Wankel engine

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A partially disassembled Mazda Wankel

engine shown at the Deutsches Museum
in Munich, Germany
The Mazda RX-8, a sports car powered by
a Wankel engine

Norton Classic air-cooled twin-rotor

motorcycle

The Wankel engine is a type of

internal combustion engine
using an eccentric rotary
design to convert pressure into
rotating motion.

All parts rotate consistently in

one direction, as opposed to
the common reciprocating
piston engine, which has
pistons violently changing
direction. In contrast to the
more common reciprocating
piston designs, the Wankel
engine delivers advantages of
simplicity, smoothness,
compactness, high revolutions
per minute, and a high power-
to-weight ratio. This is primarily
because three power pulses
per rotor revolution are
produced compared to one per
revolution in a two-stroke
piston engine and one per two
revolutions in a four-stroke
piston engine. Although at the
actual output shaft, there is
only one power pulse per
revolution, since the output
shaft spins three times as fast
as the actual rotor, as can be
seen in the animation below, it
makes it roughly equivalent to
a 2-stroke piston engine of the
same displacement. This is
also why the displacement only
measures one face of the rotor,
since only one face is working
for each output shaft
revolution.

The engine is commonly

referred to as a rotary engine,
although this name also
applies to other completely
different designs, primarily
aircraft engines with their
cylinders arranged in a circular
fashion around the crankshaft.
The four-stage cycle of intake,
compression, ignition, and
exhaust occur each revolution
at each of the three rotor tips
moving inside the oval-like
epitrochoid-shaped housing,
enabling the three power
pulses per rotor revolution. The
rotor is similar in shape to a
Reuleaux triangle with the
sides somewhat flatter.

Concept and design

The design was conceived by
German engineer Felix Wankel.
Wankel received his first patent
for the engine in 1929. He
began development in the early
1950s at NSU, completing a
working prototype in 1957.[1]
NSU subsequently licensed the
design to companies around
the world, who have continually
added improvements. The
engines produced are of spark
ignition, with compression
ignition engines having only
been built in research projects.

The Wankel engine has the

advantages of compact design
and low weight over the most
commonly used internal
combustion engine employing
reciprocating pistons. These
advantages have given rotary
engine applications in a variety
of vehicles and devices,
including: automobiles,
motorcycles, racing cars,
aircraft, go-karts, jet skis,
snowmobiles, chainsaws, and
auxiliary power units. The
power-to-weight ratio has
reached under one pound per
horsepower in certain
engines.[2]

History
Early developments

The first DKM Wankel engine designed by

Felix Wankel, the DKM 54
(Drehkolbenmotor), at the Deutsches
Museum in Bonn, Germany: the rotor and
its housing spin.
The first KKM Wankel Engine designed by
Hanns Dieter Paschke, the NSU KKM 57P
(Kreiskolbenmotor), at Autovision und
Forum, Germany: the rotor housing is
static.

In 1951, NSU Motorenwerke AG

in Germany began
development of the engine,
with two models being built.
The first, the DKM motor, was
developed by Felix Wankel. The
second, the KKM motor,
developed by Hanns Dieter
Paschke, was adopted as the
basis of the modern Wankel
engine.[3]

The basis of the DKM type of

motor was that both the rotor
and the housing spun around
on separate axes. The DKM
motor reached higher
revolutions per minute and was
more naturally balanced.
However, the engine needed to
be stripped to change the spark
plugs and contained more
parts. The KKM engine was
simpler, having a fixed housing.

The first working prototype,

DKM 54, produced 21 hp
(16 kW) and ran on February 1,
1957, at the NSU research and
development department
Versuchsabteilung TX.[1][4] The
KKM 57 (the Wankel rotary
engine, Kreiskolbenmotor) was
constructed by NSU engineer
Hanns Dieter Paschke in 1957
without the knowledge of Felix
Wankel, who later remarked
"you have turned my race horse
into a plow mare".[5]
Licenses issued

In 1960, NSU, the firm that

employed the two inventors,
and the US firm Curtiss-Wright,
signed a joint agreement. NSU
were to concentrate on low-
and medium-powered Wankel
engine development and
Curtiss-Wright developing high-
powered engines, including
aircraft engines of which
Curtiss-Wright had decades of
experience designing and
producing.[6] Curtiss-Wright
recruited Max Bentele to head
their design team.

Many manufacturers signed

license agreements for
development, attracted by the
smoothness, quiet running, and
reliability emanating from the
uncomplicated design.
Amongst them were Alfa
Romeo, American Motors,
Citroen, Ford, General Motors,
Mazda, Mercedes-Benz,
Nissan, Porsche, Rolls-Royce,
Suzuki, and Toyota.[1] In the
United States in 1959, under
license from NSU, Curtiss-
Wright pioneered
improvements in the basic
engine design. In Britain, in the
1960s, Rolls Royce's Motor Car
Division pioneered a two-stage
diesel version of the Wankel
engine.[7]

Citroën did much research,

producing the M35, GS Birotor
and RE-2 helicopter, using
engines produced by Comotor,
a joint venture of Citroën and
NSU. General Motors seemed
to have concluded the Wankel
engine was slightly more
expensive to build than an
equivalent reciprocating
engine. General Motors
claimed to have solved the fuel
economy issue, but failed in
obtaining in a concomitant way
to acceptable exhaust
emissions. Mercedes-Benz
fitted a Wankel engine in their
C111 concept car.

Deere & Company designed a

version that was capable of
using a variety of fuels. The
design was proposed as the
power source for United States
Marine Corps combat vehicles
and other equipment in the late
1980s.[8]

In 1961, the Soviet research

organization of NATI, NAMI,
and VNIImotoprom
commenced development
creating experimental engines
with different technologies.[9]
Soviet automobile
manufacturer AvtoVAZ also
experimented in Wankel engine
design without a license,
introducing a limited number of
engines in some cars.[10]
Despite much research and
development throughout the
world, only Mazda has
produced Wankel engines in
large quantities.

Developments for
motorcycles

In Britain, Norton Motorcycles

developed a Wankel rotary
engine for motorcycles, based
on the Sachs air-cooled rotor
Wankel that powered the
DKW/Hercules W-2000
motorcycle. This two-rotor
engine was included in the
Commander and F1. Norton
improved on the Sachs's air
cooling, introducing a plenum
chamber. Suzuki also made a
production motorcycle
powered by a Wankel engine,
the RE-5, using ferroTiC alloy
apex seals and an NSU rotor in
a successful attempt to
prolong the engine's life.

Developments for
cars

Mazda and NSU signed a study

contract to develop the Wankel
engine in 1961 and competed
to bring the first Wankel-
powered automobile to market.
Although Mazda produced an
experimental Wankel that year,
NSU was first with a Wankel
automobile for sale, the sporty
NSU Spider in 1964; Mazda
countered with a display of
two- and four-rotor Wankel
engines at that year's Tokyo
Motor Show.[1] In 1967, NSU
began production of a Wankel-
engined luxury car, the Ro
80.[11] However, NSU had not
produced reliable apex seals on
the rotor, unlike Mazda and
Curtiss-Wright. NSU had
problems with apex seals' wear,
poor shaft lubrication, and poor
fuel economy, leading to
frequent engine failures, not
solved until 1972, which led to
large warranty costs curtailing
further NSU Wankel engine
development. This premature
release of the new Wankel
engine gave a poor reputation
for all makes and even when
these issues were solved in the
last engines produced by NSU
in the second half of the '70s,
sales did not recover.[1] Audi,
after the takeover of NSU, built
in 1979 a new KKM 871 engine
with side intake ports and 750
cc per chamber, 170 hp
(130 kW) at 6,500 rpm, and 220
Nm at 3,500 rpm. The engine
was installed in an Audi 100
hull named "Audi 200", but was
not mass-produced.
Mazda's first Wankel engine, at the Mazda
Museum in Hiroshima, Japan

Mazda, however, claimed to

have solved the apex seal
problem, and operated test
engines at high speed for 300
hours without failure.[1] After
years of development, Mazda's
first Wankel engine car was the
1967 Cosmo 110S. The
company followed with a
number of Wankel ("rotary" in
the company's terminology)
vehicles, including a bus and a
pickup truck. Customers often
cited the cars' smoothness of
operation. However, Mazda
chose a method to comply with
hydrocarbon emission
standards that, while less
expensive to produce,
increased fuel consumption.
Unfortunately for Mazda, this
was introduced immediately
prior to a sharp rise in fuel
prices. Curtiss-Wright produced
the RC2-60 engine which was
comparable to a V8 engine in
performance and fuel
consumption. Unlike NSU, by
1966 Curtiss-Wright had solved
the rotor sealing issue with
seals lasting 100,000 miles
(160,000 km).[12]

Mazda later abandoned the

Wankel in most of their
automotive designs, continuing
to use the engine in their sports
car range only, producing the
RX-7 until August 2002. The
company normally used two-
rotor designs. A more
advanced twin-turbo three-rotor
engine was fitted in the 1991
Eunos Cosmo sports car. In
2003, Mazda introduced the
Renesis engine fitted in the
RX-8. The Renesis engine
relocated the ports for exhaust
from the periphery of the rotary
housing to the sides, allowing
for larger overall ports, better
airflow, and further power
gains. Some early Wankel
engines had also side exhaust
ports, the concept being
abandoned because of carbon
buildup in ports and the sides
of the rotor. The Renesis
engine solved the problem by
using a keystone scraper side
seal, and approached the
thermal distortion difficulties
by adding some parts made of
ceramics.[13] The Renesis is
capable of 238 hp (177 kW)
with improved fuel economy,
reliability, and lower emissions
than previous Mazda rotary
engines,[14] all from a nominal
1.3 L displacement. However,
this was not enough to meet
more stringent emissions
standards. Mazda ended
production of their Wankel
engine in 2012 after the engine
failed to meet the improved
Euro 5 emission standards,
leaving no automotive
company selling a Wankel-
powered vehicle.[15] The
company is continuing
development of the next
generation of Wankel engines,
the SkyActiv-R with a new rear
wheel drive sports car model
announced in October 2015
although with no launch date
given. Mazda states that the
SkyActiv-R solves the three key
issues with previous rotary
engines: fuel economy,
emissions and reliability.[16]
Mazda announced the
introduction of the series-
hybrid Mazda2 EV car using a
Wankel engine as a range
extender, however no date of
introduction has been
announced.[17]
1972 GM Rotary engine cutaway shows
twin-rotors

