  The study of free piston Stirling engine (FPSE) requires both accurate
thermodynamic and dynamic modelling to predict its performances. The steady
state behaviour of the engine partly relies on non linear dissipative phenomena
such as pressure drop loss within heat exchangers which is dependant on the
temperature within the associated components. An analytical thermodynamic model
which encompasses the effectiveness and the flaws of the heat exchangers and
the regenerator has been previously developed and validated. A semi-analytical
dynamic model of FPSE is developed and presented in this paper. The
thermodynamic model is used to define the thermal variables that are used in
the dynamic model which evaluates the kinematic results. Thus, a coupled
iterative strategy has been used to perform a global simulation. The global
modelling approach has been validated using the experimental data available
from the NASA RE-1000 Stirling engine prototype. The resulting coupled
thermodynamic-dynamic model using a standardized description of the engine
allows efficient and realistic preliminary design of FPSE.
