An engine with no crankshaft, where the pistons float on air? It’s not a dream; it’s a free piston engine and it might be the next major advance in car tech. When we think of automotive technology of ...

Sandia National Laboratory led by Sandia researcher Peter Van Blarigan that has been testing physical components of free-piston engines which could be 50% efficient. This is about twice as good as ...

One of the many challenges facing engine designers is the need to increase power output while simultaneously retaining or improving efficiency. Although a four-cylinder engine is still an engineering ...

A 75-kilowatt heavy-oil piston engine developed by the Beijing Power Machinery Institute is tested on a rotorcraft. [Photo/China Daily] The Beijing Power Machinery Institute, a subsidiary of China ...

Mazda's five-decade-long, largely futile efforts on behalf of the rotary engine demonstrate how difficult it is to unseat the conventional piston engine. Yet new concepts continue to emerge, ...

We all know how a conventional internal combustion engine works, with a piston and a crankshaft. But that’s by no means the only way to make an engine, and one of the slightly more unusual ...

Unless you rebuilding an engine with little to no budget you're going to upgrade to aluminum forged pistons. Besides being stronger than cast pistons, the lighter aluminum cuts parasitic power loss.

There’s a new spin on the rotary engine. Liquid Piston, a Connecticut-based engineering firm, has turned the classic Wankel engine design inside out to create a more efficient, and cleaner-burning ...

Piston rings are the seals in your cylinders, giving you better compression and power, but what happens if they wear or break ...

Heat is also a byproduct of friction. Think about rubbing your hands together to warm them up. The faster you rub your hands together, the hotter they get. Now think about the pistons in your ...