American Motors (AMC), the

smallest U.S. automaker, was
so convinced "...that the rotary
engine will play an important
role as a powerplant for cars
and trucks of the future...", that
the chairman, Roy D. Chapin
Jr., signed an agreement in
February 1973, after a year's
negotiations, to build Wankels
for both passenger cars and
Jeeps, as well as the right to
sell any rotary engines it
produced to other companies.
[18][19] American Motors'
president, William Luneburg,
did not expect dramatic
development through to 1980.
However Gerald C. Meyers,
AMC's vice president of the
engineering product group,
suggested that AMC should
buy the engines from Curtiss-
Wright before developing its
own Wankel engines, and
predicted a total transition to
rotary power by 1984.[20] Plans
called for the engine to be used
in the AMC Pacer, but
development was pushed
back.[21][22] American Motors
designed the unique Pacer
around the engine. By 1974,
AMC had decided to purchase
the General Motors Wankel
instead of building an engine
in-house.[23] Both General
Motors and AMC confirmed the
relationship would be
beneficial in marketing the new
engine, with AMC claiming that
the General Motors' Wankel
achieved good fuel
economy.[24] However, General
Motors' engines had not
reached production when the
Pacer was launched onto the
market. The 1973 oil crisis
played a part in frustrating the
uptake of the Wankel engine.
Rising fuel prices and talk
about proposed US emission
standards legislation also
added to concerns.
By 1974, General Motors R&D
had not succeeded in
producing a Wankel engine
meeting both the emission
requirements and good fuel
economy, leading a decision by
the company to cancel the
project. Because of that
decision, the R&D team only
partly released the results of its
most recent research, which
claimed to have solved the fuel
economy problem, as well as
building reliable engines with a
lifespan above 530,000 miles
(850,000 km). Those findings
were not taken into account
when the cancellation order
was issued. The ending of
General Motors' Wankel project
required AMC to reconfigure
the Pacer to house its
venerable AMC straight-6
engine driving the rear-
wheels.[25]

In 1974, the Soviet Union

created a special engine design
bureau, which, in 1978,
designed an engine designated
as "VAZ-311". In 1980, the
company commenced delivery
of the VAZ-411 twin-rotor
Wankel engine in VAZ-2106s
and Lada cars, with about 200
being manufactured. Most of
the production went to the
security services.[26][27] The
next models were the
VAZ-4132 and VAZ-415.
Aviadvigatel, the Soviet aircraft
engine design bureau, is known
to have produced Wankel
engines with electronic
injection for aircraft and
helicopters, though little
specific information has
surfaced.
Ford conducted research in
Wankel engines, resulting in
patents granted: GB 1460229 ,
1974, method for fabricating
housings; US 3833321 1974,
side plates coating; US
3890069 , 1975, housing
coating; CA 1030743 , 1978:
Housings alignment; CA
1045553 , 1979, Reed-Valve
assembly. In 1972, Henry Ford
II stated that the rotary
probably won't replace the
piston in "my lifetime".[28]

Design
The Wankel KKM motorcycle: The "A"
marks one of the three apices of the rotor.
The "B" marks the eccentric shaft and the
white portion is the lobe of the eccentric
shaft. The shaft turns 3 times for each
rotation of the rotor around the lobe and
once for each orbital revolution around
the eccentric shaft.

In the Wankel engine, the four

strokes of an Otto cycle piston
engine occur in the space
between a three-sided
symmetric rotor and the inside
of a housing. In each rotor of
the Wankel engine, the oval-like
epitrochoid-shaped housing
surrounds a rotor which is
triangular with bow-shaped
flanks (often confused with a
Reuleaux triangle,[29] a three-
pointed curve of constant
width, but with the bulge in the
middle of each side a bit more
flattened). The theoretical
shape of the rotor between the
fixed corners is the result of a
minimization of the volume of
the geometric combustion
chamber and a maximization
of the compression ratio,
respectively.[30][31] The
symmetric curve connecting
two arbitrary apexes of the
rotor is maximized in the
direction of the inner housing
shape with the constraint that
it not touch the housing at any
angle of rotation (an arc is not
a solution of this optimization
problem).

The central drive shaft, called

the "eccentric shaft" or "E-
shaft", passes through the
center of the rotor and is
supported by fixed bearings.[32]
The rotors ride on eccentrics
(analogous to crankpins)
integral to the eccentric shaft
(analogous to a crankshaft).
The rotors both rotate around
the eccentrics and make orbital
revolutions around the
eccentric shaft. Seals at the
corners of the rotor seal
against the periphery of the
housing, dividing it into three
moving combustion
chambers.[30] The rotation of
each rotor on its own axis is
caused and controlled by a pair
of synchronizing gears[32] A
fixed gear mounted on one side
of the rotor housing engages a
ring gear attached to the rotor
and ensures the rotor moves
exactly 1/3 turn for each turn
of the eccentric shaft. The
power output of the engine is
not transmitted through the
synchronizing gears.[32] The
force of gas pressure on the
rotor (to a first approximation)
goes directly to the center of
the eccentric part of the output
shaft.

The easiest way to visualize

the action of the engine in the
animation at left is to look not
at the rotor itself, but the cavity
created between it and the
housing. The Wankel engine is
actually a variable-volume
progressing-cavity system.
Thus, there are three cavities
per housing, all repeating the
same cycle. Points A and B on
the rotor and E-shaft turn at
different speeds—point B
circles three times as often as
point A does, so that one full
orbit of the rotor equates to
three turns of the E-shaft.

As the rotor rotates orbitally

revolving, each side of the rotor
is brought closer to and then
away from the wall of the
housing, compressing and
expanding the combustion
chamber like the strokes of a
piston in a reciprocating piston
engine. The power vector of the
combustion stage goes
through the center of the offset
lobe.

While a four-stroke piston

engine completes one
combustion stroke per cylinder
for every two rotations of the
crankshaft (that is, one-half
power stroke per crankshaft
rotation per cylinder), each
combustion chamber in the
Wankel generates one
combustion stroke per
driveshaft rotation, i.e. one
power stroke per rotor orbital
revolution and three power
strokes per rotor rotation. Thus,
the power output of a Wankel
engine is generally higher than
that of a four-stroke piston
engine of similar engine
displacement in a similar state
of tune; and higher than that of
a four-stroke piston engine of
similar physical dimensions
and weight.

Wankel engines generally are

able to reach much higher
engine revolutions than
reciprocating engines of similar
power output. This is due to the
smoothness inherent in
circular motion, and the
absence of highly stressed
parts such as crankshafts,
camshafts or connecting rods.
Eccentric shafts do not have
the stress related contours of
crankshafts. The maximum
revolutions of a rotary engine is
limited by tooth load on the
synchronizing gears.[33]
Hardened steel gears are used
for extended operation above
7000 or 8000 rpm. Mazda
Wankel engines in auto racing
are operated above
10,000 rpm. In aircraft they are
used conservatively, up to 6500
or 7500 rpm. However, as gas
pressure participates in seal
efficiency, racing a Wankel
engine at high rpm under no
load conditions can destroy the
engine.

National agencies that tax

automobiles according to
displacement and regulatory
bodies in automobile racing
variously consider the Wankel
engine to be equivalent to a
four-stroke piston engine of 1.5
to 2 times the displacement of
one chamber per rotor, even
though there are three lobes
per rotor (because the rotor is
only completing 1/3rd rotation
per 1 rotation of the output
shaft, so there is only one
power stroke working per
output revolution, the other two
lobes are simultaneously
ejecting a spent charge and
intaking a new one, rather than
contributing to the power
output of that revolution).
Some racing series have
banned the Wankel altogether,
along with all other alternatives
to the traditional reciprocating
piston four-stroke design due
to the perceived advantages of
the design in racing
applications.[34]

Engineering

Apex seals, left NSU Ro 80 Serie and

Research and right Mazda 12A and 13B
Left: Mazda L10A camber axial cooling
Middle: Audi NSU EA871 axial water
cooling only the hot bow
Right: Diamond Engines Wankel radial
cooling only the hot bow

Felix Wankel managed to

overcome most of the
problems that made previous
rotary engines fail by
developing a configuration with
vane seals that had a tip radius
equal to the amount of
"oversize" of the rotor housing
form, as compared to the
theoretical epitrochoid, to
minimize radial apex seal
motion plus introducing a
cylindrical gas-loaded apex pin
which abutted all sealing
elements to seal around the
three planes at each rotor
apex.[35]

In the early days, special,

dedicated production machines
had to be built for different
housing dimensional
arrangements. However,
patented design such as U.S.
Patent 3,824,746 , G. J. Watt,
1974, for a "Wankel Engine
Cylinder Generating Machine",
U.S. Patent 3,916,738 ,
"Apparatus for machining
and/or treatment of trochoidal
surfaces" and U.S. Patent
3,964,367 , "Device for
machining trochoidal inner
walls", and others, solved the
problem.

