dissect the product. We will obviously begin at the top and move down to the base of the engine, but more specifically, we disassemble in the following order:

1. Air box

2. Carburetors

3. Spark Plugs

4. Detach Head

5. Top half of engine block

6. Crankshaft cover

7. Bottom of engine block

8. Oil reservoir

Contact Info Ryan Grace- ryangrac@buffalo.edu

Dale Higgins- dalehigg@buffalo.edu

Peter Hubert- peterhub@buffalo.edu

Nate Sutorius- nathansu@buffalo.edu

Prince Joseph- princejo@buffalo.edu

Product Archaeology: Preparation and Initial Assessment

Development Profile:

Usage Profile:

The engine of the CRB 600 F2 motorcycle fulfills several roles. Its power and sleek design allow it to be a recreational, professional, and commuter vehicle. The largest market is found in the casual motorcyclist. That is the weekend rider who is looking for speed and acceleration in his/her motorcycle so they can get a thrill on the road or can take it to a closed track when in need of an adrenaline rush. This engine also has the performance to earn a place on the racetrack in competitive motorsports. For example, every race in the AMA 600 Supersport series in 1991 was won by a rider on the Honda CBR 600 F2. Lastly, the sporty bike can be used for any sort of personal transportation and attains 40-45 mpg in fuel economy, placing it a step up from the standard sedan of the 1990’s. While this no milestone for motorcycles, it would certainly appease any commuter who wants a flashy ride to work.

Create a user interaction profile for the product(s): How does the user interface with the product(s)?

The first modes of interface the user has with the Honda engine is the ignition and the accelerator. When the user turns the key, the spark plugs inside the pistons fire, lighting the fuel that is injected into the piston cylinder. Once this process has begun the accelerator allows the user to adjust the rate of fuel flow into the pistons which will control the RPM of the engine which directly relates to the power that is produced. The user is then able to further control the engine using the clutch and changing the gears. The clutch temporarily disconnects the gears from each other so the user is able to switch gears freely to adjust either the output power or speed of the engine.

How intuitive are the interfaces? The interfaces are relatively intuitive for a user that is familiar with motorbikes as far as we were able discern by only looking at the engine, and not the rest of the vehicle sections. Every vehicle has a key to start the ignition and since we could see the spark plugs it is safe to assume that the vehicle starts with a key which should be obvious to anyone that is old enough to drive a motorbike. One of the cables we found coming out of the engine seems very likely to be one that controls the fuel flow which is a very generic way of how a bike accelerator works. We found another cable that seemed to operate the clutch which would also lead us to assume that the clutch operation would be very intuitive. Then we found the lever that controls the gears protruding right out of the gear box, which is where most bikes have it so that is also very intuitive interface. Is the product easy to use? The controls of this engine should be very obvious to anyone that is used to riding motorcycles mainly because all the reasons listed above that makes its controls feel very natural. For people that are completely new to the engine it is very likely that it will need some explanation from an experienced user as well as a good amount of practice before they feel that the Honda engine is easy to use. Is regular maintenance required? If so, how easy is the maintenance? Just like any motor vehicle engine, this Honda engine will require regular maintenance to ensure that it performs at an optimal level. The most important maintenance for the engine is oil change and we were able to spot the valves through which we would drain the dirty oil as well as where we would pour the replacement in through, in a very short amount of time. Also, if in any case the maintenance requires that the engine needs to be opened up in any way, the engine is set up so we are able to take apart any one specific section without having to take the whole machine apart. This will definitely save time, energy and even lowers the likelihood of making any unnecessary errors during minor repairs.

Create a product alternative profile: What product alternatives exist? The biggest alternative idea for all gas powered engines nowadays is switching to electric powered engines that run on power stored in batteries. Switching to electric powered engines is definitely a very challenging feat so there are also other alternatives to this engine like changing the number of pistons that power the engine. Since this is a motor bike engine, it would be very unnecessary to increase the piston number from its current number of 4 so lowering the number of pistons could be a possible alternative. What are the advantages? Electric engines produce almost zero emissions while in use which is a very positive impact due to the rising CO2 crisis. They are also known to be much quieter than gasoline powered engines which would help greatly reduce noise pollutions in cities. They can also be much safer in times of accidents because of the fact that batteries do not catch on fire and explode nearly as easily as gasoline tanks. A two cylinder engine would save much more gasoline than the current 4 cylinder engine by not producing unnecessary amount of power that ends up being wasted anyway. This reduces the amount of CO2 emissions from the engine and helps the cause of slowing down global warming. The 2 cylinder engine should also improve the fuel economy of the engine because it should require a significant amount less fuel to travel the same distances. What are the disadvantages? The main disadvantage of an electric engine is that our battery technologies have not yet caught up enough to be portable enough and be powerful enough to sustain a motorbike engine as well as a gasoline engine can. The battery charging also takes significantly more time than refilling a tank at a pump which makes it impractical for long distance usage. The disadvantantage of the 2 cylinder engine would be that its acceleration would be significantly lower than the acceleration that would be produced with the current 4 cylinders. How do these alternatives compare? The alternatives have very good potential of replacing this engine and in fact, these product technologies have replaced this engine over the years in newer bike models. The electric design still isn’t ready for the general public yet but engines with fewer cylinders have definitely been implemented for their beneficial results in large scales. What are the differences in cost? The price of an electric engine ranges from $2000 up to $5000 and even more for the battery alone. The price of a 2 cylinder gas powered engine ranges from $500 to $2000. The price of engine we are working with could not be found but it is obvious that it will be more expensive than the 2 cylinder engine. The Honda engine on the other hand will definitely be a lot cheaper than electric engine when u combine the prices of both thee engine itself and the battery pack that has to go with it.

http://www.thunderstruck-ev.com/index.php?dispatch=categories.view&category_id=36 http://www.google.com/search?gcx=c&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8&q=2+cylinder+motorcycle+engine#q=2+cylinder+motorcycle+engine&hl=en&sa=X&tbs=p_ord:pd&tbm=shop&prmd=imvns&ei=_A-STtnhOana0QHd0PAe&ved=0CAsQuw0oAg&fp=1&biw=1600&bih=775&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.,cf.osb&cad=b

Gate 2: Dissection

Gate 3: Analysis

Gate 4: Explanation

Gate 5: Delivery