A flywheel is a circular-shaped device used in an IC engine that stores the energy produced by the engine (during power stroke) in the form of kinetic energy and provides this energy to the engine during the other three strokes.
In simple words, the flywheel stores the energy produced by the engine in the form of rotational energy and then returns this energy to when no power is produced by the engine(During suction, compression, and exhaust stroke).
The flywheel is connected to the one end of the engine crankshaft. When the air-fuel mixture ignites, the piston expands at high speed during this the higher linear momentum of the piston is convertes into the angular momentum of the flywheel and then it is stored as the kinetic energy of the flywheel.
The energy stored by the flywheel = `\frac{1}{2}I\omega ^{2}`
Where,
I = Moment of inertia of the flywheel
`\omega` = Flywheel angular speed
What is the function of flywheel in ic engine?
The functions of the flywheel are as follows:-
1] It stores energy produced by the engine and returns it when required.
2] Provides constant speed during all strokes.
3] It delivers power smoothly to the output shaft.
4] It helps for the balancing of the crankshaft and thus reduces the vibrations in the crankshaft.
5] The starter ring is mounted on the flywheel which meshes with the gear of the starter motor that helps for cranking or starting of the engine.
6] The flywheels help to connect the engine with the gearbox via meshing with the friction plate of the clutch.
7] It continuously delivers same amount of torque.
Therefore, these are all functions of the flywheel.