Rotary engines have a problem

not found in reciprocating
piston four-stroke engines in
that the block housing has
intake, compression,
combustion, and exhaust
occurring at fixed locations
around the housing. In
contrast, reciprocating engines
perform these four strokes in
one chamber, so that extremes
of "freezing" intake and
"flaming" exhaust are averaged
and shielded by a boundary
layer from overheating working
parts. The use of heat pipes in
an air-cooled Wankel was
proposed by the University of
Florida to overcome this
uneven heating of the block
housing.[36] Pre-heating of
certain housing sections with
exhaust gas improved
performance and fuel
economy, also reducing wear
and emissions.[37]

The boundary layer shields and

the oil film act as thermal
insulation, leading to a low
temperature of the lubricating
film (maximum ~200 °C or
392 °F on a water-cooled
Wankel engine. This gives a
more constant surface
temperature. The temperature
around the spark plug is about
the same as the temperature in
the combustion chamber of a
reciprocating engine. With
circumferential or axial flow
cooling, the temperature
difference remains tolerable.
[38][39][40][41]

Problems arose during

research in the 1950s and
1960s. For a while, engineers
were faced with what they
called "chatter marks" and
"devil's scratch" in the inner
epitrochoid surface. They
discovered that the cause was
the apex seals reaching a
resonating vibration, and the
problem was solved by
reducing the thickness and
weight of apex seals.
Scratches disappeared after
the introduction of more
compatible materials for seals
and housing coatings. Another
early problem was the build-up
of cracks in the stator surface
near the plug hole, which was
eliminated by installing the
spark plugs in a separate metal
insert/ copper sleeve in the
housing, instead of plug being
screwed directly into the block
housing.[42] Toyota found that
substituting a glow-plug for the
leading site spark plug
improved low rpm, part load,
specific fuel consumption by
7%, and also emissions and
idle.[43] A later alternative
solution to spark plug boss
cooling was provided with a
variable coolant velocity
scheme for water-cooled
rotaries, which has had
widespread use, being
patented by Curtiss-Wright,[44]
with the last-listed for better
air-cooled engine spark plug
boss cooling. These
approaches did not require a
high-conductivity copper insert,
but did not preclude its use.
Ford tested a rotary engine
with the plugs placed in the
side plates, instead of the usual
placement in the housing
working surface (CA 1036073 ,
1978).

Four-stroke reciprocating
engines are not very suitable
for use with hydrogen fuel. The
hydrogen can misfire on hot
parts like the exhaust valve and
spark plugs. Another problem
concerns the hydrogenate
attack on the lubricating film in
reciprocating engines. In a
Wankel engine, this problem is
circumvented by using a
ceramic apex seal against a
ceramic surface, so that there
is no oil film to suffer
hydrogenate attack. The piston
shell must be lubricated and
cooled with oil. This
substantially increases the
lubricating oil consumption in a
four-stroke hydrogen engine.
[45][46]

Increasing the displacement

and power of a rotary engine by
adding more rotors to a basic
design is simple, but a limit
may exist in the number of
rotors, because power output is
channeled through the last
rotor shaft, with all the stresses
of the whole engine present at
that point. For engines with
more than two rotors, coupling
two bi-rotor sets by a serrate
coupling between the two rotor
sets has been tested
successfully.

Research in the United

Kingdom under the SPARCS
(Self-Pressurising-Air Rotor
Cooling System) project, found
that idle stability and economy
was obtained by supplying an
ignitable mix to only one rotor
in a multi-rotor engine in a
forced-air cooled rotor, similar
to the Norton air-cooled
designs.

The Wankel engine's

drawbacks of inadequate
lubrication and cooling in
ambient temperatures, short
engine lifespan, high emissions
and low fuel efficiencies were
tackled by Norton rotary engine
specialist David Garside, who
developed three patented
systems in 2016.[47][48]

SPARCS.
Compact-SPARCS.
CREEV (Compound Rotary
Engine for Electric Vehicles)

SPARCS and Compact-SPARCS

provides superior heat rejection
and efficient thermal balancing
to optimise lubrication. This
results in reduced engine wear
prolonging engine life. As
described in Unmanned
Systems Technology
Magazine, "SPARCS uses a
sealed rotor cooling circuit
consisting of a circulating
centrifugal fan and a heat
exchanger to reject the heat.
This is self-pressurised by
capturing the blow-by past the
rotor side gas seals from the
working chambers."[49] CREEV
is a ‘exhaust reactor’ that
consumes unburnt exhaust
products delivering lower
emissions and improved fuel
efficiency. All three patents are
currently licensed to UK-based
engineers, AIE (UK) Ltd.[50]
[51][52][53]

Materials

Unlike a piston engine, in which

the cylinder is heated by the
combustion process and then
cooled by the incoming charge,
Wankel rotor housings are
constantly heated on one side
and cooled on the other,
leading to high local
temperatures and unequal
thermal expansion. While this
places great demands on the
materials used, the simplicity
of the Wankel makes it easier
to use alternative materials,
such as exotic alloys and
ceramics. With water cooling in
a radial or axial flow direction,
and the hot water from the hot
bow heating the cold bow, the
thermal expansion remains
tolerable. Top engine
temperature has been reduced
to 129 °C (232 °F), with a
maximum temperature
difference between engine
parts of 18 °C (32 °F) by the
use of heat pipes around the
housing and in side plates as a
cooling means.[36]

Among the alloys cited for

Wankel housing use are A-132,
Inconel 625, and 356 treated to
T6 hardness. Several materials
have been used for plating the
housing working surface,
Nikasil being one. Citroen,
Mercedes-Benz, Ford, A P
Grazen and others applied for
patents in this field. For the
apex seals, the choice of
materials has evolved along
with the experience gained,
from carbon alloys, to steel,
ferrotic, and other materials.
The combination between
housing plating and apex and
side seals materials was
determined experimentally, to
obtain the best duration of both
seals and housing cover. For
the shaft, steel alloys with little
deformation on load are
preferred, the use of Maraging
steel has been proposed for
this.

Leaded gasoline was the

predominant type available in
the first years of the Wankel
engine's development. Lead is
a solid lubricant, and leaded
gasoline is designed to
reduced the wearing of seal
and housings. The first engines
had the oil supply calculated
with consideration of gasoline's
lubricating qualities. As leaded
gasoline was being phased out,
Wankel engines needed an
increased mix of oil in the
gasoline to provide lubrication
to critical engine parts.
Experienced users advise, even
in engines with electronic fuel
injection, adding at least 1% of
oil directly to gasoline as a
safety measure in case the
pump supplying oil to
combustion chamber related
parts failed or sucked in air. A
SAE paper by David Garside
extensively described Norton's
choices of materials and
cooling fins.

Several approaches involving

solid lubricants were tested,
and even the addition of MoS2,
at the rate of 1 cc (1 mL) per
liter of fuel, is advised
(LiquiMoly). Many engineers
agree that the addition of oil to
gasoline as in old two-stroke
engines is a safer approach for
engine reliability than an oil
pump injecting into the intake
system or directly to the parts
requiring lubrication. A
combined oil-in-fuel plus oil
metering pump is always
possible.[54]
Sealing

Early engine designs had a

high incidence of sealing loss,
both between the rotor and the
housing and also between the
various pieces making up the
housing. Also, in earlier model
Wankel engines, carbon
particles could become
trapped between the seal and
the casing, jamming the engine
and requiring a partial rebuild.
It was common for very early
Mazda engines to require
rebuilding after 50,000 miles
(80,000 km). Further sealing
problems arose from the
uneven thermal distribution
within the housings causing
distortion and loss of sealing
and compression. This thermal
distortion also caused uneven
wear between the apex seal
and the rotor housing, evident
on higher mileage engines. The
problem was exacerbated
when the engine was stressed
before reaching operating
temperature. However, Mazda
rotary engines solved these
initial problems. Current
engines have nearly 100 seal-
related parts.[1]

The problem of clearance for

hot rotor apexes passing
between the axially closer side
housings in the cooler intake
lobe areas was dealt with by
using an axial rotor pilot
radially inboard of the oils
seals, plus improved inertia oil
cooling of the rotor interior (
C-W US 3261542 , C. Jones,
5/8/63, US 3176915 , M.
Bentele, C. Jones. A.H. Raye.
7/2/62), and slightly "crowned"
apex seals (different height in
the center and in the extremes
of seal).

Fuel economy and

emissions

The shape of the Wankel

combustion chamber is more
resistant to preignition
operating on lower-octane
rating gasoline than a
comparable piston engine.[55]
The combustion chamber
shape may also lead to
relatively incomplete
combustion of the air-fuel
charge. This would result in a
larger amount of unburned
hydrocarbons released into the
exhaust. The exhaust is,
however, relatively low in NOx
emissions, because
combustion temperatures are
lower than in other engines,
and also because of some
inherent exhaust gas
recirculation (EGR) in early
engines. Sir Harry Ricardo
showed in the 1920s that for
every 1% increase in the
proportion of exhaust gas in
the admission mix, there is a
7 °C reduction in flame
temperature. This allowed
Mazda to meet the United
States Clean Air Act of 1970 in
1973, with a simple and
inexpensive "thermal reactor",
which was an enlarged
chamber in the exhaust
manifold. By decreasing the
air-fuel ratio, unburned
hydrocarbons (HC) in the
exhaust would support
combustion in the thermal
reactor. Piston-engine cars
required expensive catalytic
converters to deal with both
unburned hydrocarbons and
NOx emissions. This
inexpensive solution increased
fuel consumption, which was
already a weak point for the
Wankel engine, and the oil
crisis of 1973 raised the price
of gasoline. Toyota discovered
that injection of air into the
exhaust port zone improved
fuel economy and reduced
emissions. The best results
were obtained with holes in the
side plates; doing it in the
exhaust duct had no noticeable
influence.[43] The use of a
three-stage catalysts, with air
supplied in the middle, as for
two-stroke piston engines, also
proved beneficial.[56]

Mazda had improved the fuel

efficiency of the thermal
reactor system by 40% when
the RX-7 was introduced in
1978. However, Mazda
eventually shifted to the
catalytic converter system.[32]
According to the Curtiss-Wright
research, the factor that
controls the amount of
unburned hydrocarbon in the
exhaust is the rotor surface
temperature, with higher
temperatures producing less
hydrocarbon.[57] Curtiss-Wright
showed also that the rotor can
be widened, keeping the rest of
engine's architecture
unchanged, thus reducing
friction losses and increasing
displacement and power
output. The limiting factor for
this widening was mechanical,
especially shaft deflection at
high rotative speeds.[58]
Quenching is the dominant
source of hydrocarbon at high
speeds, and leakage at low
speeds.[59]

