How a Radial Engine Works

[warriordriver350]

The timing is off on the model. The piston passes slightly over before it fires. It was between slightly before and directly up on the model.

[MiggzM]

Has this been tried in a car??

[MynameisElliott]

Cool! i was wondering how these things work. One less thing I have to learn for my commercial pilot's licence!

[kenp3L]

I never understood how these radial engines recycle engine lubricating oil. Wouldn't the bottom cylinders load up with oil? Or is this one of those engines where the oil is mixed into the fuel?

[statewest]

They have extra rings on the bottom cylinder to prevent the oil draining into the cylinder. Normally you turn the engine over by hand before starting to ensure the cylinder isnt full of oil which would cause a hydraulic lock. Once running the oil just splashes away and is collected by a scavenge pump and sent to the oil tank/sump.

[Krahl123]

This is sick!

[fragglepuppies]

Great Stuff. Thanks for posting

[zupperm]

Hypnotic

[180TheDragon]

the guy who invented this desighn mus have been reeeeally high on something...

[faostube]

I remember there was a 17,000 horse power version out there made by some company. 17,000 horse power is ridiculous!

[crystalahmed2008]

there is something wrong ... the center will block the celynder !!!!

[DaMastaOfRoad]

@crystalahmed2008 what??

[aligatorsandcrickets]

@crystalahmed2008 why do you want to block the celynder again? its already being blocked by the heads

[loko95ftp]

7 pistons

[hondabigredatc]

Most radial engines never really rev above 3500 rpm as at those speeds the prop tips go supersonic and efficiency and thrust drops off severely

[xXMxExGxAxDxExTxHXx]

@hondabigredatc whoops, meant to thumbs up you, not down xD

[DaMastaOfRoad]

@hondabigredatc don't the tips of helicopter blades go supersonic?

[hondabigredatc]

@DaMastaOfRoad I should of said the propeller blades as a whole go supersonic, I am pretty sure the tips of both a propeller and a helicopter rotor both go supersonic but its the blades as a whole which matter. Its like a plane traveling at supersonic speeds, conventional wings cease to be effective at producing lift. That's why supersonic aircraft have sweptback wings with a symmetrical upper and lower camber to aid in lift at supersonic speeds.

[aligatorsandcrickets]

@hondabigredatc why?



[MoveFast319]

Wow! They should stack two of those together and put it into a car!

[JBofBrisbane]

@MoveFast319 - It's been tried - you need to keep moving to ensure sufficient air cooling.

BTW - Pratt & Whitney used to build plenty of 2-row radials with 14 or 18 cylinders. Probably the best was the engine used in the Boeing Stratocruiser - TWENTY-EIGHT CYLINDERS in four rows of seven!

[getplaning]

Take any two adjacent cylinders and you have a Harley-Davidson motor.

[MrMansterdawg]

@getplaning That's what I've been told. (single pin crankshaft) but I never could understand how the crank on a radial worked until I saw this video. Isn't You Tube great?

[limasbad]

put v-tec you won't even need the propellers!

[omarbon23]

ahh.,, how thats for airplane .,,its ingine not motor.,, for some toys or other small thing.,,they put motor.,,the one thats has magnets.,,but for real airplane they use engine but,,,its look and complicated that car engine.,,tnxs nice vid.,,

[greglovski]

how are the valves actuated? pneumatics?

[vochitoken]

I wonder how the oiling system works on these engines, I mean no oil sump?

[darksoulPS]

@hawaiifive01 the second type of engine used in aircraft was a rotary engine. It looks like a radial bit the engine itself actually spins around the crankshaft with the propeller mounted to the engine. The radials were the improvement to that rotary design, the engine doesn't need to spin and it produces more power.

[JSFER2]

Are these still used on aircraft today? And are there camshafts for every cylinder?

[BadIdeas101]

@JSFER2

Not modern aircraft. but many older warbirds still use them. Stearmans do I know. No modern aircraft uses them since piston engines are more fuel efficient and quieter. But there's nothing like the loud buzz from a radial engine.

[JSFER2]

@BadIdeas101 thanks and i really do love the sound of these things

[yonian]

@JSFER2

They use one cam ring that operates all the pushrods.

I good animation of this would be worth seeing.

I've been searching for one on the web for years without success.

[sangeethamariya]

danke fürs video bin voll unartig heute! wer hat bock zu texten oder camen

[blackXSpr]

Shouldnt it be... rotating

[DG121480]

@blackXSpr Very old ones, Yes. Not the newer and larger ones.

