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Mobility 400 C O M M O N W E A L T H DRIVE W A R R E N D A L E , PA 15096

D. W. Garside
Norton Motors (1978) Limited

International Off-Highway Meeting

& Exposition
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
September 13-16,1982
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ISSN 0148-7191
Copyright 1982 Society of Automotive Engineers, Inc.
 Downloaded from SAE International by University of Bath , Friday, March 29, 2019

821068

D. W . Garside
Norton Motors (1978) Limited

the market uhere it uould be competing

ABSTRACT
uith highly complex multi-cylinder
reciprocating engines. The production
Norton Motors have developed the cost uould be too high for it to be
mechanically-simple air-cooled-rotor- competitive uith louer-pouered single
type of Uankel engine to have a higher or tuo cylinder tuo-stroke machines.
specific output than the oil cooled
The initial target uas then to
rotor type. The paper traces the
develop an engine of 50 to 60 bhp.
development over a thirteen year period
and describes the present design. The major design choices uere:-
a) Air or uater cooling of the
A characteristic of the engine is
housings.
the very lou mechanical friction.
b) Charge or oil coaling of the
Mainly resulting from this factor, the
rotors.
specific fuel consumption is similar
to the best four-stroke reciprocating c) Number of rotors (one or tuo
engines. The potential exists for appeared to be the practical alter-
further improvements. natives).

INITIAL RESEARCH

The starting point for the res-

earch uork uas the commercially-
available single rotor Fichtel & Sachs
KM 914 engine ( 1 ) * uhich had a charge
cooled rotor and forced-air cooled
housings. The induction system is
A FORERUNNER OF THE PRESENT COMPANY, shoun in Fig. 1. The chamber size uas
BSA Motorcycles Limited started to 300 cc and the pouer output 18 bhp
investigate the Uankel rotary engine nett.
in 1969. First reactions uere that the
The engine type appeared to be mechanical simplicity of this charge
particularly attractive for the motor- cooled engine uas attractive uhen
cycle application because of the lou compared uith the oil cooled rotor
level of vibration and the potentially type, but the lou pouer output from
louer specific ueight. Any small uhat uould generally be regarded as a
increase in fuel consumption relative 600 cc engine uas a disadvantage.
to four-stroke reciprocating engines HOUSING COOLING - The performance
would not be important because tuo- of the KM 914 engine, including heat
stroke machines, with much inferior rejection rates, etc, uas fully mapped.
fuel consumption, in those days took The available cooling air velocity
a large proportion of the market. over the engine of a moving motorcycle
It appeared that an initial uas also investigated on the test track
rotary-engined motorcycle uould be using pitot tubes and uool tufts. The
most likely to achieve commercial data indicated that a single rotor
success at the higher-pouered end of * Numbers in parentheses designate
references at end of paper.
0148-7191/82/0913-1068S02.50
Copyright 1982 Society of Automotive Engineers, Inc.
 Downloaded from SAE International by University of Bath , Friday, March 29, 2019
engine similar to the KM 914 uould not
be adequately cooled in all conditions
without an integral fan.
Water cooling uas briefly considered
but rejected on the grounds that it
uould not be acceptable to the majority
of customers in the market place. Today,
uhen uater cooled motorcycles are fairly
common-place, no doubt a different dec-
ision uould be taken.
Similar calculations relating to
the cooling available and the cooling
required by reciprocating air cooled
engines used in motorcycles showed that
most of them uere undercooled uhen oper-
ated at or near full pouer. However,
they performed adequately in service in
spite of occasional excursions to higher
than desirable temperatures.
A major question uas uhether the
rotary could also be developed to
operate occasionally at higher temper-
atures than had been measured in the
KM 914.
Many papers, ( 2 ) , ( 3 ) , ( 4 ) , on the
air cooling of engines uere studied.
Mackerle, ( 4 ) , states that 40 in2 of
cooling fin area per bhp uas typical
for a reciprocating engine. Some of
the BSA motorcycle engines only had
20 in^/bhp and the cylinder head uas
situated directly behind the line of
the motorcycle front uheel and at a
height uhere measurements shoued the
cooling air velocity uas only about
half the forward speed of the machine.
The KM 914 engine had about 50 i n
fin area per bhp. A tuin rotor engine
has considerably more fin base area
than a larger suept volume single rotor
engine of the same pouer output. There-
fore it uas considered that a tuin
rotor version of the KM 914 engine,
circumferentially finned and situated
quite lou in a motorcycle uith the shaft
axis transverse to the plane of the
motorcycle, stood a good chance of being
adequately cooled. The plane of each
rotor housing uould be offset from the
centre line of the motorcycle into an
area uhere the cooling air velocity uas
less disturbed by the front wheel and
would be approaching the motorcycle
forward speed.
By sloping the major axis 15° to
the rear, the sector of the trochoid
between the spark plug and the hot-lobe
major axis which required the most cool-
ing, uould be forward facing and have
the mast direct impingement of 'cooling
air. The circumferential finning en-
sured that hotter regions of the trochoid
uould be able to transfer heat to cooler
regions and that the trochoid shape uould
be rigidly supported.
This positioning also alloued the
inlet and exhaust pipes to pass res-
pectively over and under a transverse
gearbox (see Fig. 2 ) .
A twin rotor engine was designed
and built using the same internal
dimensions and moving parts as the KM
914 engine.
POUER DEVELOPMENT - Although the
charge cooled rotor system allows a
very simple mechanical construction,
it does result in a low maximum BMEP
due to the charge heating. The long
tortuous inlet path through the moving
rotor passages also limits the breathing
at higher engine speeds.
Some designs of this engine type
(5) increased the BMEP by passing only
a proportion of the induction air
through the rotor, the remainder passing
directly to the working chamber. This
method must result in reduced rotor
cooling. The colour and carbon dep-
osits of the internal parts from the
KM 914 engine indicated that rotor cool-
ing uas already marginal despite the use
of rich mixtures. Without the use of
detergent-type oils the seals would
stick.
The partial bypass method did not
therefore appear a promising route.
An initial experiment at BSA ducted
the heated mixture emerging from the
rotor passageways through an air-ta-
uater intercooler before bBing passed
to the induction chamber. At the same
2
time, the half-lemon shaped opening in
each side housing, which communicated
with the axial passageways through the
rotor, uas opened up to the full lemon
area as shoun in Figs. 3 and 4.
This was folloued by replacing the
intercooler uith a plenum chamber of
approximately 5 litres capacity. A
later major step uas to reposition the
carburetter to a point in betueen the
plenum chamber and the induction chamber
so that air only, and not the mixture,
passed through the rotor.
The induction system uas then as
shown diagrammatically in Fig. 5.
The pouer curve obtained uith this
system (single rotor version) is shoun
in Fig. 6. The increase in maximum out-
put uhen compared to the original KM
914 uas about 85%.
The explanation for the pouer inc-
rease, uhich is entirely duB to an inc-
rease in volumetric efficiency, is as
follows:-
a) The full lemon-area opening
in the end plates reduces the pressure
drop of the charge in passing through
the rotor by making more passage area
available. At any angular position of
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CARBURETTER

