The concept of a six-stroke engine was first introduced in the 1920s by Sir Harry Ricardo, a British engineer. The six-stroke cycle is similar to the four-stroke cycle, but it includes two additional strokes:
1. Intake stroke: The piston moves down, drawing air and fuel into the cylinder.
2. Compression stroke: The piston moves up, compressing the air and fuel mixture.
3. Combustion stroke: The spark plug ignites the air and fuel mixture, causing it to burn and expand.
4. Exhaust stroke: The piston moves down, pushing the exhaust gases out of the cylinder.
5. Scavenging stroke: The piston moves up slightly, drawing fresh air into the cylinder to help remove any remaining exhaust gases.
6. Power stroke: The piston moves down, using the energy from the expanding air and fuel mixture to turn the crankshaft.
The six-stroke engine has several advantages over the four-stroke engine. It is more efficient, producing more power and torque while using less fuel. It also produces fewer emissions, as the scavenging stroke helps to remove more exhaust gases from the cylinder.
However, the six-stroke engine is also more complex and expensive to build than the four-stroke engine. As a result, it is not as widely used in production vehicles.
Some examples of vehicles that have used six-stroke engines include the Mazda Wankel rotary engine and the General Motors V6 diesel engine.
