Several machines currently used, internal combustion engines for the car industry or thermal power plants in energy, exhaust a considerable amount of heat. Generally this heat is dispersed in the atmosphere and its energy lost. So we took a special interest in external heat engines which primary energy is heat energy, and more particularly in Stirling engines. One of its main characteristics is the used of energy from heat produced externally like energy source. This allows Stirling engines to be multi-fuel and even to use natural heat energy.The study carried out is made up of two parts. First, a three zones zero dimensional finite-time thermodynamic model has been developed. It takes into account the heat transfer from the walls and the pressure drop, but does not prejudge the dimensions of the engine nor the conditions of its functioning. It is thus able to remain flexible and to adjust to the specific architecture of the engine that should be simulated. Afterwards, we have realized a series of experimental measures thanks to two engines different in size and power (a few Watt and 1 kW). These results allowed us to validate the model. In the end, we got a numerical model representing the influence of dimensional and functional parameters on the power of a Stirling engine.Eventually, a tool to assist in designing Stirling engines was developed adding an optimization algorithm to the model. It allows to sketch out a preliminary draft of the characteristics of a Stirling engine. Depending on the desired application and on the constraints exerted on the engine, the tool created will act on the characteristics of the engine chosen by the user to maximize its performances.
