Combustion Engine Web-Based Simulator

(combustionlab.net)

47 points | by mytuny 5 days ago

13 comments

  • huydotnet 8 minutes ago
    If you're looking for a carefully crafted/written work to explain internal combustion engines, look no further than this one https://ciechanow.ski/internal-combustion-engine/ (the Mechanical Watch article from the same author was featured on HN a while ago).
  • chris_money202 1 hour ago
    "How it Works" -> "Idk" OP probably
    • monkellipse 1 hour ago
      I see no declaration that this is a machine generated site, but the aesthetic is a dead giveaway. The language on the “how it works” page is unmistakably LLM output. As a total novice in engines this site had the potential to educate me, but did the author vet the data at all? If the author doesn’t bother telling me they checked any output on this, what assurance do I have anything is accurate on the site at all? If I knew an actual engineer put their focus on this tool I’d feel much better about trying to learn something from it. Short of that it’s just a pretty (but predictable) interface.
      • btrettel 17 minutes ago
        I'm a mechanical engineer who has written similar tools for work and hobbies. Producing pretty pictures does not mean that the model is physically accurate. Unfortunately, such tools seem be evaluated much more on flashiness and not on more reliable and objective criteria like physical accuracy based on verification and validation test suites. I'm seeing that in the comments here. I don't think LLMs make what I do irrelevant, but I have thought that I'm going to have to improve how flashy my simulations look to compete better with non-experts who use LLMs.
  • kristiandupont 20 minutes ago
    Very nice! Reminds of this classic, focused mostly on the sounds: https://github.com/ange-yaghi/engine-sim
  • amaze_28 40 minutes ago
    this is really impressive. actual movements with live diagrams looks great. you can consider adding sound to take it to another level.
  • Lwerewolf 27 minutes ago
    187 N/A BSFC @ 2000rpm and open throttle. Tried emulating a DI 2GR-FXE. Seems a bit optimistic, but still fun to play with.
  • bwestergard 42 minutes ago
    I don't understand how the throttle and RPM can be modified independently. Surely the RPM depends on the throttle?
    • jstanley 31 minutes ago
      In principle you can instantaneously set the throttle opening to some position and set the RPM to whatever you want. In time the RPM will rise or fall until the engine is at equilibrium, but throttle position and RPM aren't like mechanically interlocked. Otherwise how could the engine speed up when you go down a hill?
  • Geee 1 hour ago
    3638 kW / 4878 hp is the most powerful engine I could build with this.
    • jstanley 1 hour ago
      How do you tell how much power it is making?
      • Geee 1 hour ago
        On the dyno panel you see "pk" which is peak power. If you don't see the dyno panel on the right, you'll have to scroll down to see it.
  • seafisher 40 minutes ago
    really interesting project - would be good to see a link to a repo
  • perssontm 1 hour ago
    I was hoping for a two stroke mode as well!
  • BeefySwain 1 hour ago
    Am I missing something? Setting the throttle to 0% seems to do nothing?
    • snug 1 hour ago
      All the gauges on the top right except the RPMs move
  • quantumHazer 1 hour ago
    Probably llm slop