Modular engine

Modular engines are an advanced engine type. They offer more fuel efficiency and power than prefab engines, but are more complex.

Supercharging

Supercharging is the process of increasing air pressure inside of an engine using a pump, most commonly a large electric pump. This can increase power generation by as much as 80%.

When supercharging an engine, its air to fuel ratio will be affected. Most engine control units from the workshop can handle this automatically, but if you are using a custom ECU, it might be an issue.

Turbocharging is not directly possible, but a similar effect can be achieved by using an impeller pump.

The simplest engine possible COLLAPSE!

The smallest engine possible. It would overheat if it had more fuel.

Because a modular engine doesn't actually need a lot to function, we can create the tiniest engine possible using just a few parts.

You will need one of each:

• Crankshaft
• Clutch
• Fuel manifold
• Air manifold
• Exhaust manifold

As well as:

• 2x fluid ports (any type) for air and exhaust
• Fuel tank
• Electric motor (for starting the engine)
• Some logic

Construct the engine by attaching all parts, starting with the crankshaft.

Instead of a belt starter motor, an electric motor can be applied externally to start the engine.

You can skip adding an ECU by setting a constant throttle of 0.5 fuel and 1.0 air.

Components

Crankshaft

Crankshafts are the core of an engine. Cylinders can be attached to the outer surfaces, while other crankshafts can be attached in the front/back to form longer engines.

Converters allow the usage of different crankshaft, cylinder, or flywheel sizes in one engine.

Crankshafts

There are 4 unique crankshaft components and two converters.

Keep in mind that crankshafts do have resistance, so it is more efficient to minimize the amount of unnecessary crankshafts.

Flywheel

A flywheel is an optional component that adds rotational inertia (or momentum) to the engine. This can help with stability and smoothness in some cases, and also help prevent stalling.

It is not recommended to add a flywheel if it isn't needed.

Cylinder

Cylinders allow for fuel and oxygen to combust. Large cylinders function in the same way as small ones, the only difference being dramatically increased fuel consumption and power output.

Cylinder	Effective Power
1x1x1	1
3x3x3	27
5x5x5	125

Clutch

A modular engine clutch allows for mechanical power (RPS) to exit the engine.

The engagement of the clutch follows x^3, where X is the input. Meaning the amount of power transferred does not linearly correlate to the input to the clutch. And instead follows the curve shown by the graph below.

Graph of clutch input to torque transfer

This non-linearity can be corrected for by feeding the input to the clutch through a function block with the function x^(1/3) first to compensate.

NOTE: Engaging the clutch too early or too suddenly can prevent the engine from starting by continuously stalling it.

Manifolds

There are four manifold types:

A Fuel manifold allows fuel to enter the engine. A fuel pump is never required.

An Air manifold allows air to enter the engine. Adding a pump here is optional, but can increase power by up to 80%. It does, however, also increase heat generation and complicate the Air:Fuel ratio calculation.

An Exhaust manifold allows exhaust gas to leave the engine.

A Coolant manifold has two connections that allow coolant to enter and leave the engine. All coolant is shared throughout the entire engine, which means that a single coolant manifold can draw coolant from both outputs at the same time, provided the coolant enters the engine through another manifold. Coolant manifolds do not have a built-in pump, which means they will not circulate coolant without an external pump.

Belt addons

Belt drives are not required to build a functioning engine, and can be replaced by a second clutch. There are a number of components that can be attached to a belt drive:

A starter motor is a small electric motor used to start the engine. It can reach up to 5 RPS.

An alternator is a small generator. It is extremely inefficient compared to Generators.

A belt pump is a small pump with an inconveniently placed fluid input. It isn't very powerful or efficient, but is commonly used to circulate coolant in extremely small engines.