Metrological Study on the Setting of the Top Dead Center in Internal Combustion Engines

An experimental study was carried out on two engines of different displacement, in order to analyze in detail the two most common methods for the determination of the top dead center. The direct method, in which the top dead center is obtained from direct measurement of the piston position was compared with the thermodynamic method, based on the pressure curve in the combustion chamber. The experimental results show that the thermodynamic method, is accurate.