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Table of Contents

List of Contents.- 1 - Introduction.- Definition and Nomenclature.- History.- Thermodynamics of the Stirling Cycle.- The Stirling Cycle Refrigerator.- The Stirling Cycle Heat Pump.- The Stirling Cycle Pressure Generator.- Practical Stirling Engines.- Mechanical Arrangements.- Piston-Displacer in the Same Cylinder.- Pistons.- Displacers.- Advantages of the Piston and Displacer System.- Piston and Displacer in Separate Cylinders.- Single-Acting Engines.- Double-Acting Engines.- Reciprocator Drives: Kinematic or Free-Piston.- Kinematic Drive Engines.- Free-Piston Engines.- Advantages of Free-Piston Stirling Engines..- Disadvantages of Free-Piston Stirling Engines.- Closure.- References.- 2 - Free-Piston Stirling Engines.- I: Elementary Aspects.- How a Free-Piston Stirling Engine Works.- Beale Free-Piston Stirling Demonstrator Engine.- Types and Classifications of Free-Piston Stirling Engines.- Single-Acting Free-Piston Stirling Engines.- i) Two-Piston Arrangements.- ii) Piston-Displacer Arrangements.- iii) Split-Stirling Systems.- Double-Acting Free-Piston Stirling Engines.- Hybrid Stirling Engines.- Pendulum Free-Piston Stirling Engines.- Diaphragm Free-Piston Stirling Engines.- Duplex Free-Piston Stirling Engines.- II; Dynamics of Free-Piston Stirling Engines.- Vibrating Systems; An Elementary Review.- Degrees of Freedom.- Free Vibration.- Simple Harmonic Motion.- Viscous Damping.- Equation of Motion.- Non-Viscous Damping.- Systems with More Than One Degree of Freedom.- Non-Linear Systems.- Vector Representation of Vibrating Systems.- Vector Addition and Subtraction.- Force Representation.- Vector Force Polygon.- Work Input and Power Consumption.- Free-Piston Stirling Engines as Vibrating Systems.- Vector Representation of Free-Piston Stirling Engines.- a) Piston-Displacer System, Both Elements Sprung to Ground.- b) Piston-Displacer System with the Displacer Sprung to Ground.- c) Piston-Displacer System with the Displacer Sprung to the Piston.- d)Split-Stirling Engine.- e)Two-Piston Stirling Engine.- f)Free-Cylinder Stirling Engine.- g)Double-Acting Stirling Engine.- III; Some Practical Considerations.- Piston Centering.- Seals.- Bearings.- Hydrodynamic Bearings.- Hydrostatic Bearings.- Materials.- Springs.- Spring Stiffness.- Closure.- References.- 3 - Theoretical Analysis and Design.- Elementary Design Tools.- Ideal Cycle.- Beale Number.- Frequency Estimation.- Efficiency.- First Order Analysis Methods.- Schmidt Analysis.- Free-Piston Engine Dynamics.- Linearization of Pressure.- Second Order Analysis.- Basic Power Calculation.- Loss Mechanisms.- Available Programs.- Third Order Analysis.- Analytic Design of Free-Piston Engines.- Nomenclature.- References.- 4 - The Sunpower Engines.- Chronology.- Sunpower Advice to the Designer of Free-Piston Stirling Engines.- Free-Piston Engines and Rotary Motion.- Guidelines for Free-Piston Stirling Engine Application.- References.- 5 - Hybrid or Ringbom-Stirling Engines.- The Hybrid Concept.- The Ringbom Engine.- Overdriven Mode Operation.- Comparison with Free-Piston Engines.- Basic Approaches to Design of Hybrids.- The Overdriven Mode Operation Concept.- Stable Operation.- First Order Analysis.- Isothermal Model for Hybrid Ringbom-Stirling Engines.- A Criterion for Overdriven Mode Operation.- Overdriven Mode Theorem.- Application of the Theorem.- Some Practical Considerations.- Displacer Drive Loss.- Top End Tuning.- General Design Guidelines.- Practical Ringbom-Stirling Engines.- Nomenclature.- References.- 6 - Diaphragm Stirling Engines: The Harwell Thermo-Mechanical Generator.- Diaphragms.- Displacer Design.- The Alternator.- System Dynamics.- Losses.- Viscous Losses.- Regenerator Losses.- Imperfect Heat Conduction.- Computed Losses.- Increasing the Generator Power.- Operating Experience.- Conclusions.- Nomenclature.- References.- 7 - Small Free-Piston Stirling Engine: Power Systems fofr the Artificial Heart.- The Artificial Heart.- Stirling Engines in Artificial Hearts.- The Aerojet - General Engine.- Advantages.- Disadvantages.- Other Applications.- The JCGS Engine.- Potential Applications.- Comparison of the JCGS and Aerojet General Engines.- Thermo-Electron Free-Piston Stirling Steam Engine.- Conclusion.- References.- 8 - Large Free-Piston Stirling Engines.- Feasibility of Large Stirling Engines.- Applications of Large Stirling Engines.- Power Systems.- Large Cryocoolers, Refrigerating Machines and Heat Pumps.- The Gas-Fired Natural Gas Liquefier.- Conclusion.- References.- 9 - Free-Piston Stirling Cryocoolers.- Free-Piston Stirling Cryocooler.- Integral Free-Piston Stirling Cryocooler.- Split-Stirling Cryocooler.- Large Stirling Cryocooler.- Liquid-Piston Stirling Cryocooler.- Conclusion.- References.- 10 - Liquid Piston Stirling Engines.- Basic Principles.- Tuning of Liquid Columns.- Feedback Systems.- Pumping Configurations.- Wet and Dry Machines.- Flow Effects.- Transient Heat Transfer Loss.- Results.- Engines for Beginners.- Future Development.- Nomenclature.- References.- Name Index.