Wankel Rotary Engine

Wankel Rotary Engine

Andrew BakunBrian Menz

Ahmad MahmoudJacek Foltynski

Simon Lee

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

Cylinder vs. Rotary Engines• 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

Present Day Application

Stroke Animation• Intake• Compression• Ignition/Combustion• Exhaust

Intake and Compression

Combustion and Exhaust

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

Thanks Ray