Wankel Engine animation

Autodesk Inventor animation of a Wankel rotary engine.

Category:

Film & Animation

Tags:

• Wankel
• renesis
• Inventor

[flyweightnate]

Where a Wankel engine excels is endurance. The engine is smaller, lighter, and more robust for a similar power output, so while maintenance is expensive, it needs to be done less frequently. Look up the history of Wankel-powered LeMans vehicles. The weight advantage and inability to seize when overheated are ideal for such high-stress environments.

[flyweightnate]

I'm no 'expert' either, but those are issues, certainly. The tip seals are carbide, so they don't wear out, and the face seals actually last quite a while too, as they merely spin against the surfaces. The big issues with rebuilds is that, should the gearing wear or warp, the tip seals mutilate the chamber. Emissions are an issue due to moderate gas efficiency (30mpg is quite difficult to obtain) and a less-than-stellar compression ratio.

A standard piston engine is usually superior.

[flyweightnate]

Mazda RX7/ RX8 is proof of concept. The engine can handle over 3 times the total RPM as a reciprocating piston engine, and is readily balanced. Transmission durability becomes the primary issue, and lessened fuel efficiency.

[MiciBhilli]

Isn't the output shaft rotating in the wrong direction?

[flyweightnate]

Yup, it is... the video got posted in reverse... and I don't feel like uploading the corrected one, cuz I'm lazy. At least I'm honest.

[tomcatfranks]

It's spinning the other way because it's British. (right-hand spin) just kiddin' :)

[jtlovett27]

Couldnt you add another main hosuing plat then add another rotor housing then another front housing to create a four rotor?

[theanswer00]

@flyweightnate What about fuel consuption? When the Mazda won at Le Mans, everybody was using very unefficient engines, but what about now? Would a Wankel powered prototype compete against a diesel one?

[jwrosenbury]

@flyweightnate Superior for what? Piston engines are better at some things like fuel efficiency (the Atkinson cycle is better still). Wankel rotaries are better at others things like power to weight ratio and softer failure modes (The engine doesn't seize as often). Choose the right engine for the job.

[FlyingSnake110]

@flyweightnate

There is common misunderstanding in wankel operation.

Although in one rotor has three chambers, ignition occurs ones per one crankshaft revolution. You can check this by looking carefully at any accurate Wankel engine animation, or movie showing how it works, where You can see how crankshaft is moving.

It still is superior to reciprocating piston engine in terms of vibration, max rpm and power to weight ratio.

[Snapeshit]

@mcsnowman11 they called them wankel because some guy named Wankel Made it,

[mocasvaldo]

What's the top revs for such engine ? cuz it looks like if it spins too fast the vibration would destroy it.

[mcsnowman11]

wow. people are calling these wanke's now? there called rotary engines.

[shinyfuzzy]

they tried diesel i think

[FPAUTO]

they made a hydrogen rx8 as a proto.

[RotangDan]

the revolutions taken is off the eccentric shaft on a rotary and the crankshaft off a piston engine so yes an rx8 at 9k rpm is making 9000 revolutions per minute from the shaft. so basically the rotor does the same job as the piston... spinning the shaft so just because the rotor itself may only be going 3000 rpm the eccentric shaft is still going 9000 rpm..... 9k rpm on a rotary IS 9k rpm

[SMGslimg00dy]

This is actually mis-led to some people. Yes the rx7/8 can do 7-9k RPM, but the engine doesn't actually spin that fast, when you say the rx8 goes to 9k RPM, the wankel engine is actually at 3k rpm. This is because the rx8 finishes 3 revolutions when a piston would finish 1 revolution. It takes more steps for the piston to complete 1 revolution. So when compred, the crankshaft spins faster to complete revolutions than the eccentric shaft because of the rotar design.