some facts about wankel engines

Published: 10-11-01

Conceived by German engineer Felix Wankel in the 1950s, the Wankel engine is an internal combustion engine using a rotary design to convert pressure into motion. Its design allows high rpm while allowing compact dimensions. Applications of the Wankel engine include cars, small aircraft and chain saws, to name a few. Its four-stroke cycle, a typical Otto cycle, takes place in a space between the inside of an oval-like epitrochoid-shaped housing with a rotor that is similar in shape to a Reuleaux triangle but with sides that are somewhat flatter.

 

While a four-stroke piston engine makes one combustion stroke per cylinder for every two rotations of the crankshaft, each combustion chamber in the Wankel engine generates one combustion stroke per driveshaft rotation, which means one power stroke per rotor orbital revolution and three power strokes per rotor rotation. This, in turn, means that the power output of a Wankel engine tends to be higher than that of a comparable four-stroke piston engine.