This document summarizes an experimental investigation into the energy stored in a flywheel motor system with multiple human operators. The study developed an experimental setup using elliptical and circular chainwheels connected to flywheels of varying mass. Trials were conducted with male riders of different weights and ages, measuring the revolutions and calculated energy stored for various gear ratios, flywheel masses, chainwheel types, rider weights and ages. The results showed that energy storage increased with rider weight up to 70kg, and was highest for riders aged 25-30 years. Elliptical chainwheels stored approximately 13% more energy than circular chainwheels. The study aims to optimize the performance of human-powered flywheel systems.

1. International Journal of Research in Advent Technology, Vol.2, No.6, June 2014
E-ISSN: 2321-9637
Experimental Investigation of Energy Stored In Flywheel
259
Motor with Multiple Operator
P.A.Hatwalne1, A.K.Pitale2 , A.N.Mahure3.
1 Assistant Professor Department of Mechanical Engg., JDIET, Yavatmal
2 Professor , PRMIT & R , Badnera
3. Assistant Professor Department of Mechanical Engg., JDIET, Yavatmal
Abstract- In the recent past various human powered machines such as brick making machine, chaff cutter, soap
mixer, flour mill, etc are developed. The common system among all these machines is flywheel motor. Since
invention the flywheel motor is being the subject of many to optimize its performance. This investigation is carried
out with purpose to establish the trends of energy storage in flywheel with multiple rider. For this the experimental
set up of flywheel motor with multiple rider was developed. The setup uses the elliptical as well as regular circular
chainwheel of bicycle. The pair of rider with different age group, different weight will drive the system with
variation in gear ratio, masses of flywheel. The energy stored in each case is then determined.
Keywords: Flywheel motor, elliptical chain wheel, circular chainwheel.
1. INTRODUCTION
Any machine, to power it by human energy,
the maximum power requirement should be 75Watts.
Any machine or process requiring more than 75 Watts
and if process is intermittent without affecting and
product, can also be operated by human energy
(Alexandrove 1981)[3]. This is possible with the
provision of intermediate energy storing unit which
stores the energy of human and supply periodically at
required rate to process unit, this is called as “human
powered flywheel motor.”
The schematics of flywheel
motor is as shown in figure 1.It essentially consists of
bicycle mechanism, speed increasing gears and
flywheel. The human operator along with the bicycle
pedal mechanism together forms the four bar chain
mechanism M. mechanism M consists of rider thigh
(O1A), riders leg (AB), pedal length (BO2) and the
fixed link distance
Fig1.2: Schematics of flywheel motor.

2. International Journal of Research in Advent Technology, Vol.2, No.6, June 2014
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260
from hip joint to pedal axis(O1O2). The rider
pedals via mechanism M, converting oscillatory motion
of thighs into rotational motion of counter shaft (CS).
This is made possible by using various mechanism such
as elliptical sprocket, double lever inversion and quick
return ration one. These mechanisms improves the
human energy utilization 18%, 34% and 17%
respectively. The countershaft (CS) is connected to the
flywheel shaft (FS) with the step up transmission ,
consisting of pair of spur gears. The driver powers the
flywheel at a comfortable energy input rate. Thus this
man machine system converts human muscular energy
into the rotational kinetic energy of the flywheel which
is then supplied to respective processing machines.
2. OVERVIEW OF PRESENT WORK
Since inventions numerous experimentation
has been done for the performance optimization. But all
of them were consisting of only one operator. Hence in
this work it was decided to develop setup for two
operator and determine the trend of energy stored in
flywheel.
As stated experimental set up consisting of the
two bicycle frame mounted on the either side of main
shaft. The chain drive used consists of elliptical
chainwheel as well as regular circular chainwheel. Both
these chainwheel are alternately used. Pedaling causes
the main shaft to rotate in one particular direction. To
achieve this a pair of spur gear is used to reverse the
direction of one of the bicycle output and hence main
shaft will rotate in one direction only. From the main
shaft power is transmitted to gear box having step up
ratio 1:4. Flywheel is mounted on the output shaft of
the gear box.
The drive mechanism used is chain
drive. The larger sprocket of which is elliptical in shape
instead a circular one. The reason behind using elliptical
sprocket is get maximum utilization human energy
during pedaling which is already being proved
experimentally. The possible lay out of the experimental
set up is as shown in figure 1.4.
Fig1.4: Proposed layout of the experimental set up.
3. TRIALS AND EXPERIMENTATION
Trials were taken on the set up. The two male
riders of equal weight and from various age groups are
asked to pedal the system. Pair of nearly equally
weighing operators from nearly same age group pedals
the system for constant time period of 15 seconds. The
observations of revolutions of flywheel were recorded
for three gear ratios viz; top second and first and for the
three different masses of flywheel namely 35 Kg, 25
Kg, and 20 Kg. In such a way readings are taken for the
persons weighing from 40 Kg to 90 Kg in interval of
5Kg and age from 20-50 years.
The procedure adopted for carrying different
tests on the device is discussed below:
Initially the whole set up is checked properly
for any misalignment.
Two male riders from almost same age group
and almost equally weighing are asked to pedal the
flywheel at a time .

