Quote:
Originally Posted by SteveB31
It has always been my understanding that we remove the weight off the flywheel BECAUSE we add the weights on the crankshaft to counter balance the crankshaft (like Ford did on the later B motors). Therefore, we still have the SAME amount of total weight (crankshaft + weights + flywheel) like Ford did (they reduced the flywheel weight when they added weight to the crankshaft).
Your thoughts?
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When it comes to rotational inertia of a rotating system (also known as moment of inertia), not all mass added or removed from the system is the same. It also depends on the SQUARE of the distance that mass is from the center of rotation.
Here is a simple example:
1 lb. of mass that is removed 10" from the center of rotation (1*10*10=100 lb-sq.in.) is equivalent to 4 lbs. of mass added to a point 5" from the center of rotation (4*5*5=100 lb-sq.in.)
to maintain the same total rotational inertia of the system.
So, to remove as many pounds from the flywheel as you add to the crank in counterweights is probably over correcting by quite a bit, because the counterweights added are probably closer to the crankshaft main bearing centers than the weight you removed from the flywheel. You need to keep track of where you are removing and adding the weight.
This is classical mechanics.