Overhead camshaft (OHC, SOHC & DOHC)
Overhead camshaft (OHC)
two overhead camshafts
A cylinder head sliced in half shows two overhead camshafts—one above each of the two valves.
Overhead camshaft or Overhead cam (OHC) valvetrain configurations place the engine camshaft within the cylinder heads, above the combustion chambers, and drive the valves or lifters in a more direct manner compared to overhead valves (OHV) and pushrods. Compared to OHV pushrod (or I-Head) systems with the same number of valves the reciprocating components of the OHC system are fewer and have a lower total mass. Though the system that drives the cams may become more complex, most engine manufacturers easily accept that added complexity in trade for better engine performance and greater design flexibility. Another performance advantage is gained as a result of the better optimized port configurations made possible with overhead camshaft designs. With no intrusive pushrods the overhead camshaft cylinder head design can use straighter ports of more advantageous crossection and length.
The OHC system can be driven using the same methods as an OHV system, which include using a rubber/kevlar toothed timing belt, chain, or in less common cases, gears.
In conjunction with multiple (3, 4 or 5) valves per cylinder, many OHC engines today employ variable valve timing to improve efficiency and power. OHC also inherently allows for greater engine speeds over comparable cam-in-block designs, as a result of having lower valvetrain mass.
There are two overhead camshaft layouts: single overhead camshaft ("SOHC"), and double (or dual) overhead camshaft ("DOHC").
Overhead camshaft or Overhead cam (OHC) valvetrain configurations place the engine camshaft within the cylinder heads, above the combustion chambers, and drive the valves or lifters in a more direct manner compared to overhead valves (OHV) and pushrods. Compared to OHV pushrod (or I-Head) systems with the same number of valves the reciprocating components of the OHC system are fewer and have a lower total mass. Though the system that drives the cams may become more complex, most engine manufacturers easily accept that added complexity in trade for better engine performance and greater design flexibility. Another performance advantage is gained as a result of the better optimized port configurations made possible with overhead camshaft designs. With no intrusive pushrods the overhead camshaft cylinder head design can use straighter ports of more advantageous crossection and length.
The OHC system can be driven using the same methods as an OHV system, which include using a rubber/kevlar toothed timing belt, chain, or in less common cases, gears.
In conjunction with multiple (3, 4 or 5) valves per cylinder, many OHC engines today employ variable valve timing to improve efficiency and power. OHC also inherently allows for greater engine speeds over comparable cam-in-block designs, as a result of having lower valvetrain mass.
There are two overhead camshaft layouts: single overhead camshaft ("SOHC"), and double (or dual) overhead camshaft ("DOHC").
Single overhead camshaft (SOHC)
A single overhead camshaft cylinder head.
Single overhead camshaft (SOHC) is a design in which one camshaft is placed within the cylinder head. In an inline engine this means there is one camshaft in the head, while in a V engine or a horizontally-opposed engine (boxer; flat engine) there are two camshafts: one per cylinder bank.
The SOHC design has less reciprocating mass than a comparable pushrod design. This allows for higher engine speeds, which in turn will increase power output for a given torque. The cam operates the valves directly or through a rocker arm, as opposed to overhead valve pushrod engines which have tappets, long pushrods, and rocker arms to transfer the movement of the lobes on the camshaft in the engine block to the valves in the cylinder head.
In the early era of the liquid-cooled aircraft engine field, single overhead cam format engines were in existence during the First World War, for both the Alliesand the Central Powers. The Hispano-Suiza 8 V8 engine, designed by Marc Birkigt in the Allied camp, and the series of Mercedes inline-6 aviation engines, culminating in the Mercedes D.III for the German Empire, both used rotary shaft-driven single overhead camshaft valve drive systems, and were among the most prominent aviation powerplants of the First World War era. The late-war Liberty L-12 V12 configuration American aviation engine also used the general Mercedes D-series single overhead camshaft design, based primarily on the later D.IIIa's drive system from rocker box to valvestem.
SOHC designs offer reduced complexity compared to pushrod designs when used for multi-valve heads in which each cylinder has more than two valves. An example of an SOHC design using shim and bucket valve adjustment was the engine installed in the Hillman Imp (4 cylinder, 8 valve); a small, early 1960s 2-door saloon car with a rear mounted alloy engine based on the Coventry Climax FWMA race engines. Exhaust and inlet manifolds were both on the same side of the engine block (thus not a crossflow cylinder head design). This did, however, offer excellent access to the spark plugs.
In the early 1980s, Toyota and Volkswagen also used a directly actuated, SOHC parallel valve configuration with two valves for each cylinder. The Toyota system used hydraulic tappets while the Volkswagen system used bucket tappets with shims for valve lash adjustment. Of all valvetrain systems, this is the least complex configuration possible.
The SOHC design has less reciprocating mass than a comparable pushrod design. This allows for higher engine speeds, which in turn will increase power output for a given torque. The cam operates the valves directly or through a rocker arm, as opposed to overhead valve pushrod engines which have tappets, long pushrods, and rocker arms to transfer the movement of the lobes on the camshaft in the engine block to the valves in the cylinder head.
In the early era of the liquid-cooled aircraft engine field, single overhead cam format engines were in existence during the First World War, for both the Alliesand the Central Powers. The Hispano-Suiza 8 V8 engine, designed by Marc Birkigt in the Allied camp, and the series of Mercedes inline-6 aviation engines, culminating in the Mercedes D.III for the German Empire, both used rotary shaft-driven single overhead camshaft valve drive systems, and were among the most prominent aviation powerplants of the First World War era. The late-war Liberty L-12 V12 configuration American aviation engine also used the general Mercedes D-series single overhead camshaft design, based primarily on the later D.IIIa's drive system from rocker box to valvestem.
SOHC designs offer reduced complexity compared to pushrod designs when used for multi-valve heads in which each cylinder has more than two valves. An example of an SOHC design using shim and bucket valve adjustment was the engine installed in the Hillman Imp (4 cylinder, 8 valve); a small, early 1960s 2-door saloon car with a rear mounted alloy engine based on the Coventry Climax FWMA race engines. Exhaust and inlet manifolds were both on the same side of the engine block (thus not a crossflow cylinder head design). This did, however, offer excellent access to the spark plugs.
In the early 1980s, Toyota and Volkswagen also used a directly actuated, SOHC parallel valve configuration with two valves for each cylinder. The Toyota system used hydraulic tappets while the Volkswagen system used bucket tappets with shims for valve lash adjustment. Of all valvetrain systems, this is the least complex configuration possible.
Double overhead camshaft (DOHC)
A double overhead camshaft (also known as dual overhead camshaft) valve-train layout is characterized by two camshafts located within the cylinder head, one operating the intake valves and one operating the exhaust valves. Some engines have more than one bank of cylinder heads (ie: V6, V8 where 2 cylinder banks meet to form a 'V') and these have two camshafts in total, but they remain SOHC, unless each side has two camshafts. The term "twin cam" is imprecise, but will normally refer to a DOHC engine. Some manufacturers still managed to use a SOHC in 4-valve layouts. Honda, for instance, with the later half of the D16 family, utilizes the 4-valve per cylinder, SOHC layout to reduce overall costs. Also not all DOHC engines are multivalve engines—DOHC was common in two valve per cylinder heads for decades before multivalve heads appeared. Today, however, DOHC is synonymous with multi-valve heads since almost all DOHC engines have between three and five valves per cylinder.
Source: wikipedia
Source: wikipedia
