EASTERN MEDITERRANEAN UNIVERSITY

DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

Wankel Rotary
y Engines
g
Presented by: Asst. Prof. Dr. Hasan Hacisevki

1) History of Rotary Machines:

The rotaryy combustion engines

g
came into vogue
g in the First
World War There are three main types of true rotary engines:
engines:
1) Wankel types based on eccentric rotors
rotors..
2) Scissor action types using vanes or pistons
pistons..
3) Revolving block types ('cat and mouse' type).
type).

Designs for rotary engines were proposed as early as

as1588
1588 by
Ramelli..
Ramelli

The advent of the automobile in 1896 to set the stage for a proper
rotary combustion engine.
engine.

Furthermore, it took Felix Wankel to catalogue and organizes 862

configuration pairs, of which 278 are impractical.
impractical.

Wankel investigated 149 designs

designs..

Prior to 1910,
1910, more than 2000 patents for rotary pistons were filed.
filed.

Other early designs were made by Huygens in 1673 and Kepler

Kepler..

Frenchman Sensaud de Lavaud obtained a patent for a four phase

rotary piston engine in 1938,
1938, two years after Felix Wankel.
Wankel.

2) Development:

The Wankel engine was developed in the 70's

70's by many companies,
e.g. by General Motors,
Motors, Daimler Benz
Benz,, Peugeot and Mazda
Mazda..

Theyy built altogether

g
over one million wankel engineengine
g -operated
p
cars..
cars

Because of the arising environmental regulations and in the

consequence of the oil crisis no more investments were done
done..

Only Mazda continued to develop at the rotary engine (e.

(e.g. in 1999
they produced a new car with a wankel engine inside)
inside)..

The future of the Wankel engine looks rather dark

dark..

3) Main types of RCE

RCE::

KKM Kreiskolbenmotor or planetary rotation motor (PLM),

di ti i h d by
distinguished
b one stationary
t ti
peripheral
i h l housing.
h i . The
housing
Th rotor
t
moves in an orbit and propels an eccentric shaft.
shaft. This is easier to
manufacture, cool, and maintain than DKM
DKM.. Intake and exhaust
passages
p
g
are better.
better. Better coolingg is achievable
achievable.. It is more
compact.. Modern rotaries are KKM types.
compact
types.

DKM Drehkolben Maschine or singlesingle

g -rotation engine
g
((SIM),
) the
first RCE, has the distinctive feature of an inner rotating housing
and rotor moving in circular motion around a fixed central shaft.
shaft.
This requires disassembling the motor to change
sparkk plugs
l
(three),
( h ) perhaps
h
the
h main
i reason it
i
was discarded. However, DKM is the smoother
of the two, and high rates beyond 25,000 rpm
are possible, Bearing loads are lighter.
Fig.1

4) How Rotary Engines Work:

In a piston engine, the same volume of

space (the
(th cylinder)
li d ) alternately
lt
t l does
d
four different jobs
jobs;; intake, compression,
combustion and exhaust.
exhaust.

A rotary engine does these same four

jobs, but each one happens in its own
part of the housing.
p
housingg.

It's kind of like having a dedicated

cylinder for each of the four jobs, with
the
h piston
i
moving
i continually
i ll from
f
one
to the next.
next.

Fig. 2

5) The Basics:

In a rotary engine, the pressure of combustion is contained in a

chamber
h b formed
f
d by
b partt off the
th housing
h i andd sealed
l d in
i by
b one face
f
off
the triangular rotor, which is what the engine uses instead of pistons
pistons..

The rotor follows a path that looks like something you'd create with
a Spiro graph.
graph.

This path keeps each of the three peaks of the rotor in contact with
the housing, creating three separate volumes of gas
gas..

As the rotor moves around the chamber,

chamber each of the three volumes
of gas alternately expands and contracts
contracts..

It iss thiss eexpansion

p s o andd co
contraction
c o that ddraws
ws air andd fuel
ue intoo thee
engine, compresses it and makes useful power as the gases expand,
and then expels the exhaust.
exhaust.

Fig. 3

The rotor and housing of a rotary engine from a Mazda RX-7:

These parts replace the pistons,
pistons cylinders,
cylinders valves,
valves connecting rods
and camshafts found in piston engines.

6) Mazda RXRX-8:

Mazda has been a pioneer in developing production cars that use

rotary engines.
engines.

The RXRX-7, which went on sale in 1978,

1978, was probably
p
y the most
successful rotaryrotary-engineengine-powered car
car..

The last year the RX

RX--7 was sold in the United States was 1995
1995..