[colbycous01]

timming is a little early

[ballickmoyler]

@Plan92 I believe the new Porsche 911 turbo has this type of engine.

[Hawaiifive01]

thefunmanchew: Try 2,000 rpm. If you tried to turn any non-toy-sized radial at 12,000 it would likely explode or seize well before that speed.

The radial layout was the second type of engine to be used on aircraft. (The first were Maxim's inline 2cyl steam engines in 1893). In 1903 Charles Manley re-worked Prof.Langley's orig. engine into a 24hp 5-cyl radial. At the same time, Taylor,Wright & Wright built a 12hp inline horizontal 4cyl. engine.

[gomenaros]

What kind of vehicles use this engine?

[tehshadow23]

@gomenaros plane hence the propelor

[SqueakyBoy92]

@gomenaros Some of the Mazda RX-8's have rotary engines. But mostly this type of engine is found in in prop planes.

[gomenaros]

@SqueakyBoy92 Yeah I know but this is not like the Mazda's Rotary Engines. It's a totally different philosophy. Thanks for your reply though

[microdon2]

That is a fantastic demonstration. Also noticed how the spark is advancing to every other piston. VERY cool.

[stubby692007]

@Plan92 aircraft

[stubby692007]

@Plan92 air craft

[doctim11]

Cool. It rolls around like a Wankel engine spins.

[spentacle]

@Plan92 Its in an AIR museum. Think about it.

[KoutetsuTenshin]

how the hell did I end up here

[szymurag]

@KoutetsuTenshin The same way I did !!!!!!!!

[virokill132]

that is a work of art

[TheLOCATION100]

FAKE!

[magnum9987]

The valve train on this must be a motherfucker......

[blueeyes2015]

thats a four cycle right?

[chrisburke63]

what would it be called, a O7 engine?

[moptim]

how are the valves controlled o_O

[PhillipMcLoins]

@moptim A camshaft connected directly to the crank. Notice the offset rotation, serves dual purposes, one for correct piston movement and two to compensate for the valve lobe movements.

[Lucianrider]

That is sweet!! Nice video!

[grumpypant]

For those of you, aviation buff or not, who haven't been to the San Diego Air/Space Museum, I highly recommend all of you to..."Flyboy paradise" is the only best description I can leave you! Also check out the one in Santa Monica airport.

[InTheLBC]

that thing has probally got over 600 cu and super low compression. Its pysically impossible to turn that thing at 12,000rpm. I wouold love to see it though!

[AaronWallace]

@InTheLBC There is no way in hell that is over 600 cid.

I'm giving it 150-200 cid.

[jimmyratz]

Beautiful...Thank you!

[SubtitlesInEnglish]

fascinating!

[64tbirdymwaycom]

what opens the valves on these?

[rocketman63]

@64tbirdymwaycom There is a gear-driven camshaft in the front of the engine that can't be seen in this view. It operates pushrods that run along the front of the cylinders, driving rockers on the cylinder heads that open the valves.

[shylildude]

@64tbirdymwaycom camshaft, camshaft lobes, rocker arms, push rods, camshaft follower, and torque

[maybach6536]

GO SAN DIEGO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[dreifokker]

very nice!!

[died4hislove]

ONE MAJOR REASON WHY A CONVENTIONAL ENGINE IS NOT EFFICIENT

Say piston stroke= 3 inches.The crank arm rotation distance from TDC to BDC = pi ( 1.5)= 4.715 in.

Crank arm excess rotation distance before piston reach BDC= 4.715-piston stroke= 1.715 in.

NOTE :

Piston travel has no delay if: piston stroke=crank arm rotation distance fromTDC to BDC.

Due to large amount of PISTON DELAYED TRAVEL more heat energy is lost to the engine frame & jacket.

Solution, watch:

SUPER-EFFICIENT ENGINE ( PART 3)

[ravingking]

@died4hislove . clever

[mikeycomputer]

Very efficient design. That's really cool.

[bladecatcherX99]

holy shit that has got to be the weirdest looing mechanical engine i have seen! it looks like a weird starfish from a sci-fi movie, i thought rotary engines were weird lol

[patriot91dsrtstrm]

Besides model aircraft engines,did anyone ever build a full scale two stroke radial? You could have a much shorter stroke and thus a higher redline and much quicker throttle response.

[sturmluger]

cool

[VANATAIA]

well in these engine there is no dead times,like a normal 4 stroke

[polisloco]

lol... wrong... you have 4 pistons... :S

[thefumanchew]

Now imagine that at 12,000 RPM

[ted850760]

why ,these engines never turned that

[thefumanchew]

I don't know how fast these engines rev. I was just throwing in a number i'm familiar with. My YZ125 has a redline of 13,000 RPM. It's 125cc single cylinder 2 stroke

[Robkat3751]

I am not certain of the RPMs on a radial but I think I heard 2500.

