Wankel Engine Essay

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The Wankel rotary engine named after the designer, Felix Wankel, was engineered in the early 1930’s. The rotary engine was unlike the conventional four stroke internal combustion engines and lacked the need for pistons, valves and camshafts. With only three moving parts involved in the design, this engine showed great promise in reliability and efficiency. The first Wankel rotary model was shown in 1960, not as an engine, but as a pump drive. Instead of the very complicated system involved in a conventional reciprocating piston engine, the wankel engine incorporated triangular “rotors” (see figure 1) that rotate within an epitrochoidal chamber around an eccentric shaft. Not only is this engine much more simple (only 3 moving parts rather …show more content…

This requires the engine to have a state-of-the-art coolant system. Big tunnels through the perimeter of the engine allows coolant to flow all around the motor at all times and keep the engine cool. The radiator is also much thicker from the factory, and is angled at 45 degrees in the engine bay to maximize air flow. The number one reason why these engines stop functioning is due to a problem with the coolant system. My focus on this project is how one of these engines is “rebuilt”, and how can they be changed (from stock) to create more power or be more efficient, through what is called “porting”. I chose this topic because when I was introduced to the rotary engine last year when I bought my second car, I immediately fell in love with the idea. My cars engine was “blown” meaning it no longer functioned due to major engine problems. This required me to bring it to a shop to have it fixed, where I found out just how rare these cars are. Not only did the shop tech not know what the engine was, he had no instructions in his system on how to work on it. After being turned away from three different shops, I decided to learn how to do it

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