Automobile Wankel rotary

engines are capable of high-
speed operation. However, it
was shown that an early
opening of the intake port,
longer intake ducts, and a
greater rotor eccentricity can
increase torque at low rpm. The
shape and positioning of the
recess in the rotor, which forms
most of the combustion
chamber, influences emissions
and fuel economy. The results
in terms of fuel economy and
exhaust emissions varies
depending on the shape of the
combustion recess which is
determined by the placement
of spark plugs per chamber of
an individual engine.[60]

Mazda's RX-8 car with the

Renesis engine met California
State fuel economy
requirements, including
California's low emissions
vehicle (LEV) standards. This
was achieved by a number of
innovations. The exhaust ports,
which in earlier Mazda rotaries
were located in the rotor
housings, were moved to the
sides of the combustion
chamber. This solved the
problem of the earlier ash
buildup in the engine, and
thermal distortion problems of
side intake and exhaust ports.
A scraper seal was added in
the rotor sides, and some
ceramic parts were used in the
engine. This approach allowed
Mazda to eliminate overlap
between intake and exhaust
port openings, while
simultaneously increasing the
exhaust port area. The side
port trapped the unburned fuel
in the chamber, decreased the
oil consumption, and improved
the combustion stability in the
low-speed and light load range.
The HC emissions from the
side exhaust port Wankel
engine are 35–50% less than
those from the peripheral
exhaust port Wankel engine,
because of near zero intake
and exhaust port opening
overlap. Peripheral ported
rotary engines have a better
mean effective pressure,
especially at high rpm and with
a rectangular shaped intake
port.[61][62][63] However, the
RX-8 was not improved to meet
Euro 5 emission regulations
and was discontinued in
2012.[64]

Mazda is still continuing

development of next-
generation of Wankel engines.
The company is researching
engine laser ignition, which
eliminates conventional spark
plugs, direct fuel injection, and
sparkless HCCI ignition. These
lead to greater rotor
eccentricity (equating to a
longer stroke in a reciprocating
engine), with improved
elasticity and low revolutions-
per-minute torque. Research by
T. Kohno proved that installing
a glow-plug in the combustion
chamber improved part load
and low revolutions per minute
fuel economy by 7%.[65] These
innovations promise to improve
fuel consumption and
emissions.[66] To improve fuel
efficiency further, Mazda is
looking at using the Wankel as
a range-extender in series-
hybrid cars, announcing a
prototype, the Mazda2 EV, for
press evaluation in November
2013. This configuration
improves fuel efficiency and
emissions. As a further
advantage, running a Wankel
engine at a constant speed
gives greater engine life.
Keeping to a near constant, or
narrow band, of revolutions
eliminates, or vastly reduces,
many of the disadvantages of
the Wankel engine.[17]
In 2015 a new system to
reduce emissions and increase
fuel efficiency with Wankel
Engines was developed by UK-
based engineers AIE (UK) Ltd,
following a licensing
agreement to utilise patents
from Norton rotary engine
creator, David Garside. The
CREEV system (Compound
Rotary Engine for Electric
Vehicles) uses a secondary
rotor to extract energy from the
exhaust, consuming unburnt
exhaust products while
expansion occurs in the
secondary rotor stage, thus
reducing overall emissions and
fuel costs by recouping
exhaust energy that would
otherwise be lost.[49] By
expanding the exhaust gas to
near atmospheric pressure,
Garside also ensured the
engine exhaust would remain
cooler and quieter. AIE (UK) Ltd
is now utilising this patent to
develop hybrid power units for
automobiles[50] and unmanned
aerial vehicles.[67]
Laser ignition

Traditional spark plugs need to

be indented into the walls of
the combustion chamber to
enable the apex of the rotor to
sweep past. As the rotor's apex
seals pass over the spark plug
hole, a small amount of
compressed charge can be lost
from the charge chamber to the
exhaust chamber, entailing fuel
in the exhaust, reducing
efficiency, and resulting in
higher emissions. These points
have been overcome by using
laser ignition, eliminating
traditional spark plugs and
removing the narrow slit in the
motor housing so the rotor
apex seals can fully sweep with
no loss of compression from
adjacent chambers. This
concept has a precedent in the
glow plug used by Toyota (SAE
paper 790435), and the SAE
paper 930680, by D. Hixon et
al., on 'Catalytic Glow Plugs in
the JDTI Stratified Charge
Rotary Engine'. The laser plug
can fire through the narrow slit.
Laser plugs can also fire deep
into the combustion chamber
using multiple lasers. Direct
fuel injection, to which the
Wankel engine is suited,
combined with laser ignition in
single or multiple laser plugs,
has been shown to enhance
the motor even further
reducing the disadvantages.
[66][68][69]

Homogeneous Charge
Compression Ignition
(HCCI)

Homogeneous charge
compression ignition (HCCI)
involves the use of a pre-mixed
lean air-fuel mixture being
compressed to the point of
auto-ignition, so electronic
spark ignition is eliminated.
Gasoline engines combine
homogeneous charge (HC)
with spark ignition (SI),
abbreviated as HCSI. Diesel
engines combine stratified
charge (SC) with compression
ignition (CI), abbreviated as
SCCI. HCCI engines achieve
gasoline engine-like emissions
with compression ignition
engine-like efficiency, and low
levels of nitrogen oxide
emissions (NO x) without a
catalytic converter. However,
unburned hydrocarbon and
carbon monoxide emissions
still require treatment to
conform with automotive
emission regulations.

Mazda has undertaken

research on HCCI ignition for
its SkyActiv-R rotary engine
project, using research from its
SkyActiv Generation 2
program. A constraint of rotary
engines is the need to locate
the spark plug outside the
combustion chamber to enable
the rotor to sweep past. Mazda
confirmed that the problem had
been solved in the SkyActiv-R
project. Rotaries generally have
high compression ratios,
making them particularly
suitable for the use of HCCI.[70]
[71][72]

Compression-Ignition
Rotary
Rolls Royce R6 two stage rotary
compression ignition engine

There has been research into

compression ignition engines
and the burning of diesel heavy
fuel in rotaries using spark
ignition. The basic design
parameters of the Wankel
engine preclude obtaining a
compression ratio higher than
15:1 or 17:1 in a practical
engine, but attempts are
continuously being made to
produce a compression-
ignition Wankel. The Rolls-
Royce[73] and Yanmar
compression-ignition [74]
approach was to use a two-
stage unit, with one rotor acting
as compressor, while
combustion takes place in the
other. Conversion of an
standard 294 cc per chamber
spark-ignition unit to use heavy
fuel was described in SAE
paper 930682, by L. Louthan.
SAE paper 930683, by D.
Eiermann, resulted in the
Wankel SuperTec line of
compression-ignition rotary
engines.

Compression-ignition engine
research is being undertaken
by Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne,
which was commissioned by
DARPA to develop a
compression-ignition Wankel
engine for use in a prototype
VTOL flying car called the
"Transformer".[75][76][77][78] The
engine, based on an earlier
concept involving an
unmanned aerial vehicle called
"Endurocore", powered by a
Wankel diesel.[79] plans to
utilize Wankel rotors of varying
sizes on a shared eccentric
shaft to increase efficiency.[80]
The engine is claimed to be a
'full-compression, full-
expansion, compression-
ignition-cycle engine'. An
October 28, 2010 patent by
Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne,
describes a Wankel engine
superficially similar to Rolls-
Royce's earlier prototype, that
required an external air
compressor to achieve high
enough compression for
compression-ignition-cycle
combustion.[81][82] The design
differs from Rolls-Royce's
compression-ignition rotary,
mainly by proposing an injector
both in the exhaust passage
between the combustor rotor
and expansion rotor stages,
and an injector in the
expansion rotor's expansion
chamber, for 'afterburning'.
The British company Rotron,
which specialises in unmanned
aerial vehicle (UAV)
applications of Wankel engines,
has designed and built a unit to
operate on heavy fuel for NATO
purposes. The engines uses
spark ignition. The prime
innovation is flame
propagation, ensuring the
flame burns smoothly across
the whole combustion
chamber. The fuel is pre-heated
to 98 degrees Celsius before it
is injected into the combustion
chamber. Four spark plugs are
utilised, aligned in two pairs.
Two spark plugs ignite the fuel
charge at the front of the rotor
as it moves into the
combustion section of the
housing. As the rotor moves
the fuel charge, the second two
fire a fraction of second behind
the first pair of plugs, igniting
near the rear of the rotor at the
back of the fuel charge. The
drive shaft is water cooled
which also has a cooling effect
on the internals of the rotor.
Cooling water also flows
around the external of the
engine through a gap in the
housing, thus reducing the heat
of the engine from outside and
inside eliminating hot spots.[83]

Advantages

NSU Wankel Spider, the first line of cars

sold with a rotor Wankel engine
Mazda Cosmo, the first series two rotor
Wankel engine sports car

Prime advantages of the

Wankel engine are:[12]

A far higher power to weight

ratio than a piston engine
Approximately one third of
the size of a piston engine of
equivalent power output
Easier to package in small
engine spaces than an
equivalent piston engine
No reciprocating parts
Able to reach higher
revolutions per minute than a
piston engine
Operating with almost no
vibration
Not prone to engine-knock
Cheaper to mass-produce,
because the engine contains
fewer parts
Superior breathing, filling the
combustion charge in 270
degrees of mainshaft
 rotation rather than 180
degrees in a piston engine
Supplying torque for about
two thirds of the combustion
cycle rather than one quarter
for a piston engine
Wider speed range giving
greater adaptability
It can use fuels of wider
octane ratings
Does not suffer from "scale
effect" to limit its size

Wankel engines are

considerably lighter and
simpler, containing far fewer
moving parts than piston
engines of equivalent power
output. Valves or complex
valve trains are eliminated by
using simple ports cut into the
walls of the rotor housing.
Since the rotor rides directly on
a large bearing on the output
shaft, there are no connecting
rods and no crankshaft. The
elimination of reciprocating
mass, and the elimination of
the most highly stressed and
failure prone parts of piston
engines, gives the Wankel
engine high reliability, a
smoother flow of power, and a
high power-to-weight ratio.