[doubledexpress]

@thefumanchew Radial engines don't turn high RPM, that is why they work so good for airplanes. Propellers will come apart at much over 3000 RPM.

But to think about everything that is going on in a high RPM engine is pretty amazing.

[Bamchucknorris]

@thefumanchew wow slow down buddy, radials at most topped out at 7-8000 crank rpm.

[irondragsportster]

@thefumanchew

Imagine an I-4 at 50,000 RPM.....

[beeroosterm]

@thefumanchew That motor won't come close to that speed. Perhaps 2500-2800 rpm and no higher.

[zelatur]

@thefumanchew yeah its a amazing how fast this things can rotate.. 12,000 RPM is a 200 Rotate per second ;O

[seanchriscraft]

@thefumanchew Power output for the P&W R-1340 wasp was 542 hp (404 kW) at 2,200 rpm

[kasserm]

@thefumanchew no.

[MartinOhrndorf]

Very interesting, to see how the engine works!!

[thegraveyardboys]

oops dint realise it was seven cyl

[thegraveyardboys]

The spark system would be the same as a v6 ir straight 6 and how would it differ from 4 stroke in any way. I think somone should use the engien in a high proformance car. And it beigng radial trumps the rotary engien because there is less fule consuption, however this is a very big engien compard to the wankle(rotary)Which is very small.

[MDIVISIONRULES]

I think the Radial engine was only used in aeroplanes in the world war,and now only by harley davidson

[Robkat3751]

Radials were used as Tank engines as well as for aircraft.

[gutaplayer]

thats weird how the they will have a firing pattern of when one piston fires it wont fire again until they have completed 2 rounds.

[GrandDanois]

@gutaplayer - that's how a four stroke engine works. Sparks every second turn.

[gutaplayer]

yeah i know about engines. its just weird how the whole radial engine works the 4 stroke

[jaxkesa]

of course...its a 4 stroke...so there are 3 other strokes first!

[yamahonkawazuki]

@jaxkesa Aye its the whorehouse principle.

suck

squeeze

bang

blow

[ag007700]

@yamahonkawazuki

LOL

[porkpig350]

axial preload must be a bitch to set!!

[tonyf686]

have they ever used any kind of forced induction, or would that not be practical for this type of engine?

[ValExperimenter]

Forced induction is common with these engines the usual form is a centrifugal supercharger coaxial with the crank on the back and geared up though planetary gears. The diffuser becomes the inlet manifold and the carby feeds into the centre of the impeller.

[tonyf686]

wow thats kinda cool, i would have thought these were too low rev to benefit alot

[popplewort333]

Simply ingenious

Would be impossible to find s similar device in nature.

[popplewort333]

Can't see the pushrod actuators in this cutaway.

Well, neither is the firing order obvious.

Should put a 5 mi. long chain from a Ford Triton engine on it.

Hah, hah, ...

[ValExperimenter]

The pushrods are actuated by a cam ring at the back running coaxial to the crank at 1/2 crank speed, roller lifters are used. The firing order is 1357246 to spread t the firing strokes over 2 revs.

[popplewort333]

The next step is an OHC radial engine.

Is this possible?

[ValExperimenter]

Of course, just stick a camshaft or two in every head along with a means to drive them. As aircraft radial engines have high stroke to bore ratios and moderate piston speeds they are not valve acceleration constrained meaning that simple pushrod valve gear is adequate.

[flanksteak2]

No reason when are already supercharged.

[unnamedgrave]

there is no "over" if your engine is circular

[AnonymoussourceL0L]

Isn't science awesome???

[tippete123]

aweome dude

[robertgift]

What is the counterweight countering?

[Hyperion17]

The point where all the pistons meet at the crankshaft is offset, which the weight counters.

Without it the shaft's center of gravity wouldn't be centered, and the rotation would create unwanted centripetal force, undoubtedly damaging the pistons.

[robertgift]

Thank you.

Looks awfully big.

[RifledBarrel]

@ 'robertgift'.......the eccentric rotation of the crank...my good fellow

[robertgift]

Now I see.

Thanks, Barrel

[JohnnyGeologist]

notice that the crankshaft and pistons are all movingbasically moving around in the same direction together. That's a lot of mass and it would basically make the engine shake around like a dryer with an uneven load, only a lot faster. It would shake uncontrollably.

the counter weight is there to counteract that. It's always moving the opposite way the pistons and crankshaft are moving.

