Stirlingengineforum.com

With all these types of analysis around (isothermal,adiabatic,first order, second order, third order and so on) which type of analysis will be suitable for practical purposes of initial design of engine rather than too detailed study and trying to improve the efficiency by 1-2%

...........I see many here on the forum spending way too much time in the analysis of model Stirling. They are book smart but when it comes down to the nuts and bolts of building a running engine they are stuck in the mud and just don't separate the praticality of constuction with the science of why they run. So we have two groups who patronize the forum, Theorists and mechanics. Both are valid however if you have mechanical abilitys and tend to get lost in the math of Stirling, a reason you haven't gotten a start in actual modeling there are kits and ready to run models available. Sometimes when its in front of you up and running, its not a stretch to duplicate the parts and change the configuration for your own unique design. Ian S C has the tried and true basics of various Stirling clearances & sizing of individual parts and the importance of sealing leaks. For him & I who build model Stirling, we could care less about how efficient they are. For the model hobbiest, a running engine is the goal!