3. International Journal of Research in Advent Technolog
E-ISSN: 2321-9637
They are asked to pedal for 15 seconds
particular gear position.
By using the tachometer revolutions of
flywheel motor are noted.
Then gear shifting from second to third and
then third to top revolutions of flywheel motor are
noted.
Procedure are repeated for different operators.
All these readings ate taken in similar steps for
both elliptical and circular chainwheel trials were taken
on two different days for elliptical and circular so
operator can apply himself at his full capacity.
Exhaustive experimentation were conducted for circular
200
150
100
50
0
40-45 45-50 50-55
Technology, Vol.2, No.6, June 2014
that
y, and elliptical chainwheels and the average RPM for
each group were recorded.
4. RESULT AND DISCUSSION
Comparison of kinetic energy stored in
flywheel for circular and elliptical chainwheel for
different gear positions and mass of flywheel
1.For different Gear positions:
· At top gear.
for flywheel mass=20 Kg.
chainwheel.
55-60 60-65 65-70 70-75 75-80 80-85
Graphical comparison of energy stored in flywheel by elliptical and circular chainwheel for 20 kg mass flywheel at
for flywheel mass=25 Kg.
K.E. stored
comparison of K.E stored between elliptical and circular
160
140
120
100
80
60
40
20
0
40-45 45-50 50-55
K.E.stored
top gear.
comparison of K.E stored between elliptical and circular
chainwheel.
55-60 60-65 65-70 70-75 75-80 80-85
261
el are plotted
circular
chainwheel
elliptical
chainwheel
circular
chainwheel
elliptical
chainwheel

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Graphical comparison of energy stored in flywheel by elliptical and circular chainwheel for 25 kg mass flyw
· for flywheel mass=35 Kg.
150
100
50
top gear
chainwheel.
55-60 60-65 65-70 70-75 75-80 80-85
flywheel at
Graphical comparison of energy stored in flywheel by elliptical and circular chainwheel for 35 kg mass flywheel at
top gear.
2.Variation of kinetic energy stored for different age group.
· for circular chainwheel.
140
120
100
80
60
40
20
50-55 55-60 60-65 65-70 70-75 75-80
Graphical comparison of energy stored in flywheel by circular chainwheel for 35 kg mass flywheel at top gear for
· for elliptical chainwheel.
0
40-45 45-50 50-55
K.E. Stored
comparison of K.E stored between elliptical and circular
0
40-45 45-50 50
K.E. stored
variation of K.E. for different age group for circular chainwheel.
different age groups operators.
y, 262
circular
chainwheel
elliptical
chainwheel
80-85
20-25
25-30
30-40
40-50

5. International Journal of Research in Advent Technolog
180
160
140
120
100
80
60
40
20
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50-55 55-60 60-65 65-70 70-75 75-80 80
Graphical comparison of energy stored in flywheel by elliptical chainwheel fo
for 35 kg mass flywheel at top gear for
different age groups operators.
3.Comparison of kinetic energy stored in flywheel for circular and elliptical chainwheel for different weight of
operators :
· for flywheel mass =20 Kg.
200
180
160
140
120
100
80
60
40
20
55-60 60-65 65-70 70-75 75-80 80-85
Fig7.13: Graphical comparison
· for flywheel mass= 25 Kg
0
40-45 45-50 50
K.E. stored
variation of K.E. for different age group for elliptical chainwheel.
0
40-45 45-50 50-55
Kinetic energy
stored
comparison of circular Vs elliptical chainwheel for K.E. stored
of energy stored in flywheel by elliptical and circular chainwheel for 20 kg
mass flywheel.
circular top
circular 2nd gear
circular 1st gear
elliptical top gear
elliptical 2nd gear
elliptical 1st gear
y, 263
r 80-85
20-25
25-30
30-40
40-50