AIR/FUEL/OIL
MIXTURE

Fig. 3 - Half-lemon shaped opening

in side housing

Fig. 1 - Induction system of conven-

tional charge-cooled rotor engine

Fig. 4 - Full lemon shaped opening

in side housing

IDLE
MIXTURE
PASSAGE
[CARBURETTERS

JL
THROTTLE
VALVES
CLOSE T O
T ROC HQS 0

Fig. 2 - Positioning of engine in — 1

motorcycle

AIR FILTER

Fig. 5 - Revised induction system

uith air only passing through rotors
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the shaft the air has a choice of at balance the adverse factor of the ind-
least tuo parallel routes through the uction air only and not the greater tot-
rotor. al mass and lower temperature fuel/air
b) The plenum chamber acts to mixture being passed through the rotor.
some degree as an intercooler (giving At part-throttle there is an addit-
approximately 20° C temperature re- ional advantage in that the cooling
duction) . medium in the rotor passages is now at
c) The plenum chamber modifies the ambient pressure. Prior to the carb-
highly-intermittent uorking chamber uretter position change, the cooling
intake flow to a more continuous one medium is at the throttled inlet pipe
through the restrictive rotor and side pressure and therefore is composed of
plate passages. These passages are reduced-density gas. For a vehicle
therefore used more effectively and mean application, when over-run with a
pressure losses are reduced. This is completely closed throttle occurs
particularly true for a tuin rotor frequently, this is perhaps an import-
engine having a single plenum chamber. ant factor.
d) The re-positioning of the It must be remembered that the
carburetter results in the latent heat heat input pattern to the rotor flank
of evaporation of the fuel being is not as severe as it is to the hot
utilised at a more favourable point sector of the trochoid housing. ThB
thereby giving a lower final mixture rotor flank sees the four cycles of
temperature. induction, compression, expansion and
e) A selected inlBt pipe length exhaust in the same manner as the piston
and diameter between the carburetter and crown of a reciprocating engine. The
inlet port gives some degree of inlet total quantity of heat received by the
tuning. rotor is not large, being typically
The overall reduced static pressure less than 1 0 % of that rejected from the
loss and reduced temperature of the uorking gas to the main outer housings.
mixture at the point where it finally A small proportion of the heat is
enters the induction working chamber is conducted from the rotor via the gas
illustrated in Fig. 7. side seals to the main side housings.
The major penalties of the re- A fluid cooling system must be incor-
arranged induction system are: - porated to remove the remainder in
a) The additional bulk of t h B order to prevent the gas seals sticking
plenum chamber and some ducting. and particularly to provide a satisfac-
b) The engine internals can no tory working tempBrature for the rotor
longer be lubricated by a fuel/oil bearing. The cooling ability of the
mixture. An oil metering pump and induction air volume is adequate for
separate tank have to be added. this function providing that the outer
However, the plenum chamber does housing temperatures are not excessively
act as an effective intake silencer. high.
Also, for the high quality type of The induction-air rotor coaling
motorcycle being envisaged, a fuel/oil system gives a near automatic balance
self-mix system would not have been for all load and speed conditions. Any
acceptable. increase in power output and thsrefore
ROTOR COOLING - Visual appearance heat input to the rotor, whether due to
and test results with Templugs showed rpm or BMEP increase, is simultaneously
that the rotor temperatures at a given balanced by a corresponding increase in
load and speed were little changed by air volume flow internally. Under no
the above power-increasing modifications. condition is the rotor over-coolBd. Law
The reasons for the someuhat surprising rotor temperatures lead to higher fuel
result are considered to be:- consumption and HC emissions ( 6 ) , ( 7 ) .
a) The available induction cooling Furthermore, at a given part-laad,
air is used more effectively by being any weakening of the mixture necessary
passed through several passages in for optimum fuel economy does not cause
parallel more slowly and continuously rotor overheating because greater heat
rather than through one passage at high input is again offset by an increase in
