THE WANKEL ENGINE

Wankle Engine

History

Cylinder is Rotary Engine

Part of The Wankle Engine

Chalenges & Difficulties

WHY THE WANKEL?

To further our modeling skills Obtain a better understanding of the workings of the rotary

engine and the thermodynamic cycles that go on within Transmission was also a challenging piece of machinery Good example of thinking outside the box To inform people that there are alternatives to the conventional

four stroke cylinder engine

HISTORY Designed by German engineer Felix Wankel in 1954 Manufactured mainly by Mazda, currently used in Mazda RX-8 Extremely lightweight and small when compared to engines with

similar power output Used in a lot of aircraft Main disadvantage is fuel inefficiency

Uses pistons to regulate intake and exhaust of fuel and gas.

All four strokes, intake compression, combustion and exhaust occur in same cylinder.

Pistons continually reverse direction creating more wear and tear on the engine

Bad power to weight ratio in comparison

Lower rev limit

Has a spinning rotor that creates three separate chambers and regulates the inflow and outflow of gasses.

Each chamber draws in air and fuel, is compressed, ignited and combusted then expelled creating power while at the same time forcing the other two chambers to do the same.

Rotors move in a continuous direction making it smoother

Only about three moving parts creating less friction and less possibility for error

CYLINDER VS ROTARY ENGINES

PART OF THE WANKLE ENGINE Intake Compression Ignition/Combustion Exhaust

INTAKE AND COMPRESSION

COMBUSTION AND EXHAUST

WANKLE ANIMATION

INNER WORKINGS

EXPLODED VIEW

ENGINE IN ACTION

CHALLENGES & DIFFICULTIES Transmission

• Many moving parts• Gear ratios were very difficult to get right• Constraints started conflicting

Engine• Measurements for rotor pieces and rotor housing were difficult to obtain• Some pieces needed to be generated by equations• Interference between housing and rotor was an issue• Inserting gear constraints between all moving parts was difficult to get right

Assembly• Pieces needed to be continually adjusted to fit together properly

SUMMARY The Wankel Rotary engine is still a promising piece of

technology Mazda continues to spend money on the concept with

the hope of improving its fuel efficiency There are also several other types of rotary engines

that run on various types of fuel We utilized and furthered all the skills taught to us in

ProE class including assembly, constraints, sweeps, blends, gear connections, animations