The Mazda RXRX-8, a new car from

Mazda has a new,
Mazda,
new award winning
rotary engine called the RENESIS
RENESIS..
Named International Engine of the Year
2003,, this naturallyy aspirated
2003
p
two--rotor
two
engine will produce about 250
horsepower..
horsepower

Fig. 4

7) The Parts:

A rotaryy engine
g has an ignition
g
system
y
and a fuelfuel-deliveryy system
y
that are similar to the ones on piston engines.

8) Rotor:

The rotor has three convex faces, each of

which acts like a piston
piston..
Each face of the rotor has a pocket in it, which
increases the displacement of the engine,
allowing more space for air/fuel mixture
mixture..
At the apex of each face is a metal blade that
forms a seal to the outside of the combustion
chamber..
chamber
There are also metal rings on each side of the
rotor that seal to the sides of the combustion
chamber..
chamber
The rotor has a set of internal gear teeth cut
into the center of one side, these teeth mate
with a gear that is fixed to the housing.
housing.
Thi gear mating
This
ti
d t
determines
i
th path
the
th and
d
direction the rotor takes through the housing.
housing.
Fig. 5

9) Housing:

The housing is roughly oval in shape (it's

act all an epitrochoid
actually
epitrochoid)).
The shape of the combustion chamber is
designed so that the three tips of the rotor will
always stay in contact with the wall of the
chamber,
h b forming
f
i three
h sealed
l d volumes
l
off gas
gas..
Each part of the housing is dedicated to one
part of the combustion process
process.. The four
sections are:
are:
Intake
Compression
Combustion
Exhaust
The intake and exhaust ports are located in the
housing.. There are no valves in these ports.
housing
ports.
The exhaust port connects directly to the
exhaust, and the intake port connects directly
to the throttle
throttle..

Fig. 6

10) Output Shaft:

The output shaft has round lobes mounted eccentrically, meaning that they
are offset from the centerline of the shaft
shaft..
Each rotor fits over one of these lobes.
lobes.
The lobe acts sort of like the crankshaft in a p
piston engine
engine.
g .
As the rotor follows its path around the housing, it pushes on the lobes
lobes..
Since the lobes are mounted eccentric to the output shaft, the force that the
rotor applies to the lobes creates torque in the shaft,
shaft causing it to spin
spin..

Fig. 7
The output shaft

11) How its put together:

A rotaryy engine
g is
assembled in layers.

The twotwo-rotor engine we

took apart has five main
layers
aye s tthat
at are
a e held
e d toget
together
e
by a ring of long bolts.
bolts.

Coolant flows through

passageways surrounding
all of the pieces.

Fig. 8

Fig. 9

The two end layers contain

the seals and bearings for
the output shaft
shaft..

They also seal in the two

sections of housing that
contain the rotors
rotors..

The inside surfaces of these

pieces are very smooth,
smooth
which helps the seals on the
rotor do their job.
job.

An intake port is located on

each of these end ppieces
pieces..

Fig. 10
Fi
One of the two end pieces of a two-rotor Wankel engine

The next layer in from the

outside is the oval
oval--shaped
rotor
housing,
which
contains the exhaust ports
ports..

This is the part of the

housing that contains the
rotor..
rotor

Fig. 11
Th partt off th
The
the rotor
t h
housing
i th
thatt h
holds
ld th
the rotors
t
(Note the exhaust port location.)

The center piece contains

two intake pports, one for
each rotor.
rotor.

It also separates the two

rotors, so its
i
outside
id
surfaces are very smooth
smooth..

I the
In
th center
t off eachh rotor
t is
i
a large internal gear that
rides around a smaller gear
that is fixed to the housingg
of the engine.
engine.

This is what determines the

orbit
bi off the
h rotor.
rotor.

The rotor also rides on the

l
large
circular
i l lobe
l b on the
th
output shaft
shaft..

Fig.12
g
The center piece contains another intake port
for each rotor.

12) Producing Power:

Rotary engines use the fourfour-stroke

combustion cycle
cycle..
The heart of a rotary engine is the rotor.
rotor.
This is roughly the equivalent of the pistons
in a piston engine
engine..
Th rotor is
The
i mountedd on a large
l
circular
i l lobe
l b
on the output shaft.
shaft.
This lobe is offset from the centerline of the
shaft and acts like the crank handle on a
winch giving the rotor the leverage it needs
winch,
to turn the output shaft.
shaft.
As the rotor orbits inside the housing, it
pushes the lobe around in tight circles,
turning three times for every one revolution
of the rotor.
rotor.
As the rotor moves through the housing, the
three chambers created by the rotor change
size.
ssizee.
e.
This size change produces a pumping action
action..