velocity and intermittently. airflow.
b) The louer final charge temper- Overall the alternative approach
ature reduces the gas temperatures of using a special oil coaling system
throughout the cycle and therefore red- for the rotor is much I B S S attractive
uces the heat input through the rotor because of the associated cost, space,
flank. leakage, wear, and friction problems.
At uide open throttle (UOT) these Ruch of the time since this early
two favourable factors approximately research uork uas completed has been
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used in development of the above con-
cepts to obtain reliability and dura-
bility together uith further increases
in pouer output and reduced fuel con-
sumption.
It uas about 1976 before there
uas a reasonable certainty that tech-
nical success uas possible. The design
of a completely neu fully-styled produc-
tion motorcycle uas then started.
PRESENT DESIGN OF MOTORCYCLE
Table 1 lists the relevant
geometry,
Table 1 - Engine Geometry
71.Omm
11.6mm
0. 5mm
68.2mm
2 Uith thB high pouer output nou
No. of Rotors
Displacement 2 x 294 cc
Compression Ratio 9.2
Port Timing
Intake Port
Opens 75° BTDC
Closes 64° ABDC
Exhaust Port
Opens 72° BBDC
Closes 55° ATDC
ThB motorcycle main frame (shoun
in Fig. 8) is a uelded 1.5mm thick
sheet steel box structure giving very
high torsional stiffness uith lou
ueight. The box has a duplicate func-
tion of being the plenum chamber for
the engine induction system.
The rear main frame part is a four
litre oil tank.
The engine is underslung, being
supported by the tuo castings uhich
transfer the induction air from the
sidB plate passageuays to the plenum.
A cross-section through the engine is
shoun in Fig. 9.
Not including the frame part, uhich
fulfills an essential function in the
induction system, the engine ueighs
about 100 lb (45 k g ) . It is rigidly
connected to the transmission through
the RH side housing uhich forms the
inner part of the enclosed primary
chain drive. (See Fig. 1 0 ) .
ECCENTRIC SHAFT - There is only one
rotating shaft in the complete engine
(shoun in Fig. 1 1 ) . The material is a
case-hardened steel forging. The tuo
main bearings are high-capacity roller
type. Axial location is by a small ball
race on the right hand side uhich is
conveniently lubricated by the primary
chaincase oil.
The flyuheel is on the left hand
ENGINE side and carries the rotor of the three-
phase alternator.
engine The oil metering pump is driven by
the left hand end of the gearbox main-
shaft. It is not operating uhen the
clutch is disengaged but this is
unimportant.
ROTOR HOUSING - Test engines have
used sand cast LI"! 9 (A36D) aluminium
selected for its lou copper content.
This alloy uas preferred for adhesion
of the Elnisil coating an t h B trochoid
bore and is the same material as used
in the KM 914 engine. For production
thB housing uill be gravity die cast.
being obtained cracking at the spark
plug hole has become a problem. There-
fore higher hot-strength alloys such as
: 1
LP) 13 piston alloy (A132), L 35 (SAE39)
and L 52 are b B i n g investigated.
SIDE HOUSINGS - The sidB housings
and intermediate plate are gravity die
cast LM 13. The uear surfaces for thB
rotor side seals are merely surface
ground and then etched.
Early research and test uork uas
uith LM 30 (A390) hyper-eutectic
silicon alloy. Houever, occasional
cracking failures occurred uith this
lou-ductility material at positions
uhere the transverse cooling fins formed
local regions of high tensile stress at
thB cool casting periphery.
The change to LM 13 uas made uith
some trepidation because of fears of
scuffing at lou temperatures and poss-
ibly uear problems. These fears proved
unfounded. It must be remembered that
the side plates of a Uankel engine do
not normally have to withstand any
piston side-thrust as is the case uith
the cylinder bore of a reciprocating
engine. They merely have to provide a
flat uear surface for the rotor side
gas seals. These are not as highly
loaded as the oil scraper rings of the
oil-cooled-rotor type of Uankel engine.
The LM 13 alloy has proved to be
satisfactory and uear is negligible.
It is much easier to cast and machine
than the high-silicon LM 30. The
external surface appearance is also
improved and this is an important
factor for an engine used in a motor-
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temperatures at final intake port F i g „> 1 Q R i g h t h a n d s i d e housing