6. International Journal of Research in Advent Technolog
160
140
120
100
80
60
40
20
0
y, comparison of circular Vs elliptical chainwheel for K.E. stored
40-45 45-50 50-55
55-60 60-65 65-70 70-75 75-80 80-85
Fig7.14: Graphical comparison of energy stored in flywheel by elliptical and circular chainwheel for 25 kg
· for flywheel mass= 35 Kg.
K.E. stored
160
140
120
100
80
60
40
20
0
comparison of circular Vs elliptical chainwheel for K.E. stored
40-45 45-50 50
K.E.stored
50-55 55-60 60-65 65-70 70-75 75-80 80-85
Graphical comparison of energy stored in flywheel by elliptical and circular chainwheel for 35 kg mass flywheel.
5. DISCUSSIONS
Thus the kinetic energy stored in flywheel for
various combinations of mass of flywheel, gear
and operators are calculated. To plot the graph between
various parameters the average values of energy are
calculated.
Variation of kinetic energy according to weight of
operators:
Technology, Vol.2, No.6, June 2014
E-ISSN: 2321-9637
mass flywheel.
ratio
The graphs plot for the energy stored in flywheel of
different weights clearly indicates that amount of energy
stored in the flywheel goes on continuously increasing
with the weight of the operator.
But after almost the weight 70 kg there is certain fall fal
in
energy is observed. The graphs also shows the
comparison between elliptical and circular chainwheel
and it is clear that energy stored in case of elliptical
264
circular top gear
circular 2nd gear
circular 1st gear
elliptical top gear
elliptical 2nd gear
elliptical 1st gear
circular top
circular 2nd gear
circular 1st gear
elliptical top gear
elliptical 2nd gear
elliptical 1st gear

7. International Journal of Research in Advent Technology, Vol.2, No.6, June 2014
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chainwheel is more than circular one. This is because of
the effective utilization of input torque produced by the
operator as stated earlier in literature review.
Variation of kinetic energy according to gear ratio and
mass of flywheel:
The graphs plotted for variation of kinetic energy
according to gear ratio clearly revels that revolutions
and hence the energy stored in flywheel increase with
the increase in the gear ratio. But however this
increment in the energy stored is not significant because
it is expected that the revolutions of flywheel will
increase with the increase in the gear ratio. But since the
pedaling time is kept constant i.e., 15 seconds as gear
ratio is increased the angular acceleration of the
flywheel is also increases. Now as moment of inertia of
flywheel for specific reading is kept constant this will
result in increased torque to drive the flywheel. This
means that with the increase in gear ratio the input
energy by the operator must also be increased.
Variation of kinetic energy according age group:
From the graph indicating the variation of energy for
different age group indicates the operators from the age
group about 20-30 years have generated more energy as
compared to other groups.
Comparison between elliptical and circular
chainwheel:
All the above graphs plotted shows the
comparison between elliptical and circular chainwheel.
from all those graphs it is clear that energy stored is
more in case of elliptical chainwheel as compared to
circular chainwheel. This is because of the elliptical
shape of the chainwheel which reduces the idle span of
pedaling and hence making the effective and efficient
utilization of operators input energy. From the
observations made and calculation the increase of about
13% as compared to circular one is observed.
6. CONCLUSION
Thus an experimental set up for the flywheel motor for
multiple rider is developed with provision of both
conventional circular chainwheel as well as elliptical
one. Experimentation were conducted. Results of the
experimentation puts out some of the following
conclusion. From the graph of variation of kinetic
energy Vs the weight of the operators it is observed the
kinetic energy stored in each flywheel viz., 20 Kg, 25
Kg and 35 Kg; increase with increase in weight of the
operators. But this increment in kinetic energy is upto
around 65-70 Kg operators. After that slight fall down
in the output is observed. Thus for this investigation the
maximum energy stored was obtained for the operators
weighing 65-70 kg.
From the graph of variation of kinetic energy Vs Age of
the operators it was observed that operators between the
age 25-30 years had stored maximum kinetic energy.
For operators above 30 years slight fall down in the
energy is observed.
As such energy stored at each gear position viz top,
second and first shows increases with increased gear
ratio.
All these experimentation were conducted for the both
elliptical and circular chainwheel. And it was found
that elliptical chainwheels are more efficient as
compared to circular one. The advantage of about 13%
in storing kinetic energy was observed which is closer
to claimed 18-20%..
However all these trends of energy
storage in each of the above case doesn’t follow the
some proportionate pattern. This is because that
revolution of the flywheel totally depends on the factor
such as physical strength of the operator , pedaling rate,
atmospheric condition. This indicates that phenomenon
of energy release in human body is highly complex,
varying as load on the limbs and above parameters
changes. The complexity of this phenomenon is the
justification for the need for the experimental solution.
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