Cylinder Bore (d) the nominal inner diameter of working cylinder, usually expressed in mm.

Piston Area (A) is the area of a circle of diameter equal to the cylinder bore, usually expressed in square
centimeter.

Stroke (L) is the nominal distance through which a working piston moves between two successive
reversals of its direction of motion, usually expressed in millimeters.

Stroke to Bore Ratio: L/d. An over-square engine can operate at higher speeds because of a larger bore
and shorter stroke.

d<L d=L d>L

Under-square engine Square engine Over-square engine

Dead Centre is the position of the working piston and the moving parts which are mechanically
connected to it, at the moment when the direction of the piston motion is reversed at either end of the
stroke.

Top Dead Centre (TDC): Piston is furthest away from crankshaft.

Bottom Dead Centre (BDC): Piston is nearest to the crankshaft.

Displacement or Swept Volume (VS) is the nominal volume swept by the working piston when travelling
from TDC to BDC, usually expressed in cubic centimetres (cc). VS = A L = d2L

Cubic Capacity or Engine Capacity is the displacement volume of a cyclinder multiplied by the number of
cylinders in an engine. For K number of cylinders in an engine, Cubic capacity = V S K.

Clearance Volume (VC) is the nominal volume of the combustion chamber above the piston when it is at
TDC, usually expressed in cubic centimetres.