How does a fly wheel work?

A flywheel is essentially a mechanical battery consisting of a mass rotating around an axis. It stores energy in the form of kinetic energy and works by accelerating a rotor to very high speeds and maintaining the energy in the system as rotational energy.

What is the purpose of a flywheel in an engine?

Flywheel, heavy wheel attached to a rotating shaft so as to smooth out delivery of power from a motor to a machine. The inertia of the flywheel opposes and moderates fluctuations in the speed of the engine and stores the excess energy for intermittent use.

What is rim of flywheel?

A flywheel consists of a rim at which the major portion of the mass or weight of flywheel is concentrated, a boss or hub for fixing the flywheel on to shaft and a number of arms for supporting the rim on the hub. The following stresses are induced in the rim.  Tensile stress due to centrifugal force.

What material is a flywheel made of?

steel
Flywheels are typically made of steel and rotate on conventional bearings; these are generally limited to a maximum revolution rate of a few thousand RPM. High energy density flywheels can be made of carbon fiber composites and employ magnetic bearings, enabling them to revolve at speeds up to 60,000 RPM (1 kHz).

Why is it called a flywheel?

FLYWHEEL = Fly + Wheel or basically “A wheel that goes fast”. A flywheel is the main wheel of the motor, it used to be the one motor that turned and gave energy to all other belts.

How does mass affect the motion of a flywheel?

In a flywheel, the distribution of mass plays an important role in order to move it, especially, if the mass is concentrated at its rim than at its center. This greater mass at the rim gives the flywheel a greater moment of inertia & hence more kinetic energy can be stored i.e., greater tendency to remain rotating.

The energy stored by the flywheel dampens this process and reduces engine vibration, thus balancing the engine. By maintaining engine speed and balance, flywheels help to extend the useful life of other components connected to the engine.

How is energy stored in a fly wheel?

A flywheel is a spinning wheel or disc with a fixed axle so that rotation is only about one axis. Energy is stored in the rotor as kinetic energy , or more specifically, rotational energy : Where: ωis the angular velocity , and I is the moment of inertia of the mass about the center of rotation.

What is the moment of inertia of a rimmed flywheel?

Rimmed. A rimmed flywheel has a rim, a hub, and spokes. Calculation of the flywheel’s moment of inertia can be more easily analysed by applying various simplifications. For example: Assume the spokes, shaft and hub have zero moments of inertia, and the flywheel’s moment of inertia is from the rim alone.

Why do you need a flywheel in an engine?

Flywheel weight is one of the adjustments that custom engine builders use to tailor their engine’s performance for specific purposes. Heavier flywheels allows engines to work under loads that may cause the engine to bog down; thus cars consistently pulling heavy trailers should benefit from a larger flywheel.

What kind of inertia does a flywheel have?

To oppose speed fluctuations effectively, a flywheel is given a high rotational inertia; i.e., most of its weight is well out from the axis. A wheel with a heavy rim connected to the central hub by spokes or a web (wheel A in the Figure) has a high rotational inertia. Many flywheels used on reciprocating engines to smooth out the flow…

Which is better a rim or a flywheel?

A rim-type flywheel will burst at a much lower rotary speed than a disk-type wheel of the same weight and diameter. For minimum weight and high energy-storing capacity, a flywheel may be made of high-strength steel and designed as a tapered disk, thick at the centre and thin at the rim ( see Figure B ).