The Wankel engine is an engine developed by German engineer Felix Wankel in 1954. The engine was first brought to the NSU firm at Neckarsulm in Germany in 1957. The Wankel motor was first assembled in the NSU Spider brand vehicle in 1963. In 1967, NSU Ro 80 adopted the dual-disc Wankel motor. The NSU Ro 80 had an engine volume of 2 × 497,5 cm3. In 5500 d/D, 136 HP was generating power. The engine's weight was 103 kg. The compression ratio was 9/1. In those years other than NSU, the Japanese Toyo Kogyo Company produced a power-generating car with the Wankel engine. In 1972, the American GM company started to use a Wankel engine 185hp to develop the Wankel engine in 5 years by spending 50 million dollars in its cars. Again, the American Ford Company has made several agreements for the use of the Wankel engine in its own vehicles. Apart from these, Datsun in Holland, Rolls-Royce in Britain and Alfa Romeo companies in Italy were interested in the Wankel engine. Nowadays, the Mazda company uses this engine in the RX7 and RX8 model.
Operation of Wankel Motor
The internal structure of the Wankel motor is much simpler than a normal engine, contrary to the thought. In an Oval body, a rotating rotor (rotary piston) (depending on the design can also be 2-3-4 rotor) and camshaft (camshaft is the job of the crankshaft in 4 stroke motors). 4-cylinder, 16-valve, 2-cam national is lacking complex moving parts according to a modern engine. The Rotor is attached to the main shaft of the motor with the help of an interior and an external gear. Suction, compression, work and exhaust times are formed around the rotor as long as the Motor is running. The biggest challenge of the engine is also caused by this. Due to the very quick wear of the rotor, it should be replaced frequently. Generally, the rotor edges made of polymeric material are not yet manufactured by a difficult substance to wear.
Wankel Motors are working according to four-time principles. Every time a full cycle of the rotor, a job occurs according to the four-stroke engine in each hopper. The camshaft will be back in three cycles in the meantime. The work is as follows. The motor's control is provided through the duct in the enclosure housing. The Rotor is positioned on a cam of the camshaft. The inner side of the pinion threaded rotor, which is secured inside the housing body, is grasped by the gear that is opened. The Rotor is rounded on the fixed pinion gear. Creates a rotating force on the camshaft when rolling. This rotational movement of the camshaft is transmitted to the shunt. In addition to the water-cooled engine body, ignition spark plugs are located on the opposite side of the suction and exhaust ducts.
Car models using Wankel motor
- NSU Spider
- NSU Ro-80
- Mazda R-100
- Mazda RX-7
- Mazda RX-8
In order to prevent vibration in cars using this engine, 2 pistons are usually used. The 4-stroke engine draws a much smoother torque curve than the 4-stroke type motors, making the suction-jams-expansion-exhaust work together during a single cycle. This makes it much more flexible in sudden acceleration or overtaking. But the biggest obstacle to the development of this engine is that there is a lot of wear. The piston is triangular and transmits the power directly to the crankshaft, without any intermediate element (Biel) rotating in the piston course. In the meantime, the piston corners of the piston course will turn to the scratches and the friction increases as the speed increases. With its effect, the piston is severely abrasion due to the inability to lubrication at high speeds. If the piston can be sufficiently hard to build, I think this engine is much more popular and will lead to a new breakthrough in automotive.
For example, the Mazda RX-8 900-pound vehicle with a 1.3-liter cylinder volume, which I added below. The 1.3-liter motor should not be underestimated because it uses the Wankel engine to produce 231hp power at 8200 rpm. And does not use turbo or supercharger while doing so. So the air enters the engine atmospheric. The maximum torque of the vehicle is 211nm at 5500 rpm. In order to achieve this power with a typical type of motor, I would estimate that a 3-liter cylinder engine would be required.