Heat transfer during compression and expansion can be out of phase with bulk gas-wall temperature difference. An ordinary convective heat transfer model is incapable of predicting this phenomenon. Expressions for compression/expansion heat transfer developed from simple conduction models use a complex heat transfer coefficient. Thus, heat flux consists of one part proportional to temperature difference plus a second part proportional to rate of change of temperature. Surface-averaged heat flux was calculated from experimental pressure-volume data for piston-cylinder gas springs over a range of speeds, pressures, gases, and geometries. The complex Nusselt number model proved capable of correlating both magnitude and phase of the measured heat transfer as functions of an oscillation Peclet number.

Experiments were performed on a piston-cylinder gas spring. Speed, cyclic mean pressure, gas, bore/stroke ratio, volume ratio, and internal extended surface geometry were varied. Hysteresis loss, pressure wave magnitude, and pressure-volume phase shift were measured. Nondimensional variables were found to correlate results, and a theoretical model was found to predict results well, over most of the operating range.

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Linear dynamic modeling of gas springs is important for basic design of free piston Stirling engines. The conventional gas spring model, a dashpot in parallel with an ideal spring, gives poor prediction of gas spring performance. The anelastic model presented here consists of two parallel springs, one of which is in series with a dashpot. With proper selection of spring and damping constants, it gives improved prediction of gas spring dynamics.

Many automotive turbochargers operate in the self-excited unstable region. In the past these instabilities have been accepted as unavoidable, but recent developments in analysis and instrumentation may make it possible to reduce or eliminate them. A test stand being developed at Virginia Tech has been used to measure the vibrations of a 3.9 liter diesel engine stock turbocharger with floating bushing journal bearings. Vibration spectrum content clearly identifies the shaft instabilities and provides the basis for additional evaluation of future bearing design modifications. This paper provides additional experimental vibration data reduction that will be useful for future research direction to fully understand the turbocharger dynamic instability.