The surface-to-volume-ratio in
the moving combustion
chamber is so complex that a
direct comparison cannot be
made between a reciprocating
piston engine and a Wankel
engine. The flow velocity and
the heat losses are quite
different. Surface temperature
characteristics are completely
different; the film of oil in the
Wankel engine acts as
insulation. Engines with a
higher compression ratio have
a worse surface-to-volume
ratio. The surface-to-volume
ratio of a reciprocating piston
diesel engine is much poorer
than a reciprocating piston
gasoline engine, but diesel
engines have a higher
efficiency factor. Hence,
comparing power outputs is a
realistic metric. A reciprocating
piston engine with equal power
to a Wankel will be
approximately twice the
displacement. When
comparing the power-to-weight
ratio, physical size or physical
weight to a similar power
output piston engine, the
Wankel is superior.

A four-stroke cylinder produces

a power stroke only on every
other rotation of the crankshaft,
with three strokes being
pumping losses. This doubles
the real surface-to-volume ratio
for the four-stroke
reciprocating piston engine and
the displacement increased.
[84][85] The Wankel, therefore,
has higher volumetric
efficiency and lower pumping
losses through the absence of
choking valves.[86] Because of
the quasi-overlap of the power
strokes, that cause the
smoothness of the engine and
the avoidance of the four-
stroke cycle in a reciprocating
engine, the Wankel engine is
very quick to react to power
increases, giving a quick
delivery of power when the
demand arises, especially at
higher rpm's. This difference is
more pronounced when
compared to four-cylinder
reciprocating engines and less
pronounced when compared to
higher cylinder counts.

In addition to the removal of

internal reciprocating stresses
by the complete removal of
reciprocating internal parts
typically found in a piston
engine, the Wankel engine is
constructed with an iron rotor
within a housing made of
aluminium, which has a greater
coefficient of thermal
expansion. This ensures that
even a severely overheated
Wankel engine cannot seize, as
is likely to occur in an
overheated piston engine. This
is a substantial safety benefit
when used in aircraft. In
addition, the absence of valves
and valve trains increases
safety. GM tested an iron rotor
and iron housing in their
prototype Wankel engines, that
worked at higher temperatures
with lower specific fuel
consumption.

A further advantage of the

Wankel engine for use in
aircraft is that it generally has a
smaller frontal area than a
piston engine of equivalent
power, allowing a more
aerodynamic nose to be
designed around the engine. A
cascading advantage is that
the smaller size and lower
weight of the Wankel engine
allows for savings in airframe
construction costs, compared
to piston engines of
comparable power.

Wankel engines operating

within their original design
parameters are almost immune
to catastrophic failure. A
Wankel engine that loses
compression, or cooling or oil
pressure, will lose a large
amount of power and fail over
a short period of time. It will,
however, usually continue to
produce some power during
that time, allowing for a safer
landing when used in aircraft.
Piston engines under the same
circumstances are prone to
seizing or breaking parts,
which will almost certainly
result in catastrophic failure of
the engine, and the instant loss
of all power. For this reason,
Wankel engines are very well-
suited to snowmobiles, which
often take users into remote
places where a failure could
result in frostbite or death, and
in aircraft, where abrupt failure
is likely to lead to a crash or
forced landing in a remote
place.

From the combustion chamber

shape and features, the fuel
octane requirements of Wankel
engines are lower than in
reciprocating piston engines.
The maximum road octane
number requirements were 82
for a peripheral-intake port
wankel engine, and less than
70 for a side-inlet port
engine.[87] From the point of
view of oil refiners this may be
an advantage in fuel
production costs.[88]

Due to a 50% longer stroke

duration than a reciprocating
four-cycle engine, there is more
time to complete the
combustion. This leads to
greater suitability for direct fuel
injection and stratified charge
operation. A Wankel rotary
engine has stronger flows of
air-fuel mixture and a longer
operating cycle than a
reciprocating engine, achieving
a concomitantly thorough
mixing of hydrogen and air. The
result is a homogeneous
mixture and no hot spots in the
engine, which is crucial for
hydrogen combustion.[89]

Disadvantages
Although many of the
disadvantages are the subject
of ongoing research, the
current disadvantages of the
Wankel engine in production
are the following:[90]

Rotor sealing. This is still a

minor problem as the engine
housing has vastly different
temperatures in each
separate chamber section.
The different expansion
coefficients of the materials
leads to imperfect sealing.
Additionally, both sides of
the seals are exposed to fuel,
and the design does not
allow for controlling the
lubrication of the rotors
accurately and precisely.
Rotary engines tend to be
overlubricated at all engine
speeds and loads, and have
relatively high oil
consumption and other
problems resulting from
excess oil in the combustion
areas of the engine, such as
carbon formation and
excessive emissions from
burning oil. By comparison, a
piston engine has all
functions of a cycle in the
same chamber giving a more
stable temperature for piston
rings to act against.
Additionally, only one side of
the piston in a (four-stroke)
piston engine is being
exposed to fuel, allowing for
oil to lubricate the cylinders
from the other side. Piston
engine components can also
be designed to increase ring
sealing and oil control as
cylinder pressures and
power levels increase. To
overcome the problems in a
Wankel engine of differences
in temperatures between
different regions of housing
and side and intermediary
plates, and the associated
thermal dilatation inequities,
a heat pipe has been used to
transport heat from the hot
to the cold parts of engine.
The "heat pipes" effectively
direct hot exhaust gas to the
cooler parts of the engine,
with resulting decreases in
efficiency and performance.
In small-displacement,
charge-cooled rotor, air-
cooled housing Wankel
engines, that has been
shown to reduce the
maximum engine
temperature from 231 °C to
129 °C, and the maximum
difference between hotter
and colder regions of engine
from 159 °C to 18 °C.[91]
Apex seal lifting. Centrifugal
force pushes the apex seal
onto the housing surface
forming a firm seal. Gaps
can develop between the
apex seal and troichoid
housing in light-load
operation when imbalances
in centrifugal force and gas
pressure occur. At low
engine-rpm ranges, or under
low-load conditions, gas
pressure in the combustion
chamber can cause the seal
to lift off the surface,
resulting in combustion gas
leaking into the next
chamber. Mazda developed a
solution, changing the shape
of the troichoid housing,
which meant that the seals
remain flush to the housing.
Using the Wankel engine at
sustained higher revolutions
helps eliminate apex seal lift
off, and makes it very viable
in applications such as
electricity generation. In
motor vehicles, the engine
will be suited to series-hybrid
applications.[92]
Slow combustion. Fuel
combustion is slow, because
the combustion chamber is
long, thin, and moving. Flame
travel occurs almost
exclusively in the direction of
rotor movement, adding to
the quenching that is the
main source of unburned
hydrocarbons at high rpm.
The trailing side of the
combustion chamber
naturally produces a
"squeeze stream" that
prevents the flame from
reaching the chamber trailing
edge. Fuel injection, in which
fuel is injected towards the
leading edge of the
combustion chamber, can
minimize the amount of
unburnt fuel in the exhaust.
Where piston engines have
an expanding combustion
chamber for the burning fuel
as its oxidized and
decreasing pressure as the
piston travels toward the
bottom of the cylinder during
the power stroke is offset by
additional leverage of the
piston on the crankshaft
during the first half of that
travel, there is no additional
"leverage" of a rotor on the
mainshaft during
combustion and the
mainshaft has no increased
leverage to power the rotor
through the intake,
compression and exhaust
phases of its cycle.
Bad fuel economy. This is
due to seal leakages, and the
shape of the combustion
chamber, which results in
poor combustion behavior
and mean effective pressure
at part load, low rpm.
Meeting the emissions
regulations requirements
sometimes mandates a fuel-
air ratio that is not conducive
to good fuel economy.
Acceleration and
deceleration in average
driving conditions also affect
fuel economy. However,
operating the engine at a
constant speed and load
eliminates excess fuel
consumption.[17][93]
High emissions. As unburnt
fuel is in the exhaust stream,
emissions requirements are
difficult to meet. This
problem may be overcome
by implementing direct fuel
injection into the combustion
chamber. The Freedom
Motors Rotapower Wankel
 engine, which is not yet in
production, met the ultra low
California emissions
standards.[94] The Mazda
Renesis engine, with both
intake and exhaust side
ports, suppressed the loss of
unburned mix to exhaust
formerly induced by port
overlap.[95]

Although in two dimensions

the seal system of a Wankel
looks to be even simpler than
that of a corresponding multi-
cylinder piston engine, in three
dimensions the opposite is
true. As well as the rotor apex
seals evident in the conceptual
diagram, the rotor must also
seal against the chamber ends.

Piston rings in reciprocating

engines are not perfect seals;
each has a gap to allow for
expansion. The sealing at the
apexes of the Wankel rotor is
less critical, because leakage is
between adjacent chambers on
adjacent strokes of the cycle,
rather than to the mainshaft
case. Although sealing has
improved over the years, the
less-than-effective sealing of
the Wankel, which is mostly
due to lack of lubrication,
remains factor reducing its
efficiency.[96]

In a Wankel engine, the fuel-air

mixture cannot be pre-stored
because there are consecutive
intake cycles. The engine has a
50% longer stroke duration
than a reciprocating piston
engine. The four Otto cycles
last 1080° for a Wankel engine
(three revolutions of the output
shaft) versus 720° for a four-
stroke reciprocating engine, but
the four strokes are still the
same proportion of the total.

There are various methods of

calculating the engine
displacement of a Wankel. The
Japanese regulations for
calculating displacements for
engine ratings use the volume
displacement of one rotor face
only, and the auto industry
commonly accepts this method
as the standard for calculating
the displacement of a rotary.
When compared by specific
output, however, the
convention resulted in large
imbalances in favor of the
Wankel motor. An early revised
approach was to rate the
displacement of each rotor as
two times the chamber.

