Internal Combustion Engine

Theory, Design, and Principles of Operation

Internal combustion engine: fuel air mixture ignites and the explosion directly drives the engine internally.

Four phase Cycle engine: intake, compression, power, exhaust.

Three main moving parts in most RC engines: 2 rotors and the eccentric shaft. These rotate continuously in a single direction. They do not jerk backwards and forwards.

These are surrounded by the peripheral housing where the rotor tip traces out an epitroichoid curve.

The Wankel RC Engine is an Otto Cycle Engine (Four "Stroke")

The RCE has four phases in it's combustion cycle which means it is an Otto Cycle engine. They are intake, compression, power, and exhaust. Unlike the conventional piston engine, the fuel air mixture is swept along, so the four phases take place in different areas of the engine. This turns out to be an advantage for Hydrogen fuel.

Java Demonstration of RC Engine Cycles (about 104 KB)

Rotor, Eccentric Shaft, Peripheral Housing, and Ports

A Rotary Combustion Engine (RCE) as invented by Felix Wankel and developed with Walt

ter Froede of NSU differs from a Piston Engine in four fundamental ways:

Wankel engines use cycloidal gearing, an old and unusual form of gearing used in watches, Roots blowers,