I wonder if anyone on this forum is in touch with PC based engine modelling(?)

That enables vast possibilities in modelling for example camshaft, head porting, or turbo upgrade power & torque graphing.
The very essence of any PC engine modelling program, is to liberate engine builder from actually buying all required components, and dynoing the engine when it's finished.

Thesedays it's within hobbyist's budget to go out there, and buy a copy of such program, and verify forum suggested engine upgrades.

OK, I do admit that many of the main upgrades of importance are known through various forums.
How 'bout when one would need to know how engine behaves with 15% upgraded port flow in a cylinder head throughout entire power band. What's the expected powerband torque delivery? I expect such thread to remain somewhat untouched on the forum.
Not anymore. One can model such change in a head flow under a handful of minutes, and have have accurate prediction within +/-2% of realworld power delivery curve.

There are many programs out there. One of the most known is: Desk Top Dyno 2000.
There are tons of artcles in the net over this. Here's a random pick: http://carcraft.com/techarticles/56003/

I myself am a happy user of Performance Trends / Engine Analyzer Pro .
Please have a look at what possibilities programs offers:
http://www.performancetrends.com/EA30.htm
http://www.performancetrends.com/ea-PLUS.htm
http://www.performancetrends.com/Eng...r_Pro_v3.3.htm

I have managed to design an upggrade camshaft for my diesel engine with this program. Cam is ground up already. Not installed yet.

I have run Piers Diesel 1st gen cam comparison against stock cam in a Cummins 6BT with this program. Very interesting results.

I can post a graph (for public viewing) stock cam vs. Piers Diesel if anyone is interested. Please state what boost you want it in.

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Personal statement - I am in no way affiliated with Performance Trends .
I just plain and simple, enjoy the benefits of the program.

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Please let me know immediately if this post is in violation with general post rules of this forum.

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sincerely: Arto

 

I used to own desktop dyno 2000, we got a new computer and i lost the cd, but i spent a lot of time with that, it's great for small block chevy's and fords as there are a TON of head flow and camshaft data that is importable. I also liked the ability to adjust cylinder head design/flow and camshaft specs.
it's fairly limited for EFI(electronic fuel injection) systems and manifold types. i don't remember there being much input available for turbocharging, i wished i could've put compressor maps into it and more turbine/housing/exhaust input.
That said, desktop dyno is a very user friendly program for the beginner looking to get into PC based engine modeling, especially if you don't know all the specific flow numbers and data to input.

I used the 1 month demo version of Engine Analyzer Pro and I like that one a little better as there's much more specific and precise data inputs; to me it's a more complex and more accurate version of the DesktopDyno and I really liked it, the only reason I didn't buy it is because building an all-out engine for my '62 Nova is on the back burner since I got my Cummins.

I remember the article Car Craft posted and someone, don't remember who(Hot Rod, Car Craft, Chevy High Perf, GM HiTech Perf...don't know...) did a few different articles, building a PC based model of an actual engine they had, they compared the average of the actual engine dyno to the PC based dyno and it was within something like 15hp. Also did this with DragStrip Dyno, which as should be obvious, is a PC based 1/4 mile E.T./trap speed/60 foot time and they input two already built cars and compared the PC against real-world and came within about two tenths of a second.

Pretty accurate IMO. One thing that's especially helpful that I was using the Engine Analyzer Pro for was I want to build a high output engine for my Nova but I don't want it to be a real short, peaky power band as I want it to be somewhat streetable. You can get a very realistic idea of how much that next size bigger cam is going to increase peak power, decrease low end, how it'll change the shape of the power curve(shorter/longer), can see how things like Lobe Separation Angle is going to affect the engine and how much vacuum it'll have at idle which is extremely important on a "streetable" car. is 9 seconds considered streetable?!

All that said, I never looked into what the PC based has to offer for diesel. One thing I did notice on the "What Our Users Say" on the EA Pro is that guys like the Jeg's Pro Stock team, Ken Duttweiler, Reher-Morris Race Engines and Tom Payn all use this software before they build $15-50K custom engines or bank their race season on what the PC says...there's a CRAPLOAD of money in those custom engines and race teams, if it's accurate enough for them I'm sure it'll do just fine for most of our at home tinkerings. oh, i consider aluminum heads, roller cams, fuel injection and turbos at-home tinkering.

 

OOOH! just saw the rotating inertia calculator, didn't know they had that. One idea I'm considering for my nova is a destroked 400ci, short 3.48"(350ci) with the big bore for a final 377c.i. The idea is that the rotating assembly is much lighter and can survive much higher rpms and rev much quicker; which it DEFINITELY does, a friend had a 377 in his 70 chevelle, that thing was about scary fast for the street, can't imagine that in a '62 Nova!!!

it's been a while since I've been to the Performance Trends website, there's a LOT of data input! Wow, no wonder it's so accurate.

What have you done with the diesel PC tuning? I'd be interested in seeing the graphs you have. I'm not planning on changing my cam unless the engine comes out and I'm not planning on having that out; but if you've got the graphs I'm interested in seeing them.