Wankel rotary engine and

piston engine displacement,
and corresponding power,
output can more accurately be
compared by displacement per
revolution of the eccentric
shaft. A calculation of this form
dictates that a two-rotor
Wankel displacing 654 cc per
face will have a displacement
of 1.3 liters per every rotation
of the eccentric shaft (only two
total faces, one face per rotor
going through a full power
stroke) and 2.6 liters after two
revolutions (four total faces,
two faces per rotor going
through a full power stroke).
The results are directly
comparable to a 2.6-liter piston
engine with an even number of
cylinders in a conventional
firing order, which will likewise
displace 1.3 liters through its
power stroke after one
revolution of the mainshaft,
and 2.6 liters through its power
strokes after two revolutions of
the mainshaft. A Wankel rotary
engine is still a four-cycle
engine, and pumping losses
from non-power strokes still
apply, but the absence of
throttling valves and a 50%
longer stroke duration result in
a significantly lower pumping
loss compared to a four-stroke
reciprocating piston engine.
Measuring a Wankel rotary
engine in this way more
accurately explains its specific
output, because the volume of
its air fuel mixture put through
a complete power stroke per
revolution is directly
responsible for torque, and
thus the power produced.

The trailing side of the rotary

engine's combustion chamber
develops a squeeze stream
which pushes back the flame
front. With the conventional
one or two-spark-plug system
and homogenous mixture, this
squeeze stream prevents the
flame from propagating to the
combustion chamber's trailing
side in the mid and high engine
speed ranges.[97] Kawasaki
dealt with that problem in its
US patent US 3848574 , and
Toyota obtained a 7% economy
improvement by placing a
glow-plug in the leading site,
and using Reed-Valves in
intake ducts.[65] This poor
combustion in the trailing side
of chamber is one of the
reasons why there is more
carbon monoxide and unburnt
hydrocarbons in a Wankel's
exhaust stream. A side-port
exhaust, as is used in the
Mazda Renesis, avoids one of
the causes of this because the
unburned mixture cannot
escape. The Mazda 26B
avoided this problem through
the use of a three spark-plug
ignition system. (At the 24
Hours of Le Mans endurance
race in 1991, the 26B had
significantly lower fuel
consumption than the
competing reciprocating piston
engines. All competitors had
the same amount of fuel
available due to the Le Mans
limited fuel quantity rule.)[98]

A peripheral intake port gives

the highest mean effective
pressure, however, side intake
porting produces a more
steady idle,[99] because it helps
to prevent blow-back of burned
gases into the intake ducts
which cause "misfirings",
caused by alternating cycles
where the mixture ignites and
fails to ignite. Peripheral
porting (PP) gives the best
mean effective pressure
throughout the rpm range, but
PP was linked also to worse
idle stability and part-load
performance. Early work by
Toyota[65] led to the addition of
a fresh air supply to the
exhaust port, and proved also
that a Reed-valve in the intake
port or ducts[100] improved the
low rpm and partial load
performance of Wankel
engines, by preventing blow-
back of exhaust gas into the
intake port and ducts, and
reducing the misfire-inducing
high EGR, at the cost of a small
loss of power at top rpm. David
W. Garside, the developer of the
Norton rotary engine, who
proposed that earlier opening
of the intake port before top
dead center (TDC), and longer
intake ducts, improved low rpm
torque and elasticity of Wankel
engines. That is also described
in Kenichi Yamamoto's books.
Elasticity is also improved with
a greater rotor eccentricity,
analogous to a longer stroke in
a reciprocating engine. Wankel
engines operate better with a
low-pressure exhaust system.
Higher exhaust back pressure
reduces mean effective
pressure, more severely in
peripheral intake port engines.
The Mazda RX-8 Renesis
engine improved performance
by doubling the exhaust port
area compared with earlier
designs, and there has been
specific study of the effect of
intake and exhaust piping
configuration on the
performance of Wankel
engines.[101]
All Mazda-made Wankel
rotaries, including the Renesis
found in the RX-8, burn a small
quantity of oil by design,
metered into the combustion
chamber to preserve the apex
seals. Owners must
periodically add small amounts
of oil, thereby increasing
running costs. Some sources,
such as rotaryeng.net, claim
that better results come with
the use of an oil-in-fuel mixture
rather than an oil metering
pump. Liquid-cooled engines
require a mineral multigrade oil
for cold starts, and Wankel
engines need a warm-up time
before full load operation as
reciprocating engines do. All
engines exhibit oil loss, but the
rotary engine is engineered
with a sealed motor, unlike a
piston engine that has a film of
oil that splashes on the walls of
the cylinder to lubricate them,
hence an oil "control" ring. No-
oil-loss engines have been
developed, eliminating much of
the oil lubrication problem.

Applications
Automobile racing

Mazda 787B

In the racing world, Mazda has

had substantial success with
two-rotor, three-rotor, and four-
rotor cars. Private racers have
also had considerable success
with stock and modified Mazda
Wankel-engine cars.[102]
The Sigma MC74 powered by a
Mazda 12A engine was the first
engine and only team from
outside Western Europe or the
United States to finish the
entire 24 hours of the 24 Hours
of Le Mans race, in 1974. Yojiro
Terada was the driver of the
MC74. Mazda is the only team
from outside Western Europe
or the United States to have
won Le Mans outright and the
only non-piston engine ever to
win Le Mans, which the
company accomplished in
1991 with their four-rotor 787B
(2.622 L or 160 cu in—actual
displacement, rated by FIA
formula at 4.708 L or
287 cu in).

Formula Mazda Racing

features open-wheel race cars
with Mazda Wankel engines,
adaptable to both oval tracks
and road courses, on several
levels of competition. Since
1991, the professionally
organized Star Mazda Series
has been the most popular
format for sponsors,
spectators, and upward bound
drivers. The engines are all
built by one engine builder,
certified to produce the
prescribed power, and sealed
to discourage tampering. They
are in a relatively mild state of
racing tune, so that they are
extremely reliable and can go
years between motor
rebuilds.[103]

The Malibu Grand Prix chain,

similar in concept to
commercial recreational kart
racing tracks, operates several
venues in the United States
where a customer can
purchase several laps around a
track in a vehicle very similar to
open wheel racing vehicles, but
powered by a small Curtiss-
Wright rotary engine.

In engines having more than

two rotors, or two rotor race
engines intended for high-rpm
use, a multi-piece eccentric
shaft may be used, allowing
additional bearings between
rotors. While this approach
does increase the complexity
of the eccentric shaft design, it
has been used successfully in
the Mazda's production three-
rotor 20B-REW engine, as well
as many low volume
production race engines. The
C-111-2 4 Rotor Mercedes-
Benz eccentric shaft for the KE
Serie 70, Typ DB M950 KE409
is made in one piece.
Mercedes-Benz used split
bearings.

Motorcycle engines
Norton Interpol2 prototype

The small size and attractive

power to weight ratio of the
Wankel engine appealed to
motorcycle manufacturers. The
first Wankel-engined
motorcycle was the 1960
'IFA/MZ KKM 175W' built by
German motorcycle
manufacturer MZ, licensed by
NSU.[104]
In 1972, Yamaha introduced
the RZ201 at the Tokyo Motor
Show, a prototype with a
Wankel engine, weighing
220 kg and producing 60 hp
(45 kW) from a twin-rotor
660 cc engine (US patent
N3964448). In 1972 Kawasaki
presented its two-rotor
Kawasaki X99 rotary engine
prototype (US patents N
3848574 &3991722). Both
Yamaha and Kawasaki claimed
to have solved the problems of
poor fuel economy, high
exhaust emissions, and poor
engine longevity, in early
Wankels, but neither prototype
reached production.

In 1974 Hercules produced

W-2000 Wankel motorcycles,
but low production numbers
meant the project was
unprofitable, and production
ceased in 1977.[105]

From 1975 to 1976, Suzuki

produced its RE5 single-rotor
Wankel motorcycle. It was a
complex design, with both
liquid cooling and oil cooling,
and multiple lubrication and
carburetor systems. It worked
well and was smooth, but being
rather heavy, and having a
modest power output of 62 hp
(46 kW), it did not sell well.[106]

Dutch motorcycle importer and

manufacturer Van Veen
produced small quantities of
their dual-rotor Wankel-engined
OCR-1000 between 1978 and
1980, using surplus Comotor
engines.

In the early 1980s, using earlier

work at BSA, Norton produced
the air-cooled twin-rotor
Classic, followed by the liquid-
cooled Commander and the
Interpol2 (a police version).[107]
Subsequent Norton Wankel
bikes included the Norton F1,
F1 Sports, RC588, Norton
RCW588, and NRS588. Norton
proposed a new 588 cc twin-
rotor model called the
"NRV588" and a 700 cc version
called the "NRV700".[108] A
former mechanic at Norton,
Brian Crighton, started
developing his own rotary
engined motorcycles line
named "Roton", which won
several Australian races.

Despite successes in
racing,[109] no motorcycles
powered by Wankel engines
have been produced for sale to
the general public for road use
since 1992.

The two different design

approaches, taken by Suzuki
and BSA may usefully be
compared. Even before Suzuki
produced the RE5, in
Birmingham BSA's research
engineer David Garside, was
developing a twin-rotor Wankel
motorcycle. BSA's collapse put
a halt to development, but
Garside's machine eventually
reached production as the
Norton Classic.

