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Everyone knows how important automobile engines are. They are basically devices made up of several constituents or parts that convert fuel into mechanical energy to power vehicles. They are integral components of automobiles that provide the necessary or required force to propel the vehicle forward or backward. Internal combustion engines, electric motor, hybrid engines, rotary engines are all varieties of automobile engines. But talking about automobile engines would only be a half-baked conversation without talking about the main component of an automobile engine which is called a cylinder.

Automobile engine cylinders are the key components of an automobile engine especially internal combustion engines. They are cylindrical chambers within the engine block where the process of combustion takes place. The cylinder is a chamber where fuel is combusted and power to drive the vehicle is generated. The cylinder consists of the piston and two valves which is the inlet valve and exhaust valve. The upward and downward movement of the piston is what generates the power that drives the vehicle. The more the number of cylinders the greater the engine efficiency, fuel consumed and power generated.

Automobile engine cylinders are arranged in three ways which are; the Inline or straight engine arrangement, the flat or boxer style arrangement and the popular V-shaped arrangements. We will look into the basic differences between the three types of cylinder arrangements and possibly, their pros and cons later in my next article. But first, we need to understand the overview of how these automobile engine cylinders works. An automobile engine goes through a repeated chain of four critical steps to power a vehicle and these steps are; intake, compression, power and exhaust. The cylinder is responsible for the crucial functioning of these four steps.

During the intake phase, the piston, which is a moving gas-tight disc enclosed in the cylinder moves inside the cylinder causing the inlet valve to open so fuel is mixed with air. In the compression phase, the fuel-to-air mixture is compressed by the piston within the cylinder thereby making the mixture combustible. The power phase then occurs when the combustible fuel-to-air mixture is combusted through ignition from a spark plug. And finally, at the exhaust phase, the piston is pushed down back due to high pressure forces released as a result of the ignition and the outlet valve is opened allowing the release of gases.  

The downward movement of the piston is transferred to the crankshaft through a connecting rod. The upward and downward linear motion of the piston is then converted by the crankshaft into a rotational motion. It is the rotation of the crankshaft along with other components such as the driveshaft, transmission and others that generates the mechanical power that drives the wheels and propels the vehicle. The cylinder is basically responsible for directing the movement of the pistons. These four steps or phases are a chain process; it is a repetitive process that must occur for an automobile to move.

Hopefully I’ve been able to explain in a simplified manner how automobile engine cylinders function. It is really quite easy to understand even for those without any basic knowledge in mechanical engineering.