Thayer School of Engineering, Dartmouth, Stirling Engine

[Djangodog]

I spent a few semesters as a lab instructor at Thayer School, (teaching Pro E, SolidWorks, Machine Shop and assisting with the Dartmouth Formula Racing Program).  The students produced their own Stirling Engine as part of the Thermodynamics course.  I was tasked with updating the design, writing an instructional manual and with building and testing the updated design.

It’s not much of an engine, but it served it’s purpose and many of the students treasured the experience and their finished engine.  Many get a real thrill when they get them running.  It’s quite an accomplishment, especially if they have never been a hands on person.

I still have a few copies of the book.  I made two of the engines and assisted in the building of approximately sixty others.  It’s unfortunate that Thayer School no longer uses the Stirling Engine and that their students don’t do much of their own machining anymore, (the robotics course was a lot of fun to instruct and watch the robot wars at the end).

<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rD4p6hmcX1E" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rD4p6hmcX1E</a>

[samc88]

Thats lovely! I remember making a stirling engine for our college course in coleg menai

[RReid]

We didn't get to build a Stirling engine during my engineering schooling, but we did get to play with one in a Thermodynamics lab session. Measurements of heat input and work output, that sort of thing. That was a fun lab.

[Kim]

That's a very nice looking little engine! 

Kim

[vtsteam]

ThaT's a nice little engine!

[Pete49]

A really nice little engine. I would much prefer the sound of the engine over the music as a running engine is music to my ears.

[bent]

Very cool.

[steam guy willy]

Nice engine and is the base a casting / stamping/ etched ??
Willy.

[Djangodog]

Nice engine and is the base a casting / stamping/ etched ??
Willy.

The base is cast and machined, (Aluminum).  The little engine sat on my desk for 12 years.  It was a great conversation starter.  It could use a clean and polish.

[Keith1500]

I was quite amazed to see that engine. I have only seen one or two before and that was in 1978 when I did metalwork at Secondary school, aged about 15. The technician there made the wooden pattern for the base and the flywheel. The metalwork shop was equipped with a small smelter. The aluminium came from broken chairs. We had the privilege of preparing the sand boxes and then watching the casting. It was amazing to see molten metal.

The engine I made I still have - see photo. Not as refine as your version but then I was only just learning about metalwork.  I took it along to my London Transport apprenticeship interview and was successful. That was 43 years ago!

I wonder where the design for this engine originated from. Was it part of the education syllabus back then?

[Djangodog]

I was quite amazed to see that engine. I have only seen one or two before and that was in 1978 when I did metalwork at Secondary school, aged about 15. The technician there made the wooden pattern for the base and the flywheel. The metalwork shop was equipped with a small smelter. The aluminium came from broken chairs. We had the privilege of preparing the sand boxes and then watching the casting. It was amazing to see molten metal.

The engine I made I still have - see photo. Not as refine as your version but then I was only just learning about metalwork.  I took it along to my London Transport apprenticeship interview and was successful. That was 43 years ago!

I wonder where the design for this engine originated from. Was it part of the education syllabus back then?

Thank you for sharing yours.

I don’t know where the basic design originated.  Some of the changes that I made were purely cosmetic but some were to aid in the machining process and others were mechanical improvements.

I changed the connecting rod, (the original was thinned down for most of its length.  It often had a chattered finish, got bent and was a pain to make).  The altered design has a groove produced by a ball end mill and made it more like an I beam, (easy to produce, stronger, same mass, and in my opinion, better looking). 

The most important change was replacing the hollow Brass displacement piston with a lightweight Aluminum piston.  As well as being more efficient, it stopped the engine from walking around the table at higher speeds.