Wankel engines run very hot on

the ignition and exhaust side of
the engine's trochoid chamber,
whereas the intake and
compression parts are cooler.
Suzuki opted for a complicated
oil-cooling and water cooling
system, with Garside reasoning
that provided the power did not
exceed 80 hp (60 kW), air-
cooling would suffice. Garside
cooled the interior of the rotors
with filtered ram-air. This very
hot air was cooled in a plenum
contained within the semi-
monocoque frame and
afterwards, once mixed with
fuel, fed into the engine. This
air was quite oily after running
through the interior of the
rotors, and thus was used to
lubricate the rotor tips. The
exhaust pipes become very hot,
with Suzuki opting for a finned
exhaust manifold, twin-skinned
exhausted pipes with cooling
grilles, heatproof pipe
wrappings and silencers with
heat shields. Garside simply
tucked the pipes out of harm's
way under the engine, where
heat would dissipate in the
breeze of the vehicle's forward
motion. Suzuki opted for
complicated multi-stage
carburation, whilst Garside
choose simple carburetors.
Suzuki had three lube systems,
whilst Garside had a single
total-loss oil injection system
which was fed to both the main
bearings and the intake
manifolds. Suzuki chose a
single rotor that was fairly
smooth, however with rough
patches at 4,000 rpm; Garside
opted for a turbine-smooth
twin-rotor motor. Suzuki
mounted the massive rotor
high in the frame, but Garside
put his rotors as low as
possible to lower the center of
gravity of the motorcycle.[110]

Although it was said to handle

well, The result was that the
Suzuki was heavy,
overcomplicated, expensive to
manufacture, and (at 62 bhp) a
little short on power. Garside's
design was simpler, smoother,
lighter and, at 80 hp (60 kW),
significantly more powerful.[111]

Aircraft engines

Diamond DA20 with Diamond Engines

Wankel
Sikorsky Cypher Unmanned aerial vehicle
(UAV) powered with a UEL AR801 Wankel
engine

ARV Super2 with the British MidWest

AE110 twin-rotor Wankel engine

In principle, Wankel engines

should be ideal for light
aircraft, being light, compact,
almost vibrationless, and with a
high power-to-weight ratio.
Further aviation benefits of a
Wankel engine include:

1. Rotors cannot seize, since

rotor casings expand more
than rotors;
2. The engine is less prone to
the serious condition known as
"engine-knock", which can
destroy the plane's engines in
mid-flight.
3. The engine is not susceptible
to "shock-cooling" during
descent;
4. The engine does not require
an enriched mixture for cooling
at high power;
5. Having no reciprocating
parts, there is less vulnerability
to damage when the engine
revolves at a higher rate than
the designed maximum. The
limit to the revolutions is the
strength of the main bearings.

Unlike some cars and

motorcycles, a Wankel aero-
engine will be sufficiently warm
before full power is asked of it
because of the time taken for
pre-flight checks. A Wankel
aero-engine spends most of its
operational time at high power
outputs, with little idling. This
makes ideal the use of
peripheral ports. An advantage
is that modular engines with
more than two rotors are
feasible. If icing of any intake
tracts is an issue, there is
plenty of waste engine heat
available to prevent icing.

The first Wankel rotary-engine

aircraft was the experimental
Lockheed Q-Star civilian
version of the United States
Army's reconnaissance QT-2,
basically a powered Schweizer
sailplane, in the late 1960s. The
plane was powered by a 185 hp
(138 kW) Curtiss-Wright
RC2-60 Wankel rotary engine.
The same engine model was
also used in a Cessna Cardinal
and a helicopter, as well as
other airplanes.[12][112][113] In
Germany in the mid-1970s, a
pusher ducted fan airplane
powered by a modified NSU
multi-rotor Wankel engine was
developed in both civilian and
military versions, Fanliner and
Fantrainer.

At roughly the same time as

the first experiments with full-
scale aircraft powered with
Wankel engines, model aircraft-
sized versions were pioneered
by a combine of the well-known
Japanese O.S. Engines firm
and the then-extant German
Graupner aeromodeling
products firm, under license
from NSU/Auto-Union. By 1968
the first prototype air-cooled,
single-rotor glow plug-ignition,
methanol-fueled 4.9 cm3
displacement OS/Graupner
model Wankel engine was
running, and was produced in
at least two differing versions
from 1970 to the present day ,
solely by the O.S. firm after
Graupner's demise in 2012.[114]

Aircraft Wankel engines are

increasingly being found in
roles where the compact size,
high power-to-weight ratio and
quiet operation are important,
notably in drones and
unmanned aerial vehicles.
Many companies and
hobbyists adapt Mazda rotary
engines, taken from cars, to
aircraft use. Others, including
Wankel GmbH itself,
manufacture Wankel rotary
engines dedicated for that
purpose.[115][116] One such use
is the "Rotapower" engines in
the Moller Skycar M400.
Another example of purpose-
built aircraft rotaries are Austro
Engine's 55 hp (41 kW) AE50R
(certified) and 75 hp (56 kW)
AE75R (under development)
both appr. 2 hp/kg.[117]

Wankel engines are also

becoming increasingly popular
in homebuilt experimental
aircraft, such as the ARV
Super2 which can be re-
engined with the British
MidWest AE series aero-
engine. Most are Mazda 12A
and 13B automobile engines,
converted to aviation use. This
is a very cost-effective
alternative to certified aircraft
engines, providing engines
ranging from 100 to 300
horsepower (220 kW) at a
fraction of the cost of
traditional engines. These
conversions first took place in
the early 1970s. With a number
of these engines mounted on
aircraft, as of 10 December
2006 the National
Transportation Safety Board
has only seven reports of
incidents involving aircraft with
Mazda engines, and none of
these were a failure due to
design or manufacturing flaws.

Peter Garrison, contributing

editor for Flying magazine, has
said that "in my opinion ... the
most promising engine for
aviation use is the Mazda
rotary."[118] Mazda rotaries have
worked well when converted
for use in homebuilt aircraft.
However, the real challenge in
aviation is to produce FAA-
certified alternatives to the
standard reciprocating engines
that power most small general
aviation aircraft. Mistral
Engines, based in Switzerland,
developed purpose-built
rotaries for factory and retrofit
installations on certified
production aircraft. The G-190
and G-230-TS rotary engines
were already flying in the
experimental market, and
Mistral Engines hoped for FAA
and JAA certification by 2011.
As of June 2010, G-300 rotary
engine development ceased,
with the company citing cash
flow problems.[119]

Mistral claims to have

overcome the challenges of
fuel consumption inherent in
the rotary, at least to the extent
that the engines are
demonstrating specific fuel
consumption within a few
points of reciprocating engines
of similar displacement. While
fuel burn is still marginally
higher than traditional engines,
it is outweighed by other
beneficial factors.[120][121]

At the price of increased

complication for a high
pressure diesel type injection
system, fuel consumption in
the same range as small pre-
chamber automotive and
industrial diesels has been
demonstrated with Curtiss-
Wright's stratified charge multi-
fuel engines, while preserving
Wankel rotary advantages[122]
Unlike a piston and overhead
valve engine, there are no
valves which can float at higher
rpm causing loss of
performance. The Wankel is a
more effective design at high
revolutions with no
reciprocating parts, far fewer
moving parts and no cylinder
head.[123]
The French company Citroën
had developed Wankel powered
RE-2 helicopter in the
1970s.[124]

Since Wankel engines operate

at a relatively high rotational
speed, at 6,000 rpm of output
shaft, the Rotor makes only
2,000 turns. With relatively low
torque, propeller driven aircraft
must use a propeller speed
reduction unit to maintain
propellers within the designed
speed range. Experimental
aircraft with Wankel engines
use propeller speed reduction
units, for instance the MidWest
twin-rotor engine has a 2.95:1
reduction gearbox. The
rotational shaft speed of a
Wankel engine is high
compared to reciprocating
piston designs. Only the
eccentric shaft spins fast, while
the rotors turn at exactly one-
third of the shaft speed. If the
shaft is spinning at 7,500 rpm,
the rotors are turning at a much
slower 2,500 rpm.

Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne

has been commissioned by
DARPA to develop a diesel
Wankel engine for use in a
prototype VTOL flying car
called the "Transformer".[75][76]
[77][78] The engine, based on an
earlier unmanned aerial vehicle
Wankel diesel concept called
"Endurocore".[79]

The sailplane manufacturer

Schleicher uses Wankel
engines in its self-launching
models ASK-21 Mi,
ASH-26E,[125] ASH-25 M/Mi,
ASH-30 Mi, ASH-31 Mi, ASW-22
BLE, and ASG-32 Mi.

In 2013 e-Go aeroplanes, based

in Cambridge, United Kingdom,
announced that its new single-
seater canard aircraft, the
winner of a design competition
to meet the new UK single-seat
deregulated category, will be
powered by a Wankel engine
from Rotron Power, a specialist
manufacturer of advanced
rotary engines for unmanned
aeronautical vehicle (UAV)
applications. The first sale was
2016. The aircraft is expected
to deliver 100 knots (190 km/h;
120 mph) cruise speed from a
30 hp (22 kW) Wankel engine,
with a fuel economy of
75 mpg‑imp (3.8 L/100 km;
62 mpg‑US) using standard
motor gasoline (MOGAS),
developing 22 kW (30 hp).[126]

The DA36 E-Star, an aircraft

designed by Siemens, Diamond
Aircraft and EADS, employs a
series hybrid powertrain with
the propeller being turned by a
Siemens 70 kW (94 hp) electric
motor. The aim is to reduce fuel
consumption and emissions by
up to 25 percent. An onboard
40 hp (30 kW) Austro Engines
Wankel rotary engine and
generator provides the
electricity. A propeller speed
reduction unit is eliminated.
The electric motor uses
electricity stored in batteries,
with the generator engine off,
to take off and climb reducing
sound emissions. The series-
hybrid powertrain using the
Wankel engine reduces the
weight of the plane by 100 kg
compared with its predecessor.
The DA36 E-Star first flew in
June 2013, making this the first
ever flight of a series-hybrid
powertrain. Diamond Aircraft
state that the technology using
Wankel engines is scalable to a
100-seat aircraft.[127][128]

Range extender

Structure of a series-hybrid vehicle. The

grey square represents a differential gear.
An alternative arrangement (not shown)
is to have electric motors at two or four
wheels.
Mazda2 EV prototype

Due to the compact size and

the high power to weight ratio
of a Wankel engine, it has been
proposed for electric vehicles
as range extenders to provide
supplementary power when
electric battery levels are low.
There have been a number of
concept cars incorporating a
series hybrid powertrain
arrangement. A Wankel engine
used only as a generator has
packaging, noise, vibration and
weight distribution advantages
when used in a vehicle,
maximizing interior passenger
and luggage space. The
engine/generator may be at
one end of the vehicle with the
electric driving motors at the
other, connected only by thin
cables. Mitsueo Hitomi the
global powertrain head of
Mazda stated, "a rotary engine
is ideal as a range extender
because it is compact and
powerful, while generating low-
vibration".[129]