[pentium6xx]

its not practical for cars

[Powdermonkey09]

Plenty of aircraft still use them mainly antique and agricultural aircraft. Never heard of or seen any automotive applications of radial engines though, must have something to do with the propeller on the front.

[MsFarQ2]

yeah the Lamborghini Murcielago uses this engine configuration, it makes 30,000 bhp

[Quarker99]

Hilarious, man. Funny. Haha

[paperkiller25]

lol this made me spit beer on my keyboard. 30,000 bhp riiiiight!

[kardonman]

that is wicked! so neat

[ChiBriE30]

why is everyone talking about wankel, the title says radial not rotary.

[boxer3main]

strangely reminds me of a trochoid oil pump in an old subaru EA engine.

[lucashc2]

I saw a bike running with one of these once... imagine how much torque it would have!

xD

[thedirtydeltas]

I love this, thank you for posting.

[HondaH100A]

This is similar to WWII radial aircraft engine. I don't mean to ask the obvious, but do these pistons have rings at the bottom of their skirts?

[dexterfan11]

blows my mind!

[1ShadowZ1]

does it make much heat?

[jezztech]

thats a superb video which indicates direct liniage to the comparativly modern application of the Wankel engine in superb vehicles such as Nsu R080 and Mazda Rx3.

[xronisxronis]

you r talking about something different!!!

[jezztech]

have you ever studied mechanical engineering, history and theory!? of course I am talking about something different and Know it!! just like the steam engine predated internal combustion, my point being ( bleeding obvious) that the crankshaft and subsequent output shafts are epicentral to the cumbustion chambers. If you do know anything at all about engines I`m surprised you cant understand my point!!

[xronisxronis]

I find kind of weird your comparison...

[newcomer9747]

noob

[mageac]

nothing like a wankel...

[jango1968]

that isnt a wankel

[mageac]

thats what i said....

[Bamchucknorris]

this is not a rotary engine

[jezztech]

Its pointless continuing the debate, if people refuse to see my very simple point, of course its not arotary engine!

[Bamchucknorris]

YOU must understand that you CANT compare an engine with pistons to that which has triangular rotors for there is no mechanical comparison in any way. Do not even hope that the supposed "eloquent" manner in which you speak makes you seem smart in any way.. but rather stupid for the ridiculous comparison of a radial engine to a Wankel engine.

[jezztech]

if YOU cant see my point fair do`s dont get so agreived! rather get a life you sad person, you are loosing the ability to debate without resorting to insults. Why do you put Elequent in quotation marks? I suggest you learn good manners sir!

[Bamchucknorris]

Excuse me sir, but you were the one who suggested that wankel engines are SOMEHOW related to RADIAL engines, in which they absolutely do not. I have had enough of your nonsensical ravings from your lunatic mind!! Just admit that it was a fucking mistake to relate a wankel to a radial an shut your big mouth!

[jezztech]

You r the lunatic! swearing does not make you correct! it is not I that has a big mouth! rather you have a serious atitude problem.YOU Sir r the 1 who is raving! Try googling , rotary engine united states patent 4418663.

[FingerLickinGravy67]

looks like itd vibrate like a bitch

[gearheadguru]

thats why the crankshaft has a counter weight

[ericclapton36]

Not Vibrate...Purr.

[idkyoo]

looks like a sex toy to me...

[zajdabneeg]

lol hahaha

[Krotidas]

Awesome vid man

[rroberts383]

never mind i see there are 2 wrist pins basically, one top one bottom

[rroberts383]

only problem i see is 7 rods on 1 crank. the rod journals must be NARROW, or a wide journal(making a weak crank?)

[Nuance5]

There's one master rod on the top cylinder. There are six articulating rods, on the other cylinders; they have "knuckle" pins attaching them to the Master rod.

A radial engine has the advantage of even air cooling on all cylinders.

[brendonv101]

I guess aircrafts need a lot of torque, thats a lot of fuel.

[balls2yourface]

its really good but the whole time 1 of the pistons wasnt firing and i hope that they put more piston engines rather than jet engines besides jets burn so much fuel while at idol rather than piston engies and jets are louder.

[xGSxMayhem94]

how do all of those connect to a drive system?

[RestauranteChines]

I'd say they are all connected to a crank. Then the crank would be connected to some transmission or a single pulley...and so on....

[xGSxMayhem94]

yeah. but the crank itself looks confusing

[oogiboogy]

This engine is intended for use on an aircraft...So there is nothing else to power except the propeller, If you look close you can see the propeller turning on the other side.