Fig. 13
I th
In
the W
Wankel
k l a ttriangular
i
l rotor
t
incorporating a central ring gear
is driven around a fixed pinion within
an oblong chamber.

13) The Four Strokes:

Intake

The intake phase of the cycle starts when

the tip of the rotor passes the intake port
port..
At the moment when the intake port is
exposed to the chamber, the volume of
that chamber is close to its minimum
minimum..
As the rotor moves past the intake port,
the volume of the chamber expands,
drawing air/fuel mixture into the
chamber..
chamber
When the peak of the rotor passes the
intake port,
port that chamber is sealed off
and compression begins.
begins.

Fig. 14
The fuel/air mixture is drawn in the intake
port during this phase of the rotation.

 Compression
p

As the rotor continues its motion around

the housing,
housing the volume of the chamber
gets smaller and the air/fuel mixture gets
compressed..
compressed
By the time the face of the rotor has
made it around to the spark plugs, the
volume of the chamber is again close to
its minimum
minimum..
This is when combustion starts
starts..

Fig.
g 15
The mixture is compressed here.

 Combustion

Most rotary engines have two spark

plugs.
pplugs
g.
The combustion chamber is long, so the
flame would spread too slowly if there
were only one plug.
plug.
When the spark plugs ignite the air/fuel
mixture, pressure quickly builds, forcing
the rotor to move
move..
The pressure of combustion forces the
rotor
t to
t move in
i the
th direction
di ti that
th t makes
k
the chamber grow in volume.
volume.
The combustion gases continue to
expand,
p
moving
g the rotor and creating
g
power, until the peak of the rotor passes
the exhaust port
port..

Fig.
g 16
The mixture burns here, driving the rotor
around.

 Exhaust

Once the peak of the rotor passes the

exhaust port,
port the highhigh-pressure
combustion gases are free to flow out the
exhaust.
As the rotor continues to move,
move the
chamber starts to contract, forcing the
remaining exhaust out of the port.
By the time the volume of the chamber is
nearing its minimum, the peak of the
rotor passes the intake port and the whole
cycle
y starts again.
g

Fig.
g 17
And the exhaust is expelled here.

14) Key Differences:

Fewer Movingg Parts

The rotary engine has far fewer moving parts than a comparable fourfour-stroke
piston engine.
engine.

A two
two--rotor rotary engine has three main moving parts
parts:: the two rotors and
the output shaft
shaft..

Even the simplest fourfour-cylinder piston engine has at least 40 moving parts,
including pistons, connecting rods, camshaft, valves, valve springs, rockers,
timing belt, timing gears and crankshaft
crankshaft..

This minimization of moving parts can translate into better reliability from
a
rotary engine.
engine. This is why some aircraft manufacturers prefer rotary
engines to piston engines
engines..

 Smoother

All the parts in a rotary engine spin continuously in one direction, rather
than violently changing directions like the pistons in a conventional engine
do.
do.

Rotary engines are internally balanced with spinning counterweights that

are phased to cancel out any vibrations
vibrations..

The power delivery in a rotary engine is also smoother, Because, each

combustion event lasts through 270 degrees of the output shaft's rotation
rotation..

This means that a singlesingle-rotor engine delivers power for three

three--quarters of
each revolution of the output shaft
shaft..

Compare this to a singlesingle-cylinder piston engine, in which combustion

occurs during 180 degrees out of every two revolutions, or only a quarter
of each revolution of the crankshaft
crankshaft..

 Slower

Since the rotors spin at oneone-third the speed of the output shaft, the main
moving
gp
parts of the engine
g move slower than the p
parts in a p
piston engine.
engine
g .

This also helps with reliability

reliability..

15) Advantages:

Most notable is that they are considerably simpler and contain far
fewer moving parts
parts;; for instance, they have no valves, valve trains,
etc..
etc

In addition, the rotor spins the driveshaft directly, so there is no need

for connectingg rods,, a conventional crankshaft,, balance assemblies,,
etc..
etc

All of this makes a Wankel engine much lighter,

lighter typically half that
of a conventional engine with equivalent power.
power.

16) Challenges:
There are some challenges
g in designing
g g a rotaryy engine:
engine
g :

Typically, it is more difficult (but not impossible) to make a rotary engine

g
.
meet U.S. emissions regulations.
regulations

The manufacturing costs can be higher, mostly because the number of these
engines
g
produced is not as high
p
g as the number of p
piston engines.
engines
g
.

They typically consume more fuel than a piston engine because the
thermodynamic efficiency of the engine is reduced by the long combustion
combustion-chamber shape and low compression ratio.
ratio.