In 2010 Audi unveiled a

prototype series-hybrid electric
car, the A1 e-tron, that
incorporated a small 250 cc
Wankel engine, running at
5,000 rpm, which recharged the
car's batteries as needed, and
provided electricity directly to
the electric driving motor.
[130][131] In 2010, FEV Inc said
that in their prototype electric
version of the Fiat 500, a
Wankel engine would be used
as a range extender.[132] In
2013, Valmet Automotive of
Finland revealed a prototype
car named the EVA,
incorporating a Wankel
powered series-hybrid
powertrain car, utilizing an
engine manufactured by the
German company Wankel
SuperTec.[133] The UK
company, Aixro Radial Engines,
offers a range extender based
on the 294cc-per-chamber go-
kart engine.[134]
Mazda of Japan ceased
production of direct drive
Wankel engines within their
model range in 2012, leaving
the motor industry worldwide
with no production cars using
the engine. The company is
continuing development of the
next generation of their Wankel
engines, the SkyActiv-R, with a
new rear-wheel-drive sports car
model announced in October
2015. The company later
withdrew this proposed model.
Mazda states that the
SkyActiv-R solves the three key
issues with previous rotary
engines: fuel economy,
emissions and reliability.
[16][135][136] Takashi
Yamanouchi, the global CEO of
Mazda said: "The rotary engine
has very good dynamic
performance, but it's not so
good on economy when you
accelerate and decelerate.
However, with a range extender
you can use a rotary engine at
a constant 2,000rpm, at its
most efficient. It's compact,
too."[17] No Wankel engine in
this arrangement has yet been
used in production vehicles or
planes. However, in November
2013 Mazda announced to the
motoring press a series-hybrid
prototype car, the Mazda2 EV,
using a Wankel engine as a
range extender. The engine,
located under the rear luggage
floor, is a tiny, almost inaudible,
single-rotor 330cc unit,
generating 30 hp (22 kW) at
4,500rpm, and maintaining a
continuous electric output of
20 kW.[137][138][139] In October
2017 Mazda announced that
the rotary engine would be
utilised in a hybrid car with
2019 the introduction date.[140]
[129][141]

Other uses

UEL UAV-741 Wankel engine for a UAV

Small Wankel engines are

being found increasingly in
other applications, such as go-
karts,[142][143] personal water
craft, and auxiliary power units
for aircraft.[144][145] Kawasaki
patented mixture-cooled rotary
engine (US patent 3991722).
Japanese diesel engine
manufacturer Yanmar and
Dolmar-Sachs of Germany had
a rotary-engined chain saw
(SAE paper 760642) and
outboard boat engines, and the
French Outils Wolf, made
lawnmower (Rotondor)
powered by a Wankel rotary
engine. To save on production
costs, the rotor was in a
horizontal position and there
were no seals in the down side.
The Graupner/O.S. 49-PI is a
1.27 hp (950 W) 5 cc Wankel
engine for model airplane use,
which has been in production
essentially unchanged since
1970. Even with a large muffler,
the entire package weighs only
380 grams (13 oz).[146][147]

The simplicity of the Wankel

engine makes it well-suited for
mini, micro, and micro-mini
engine designs. The
Microelectromechanical
systems (MEMS) Rotary
Engine Lab at the University of
California, Berkeley, has
previously undertaken research
towards the development of
Wankel engines of down to
1 mm in diameter, with
displacements less than 0.1 cc.
Materials include silicon and
motive power includes
compressed air. The goal of
such research was to
eventually develop an internal
combustion engine with the
ability to deliver 100 milliwatts
of electrical power; with the
engine itself serving as the
rotor of the generator, with
magnets built into the engine
rotor itself.[148][149]
Development of the miniature
Wankel engine stopped at UC
Berkeley at the end of the
DARPA contract. Miniature
Wankel engines struggled to
maintain compression due to
sealing problems, similar to
problems observed in the large
scale versions. In addition,
miniature engines suffer from
an adverse surface to volume
ratio causing excess heat
losses; the relatively large
surface area of the combustion
chamber walls transfers away
what little heat is generated in
the small combustion volume
resulting in quenching and low
efficiency.

Ingersoll-Rand built the largest-

ever Wankel engine, with two
rotors, which was available
between 1975 and 1985,
producing 1,100 hp (820 kW). A
one rotor version was available
producing 550 hp (410 kW).
The displacement per rotor
was 41 liters, with each rotor
being approximately one meter
in diameter. The engine was
derived from a previous,
unsuccessful Curtiss-Wright
design, which failed because of
a well-known problem with all
internal combustion engines:
the fixed speed at which the
flame front travels limits the
distance combustion can travel
from the point of ignition in a
given time, thereby limiting the
maximum size of the cylinder
or rotor chamber which can be
used. This problem was solved
by limiting the engine speed to
only 1200 rpm and the use of
natural gas as fuel. That was
particularly well chosen, since
one of the major uses of the
engine was to drive
compressors on natural gas
pipelines.[150]

Yanmar of Japan produced

some small, charge-cooled
rotor engines for chainsaws
and outboard engines.[151] One
of its products is the LDR (rotor
recess in the leading edge of
combustion chamber) engine,
which has better exhaust
emissions profiles, and reed-
valve controlled intake ports,
which improve part-load and
low rpm performance.[152]

In 1971 and 1972, Arctic Cat

produced snowmobiles
powered by Sachs KM 914
303 cc and KC-24 294 cc
Wankel engines made in
Germany.

In the early 1970s Outboard

Marine Corporation sold
snowmobiles under the
Johnson and other brands,
which were powered by 35 or
45 hp (26 or 34 kW) OMC
engines.

Aixro of Germany produces

and sells a go-kart engine, with
a 294 cc-per-chamber charge-
cooled rotor and liquid-cooled
housings. Other makers are:
Wankel AG, Cubewano, Rotron
and Precision Technology USA.

The American M1A3 Abrams

tank will use an auxiliary rotary-
engined power unit, developed
by the TARDEC US Army lab. It
has a high-power-density 330
cc rotary engine, modified to
operate with various fuels such
as high octane military grade
jet fuel.[153]

Non-internal
combustion

In addition for use as an

internal combustion engine, the
basic Wankel design has also
been used for gas
compressors, and
superchargers for internal
combustion engines, but in
these cases, although the
design still offers advantages
in reliability, the basic
advantages of the Wankel in
size and weight over the four-
stroke internal combustion
engine are irrelevant. In a
design using a Wankel
supercharger on a Wankel
engine, the supercharger is
twice the size of the engine.

The Wankel design is used in

the seat belt pre-tensioner
system[154] in some Mercedes-
Benz[155] and Volkswagen[156]
cars. When the deceleration
sensors detect a potential
crash, small explosive
cartridges are triggered
electrically, and the resulting
pressurized gas feeds into tiny
Wankel engines which rotate to
take up the slack in the seat
belt systems, anchoring the
driver and passengers firmly in
the seat before a collision.[157]

See also
General Motors Rotary
Combustion Engine
Gunderson Do-All Machine
 Jonova engine
Mazda RX-8 Hydrogen RE
Mazda Wankel engine
Mercedes-Benz M950F
Mercedes-Benz C111
Pistonless rotary engine
Quasiturbine
RKM engine

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engine with a catalyst
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Wankel IG)
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395 6, pp 151–160.
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"Rotary Engine's Light-Load
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Kris Perkins: Norton Rotaries,
1991 Osprey Automotive,
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Karl Ludvigsen: Wankel
Engines A to Z, New York
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930682
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Deposits'.
Anish Gokhale et al.:
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Patents: US 3848574 , 1974
-Kawasaki; GB 1460229 ,
1974 -Ford; US 3833321 ,
1974; US 3981688 , 1976.
-Ford; CA 1030743 , 1978;
CA 1045553 , 1979, -Ford.
Dun-Zen Jeng et al.: 'The
Numerical Investigation on
the Performance of Rotary
Engine with Leakage,
Different Fuels and Recess
Sizes', SAE paper
2013-32-9160, and same
author: 'The intake and
Exhaust Pipe Effect on
Rotary Engine Performance',
SAE paper 2013-32-9161
Wei Wu et al.: 'A Heat Pipe
Assisted Air-Cooled Rotary
Wankel Engine for Improved
Durability, Power and
Efficiency', SAE paper
2014-01-2160
Mikael Bergman et al.
(Husqvarna): 'Advanced Low
Friction Engine Coating
applied to a 70cc High
Performance Chainsaw', SAE
paper 2014-32-0115
 Alberto Boretti:
'CAD/CFD/CAE Modelling of
Wankel Engines for UAV',
SAE Technical Paper
2015-01-2466

External links
Wikimedia Commons has
media related to Wankel
engine.

U.S. Patent 2,988,008

How Wankel Engines Work ,
How Stuff Works, retrieved
2012-08-14
Wankel Engine , Animated
Engines, Keveney
How and why an engine must
rev smoothly , UK: Citroën
Net, retrieved 2012-08-14
Aaron Cake's page on Wankel
engine , CA
J I Martin-Artajo SI Rotary
engine mockup , ES
J C Lefeuvre's Moto-Turbine-
Radiale rotary engine
installed in a motorcycle , FR
Scott, David (March 1960).
"Auto Engine Without
Pistons" . Popular Science:
82. Retrieved August 2, 2017.
Norbye, Jan P. (January
1967). "Rivals to the Wankel:
A Roundup of Rotary
Engines" . Popular Science:
80. Retrieved August 2, 2017.
Kauertz, Tschudi, Virmel,
Mercer, Selwood, Jernaes
examples.
The Norton Rotary ;
summary of the development
of the Norton series of
Wankel engines, by David
Garside
[1] Article on Wankel
Motorcycle history.
Retrieved from
"https://en.wikipedia.org
/w/index.php?title=Wankel_engine&
oldid=836433113"

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