uith integral chaincase

Fig. 8 - Motorcycle main frame Fig. 11 - Eccentric shaft

 Downloaded from SAE International by University of Bath , Friday, March 29, 2019
cycle.
A feu cases of side plate scuffing
that have occurred uere caused by
inaccurate rotor needle bearing cages.
These allowed the needles to skeu
excessively, thereby causing very high
axial forces to be transmitted from
the eccentric shaft to the rotor.
problem has been encountered previously
in tuo-stroke engines uhars caged
needles are used for connecting rod
bearings ( 8 ) .
Only needle bearings uith lou
lateral creep must be used for these
applications.
ROTORS - All the early engine
testing uas carried out using KH 914
type rotors or the slightly later
KC 24 type as shoun in Fig. 12. The
symmetrical straight-through combustion
recess uas produced by a broaching pro-
cess. The QMC charge cooled Snoumobile
engine (9) also has a similar recess.
It uas 1980 before there uas an
opportunity to investigate different
shapes of recesses. Leading and trail-
ing shapes uith associated changes of
spark plug position uere tested.
The leading shape proved to be
superior. A torque qain of betueen
5% and 10$ uas achieved relative to the
straight-through recess.
Similar gains in SFC throughout
the load and speed range uere recorded.
Houever, the change led to a
serious durability problem. KC 2 4 -
type rotors had been tested up to
60,000 miles on the road uithout
failure. Uith the revised recess
shape, rotor cracking occurred in
3000 to 5000 miles. The cracking
initiated in the integral bridges
across the rotor corners in uhich the
gear teeth are cut. The cracking
could bB reproduced in less than tuo
hours at a continuous 7500 rpm
U0T on the test bed.
The cause of the problem is
thermal and cyclical mechanical stress
combined uith gear tooth impact load-
ing uhich in turn may uell partially
result from uneven gas pressures on
the rotor flank during combustion ( 1 0 ) .
In order to overcome the problem,
a completely neu construction of rotor
assembly had to be designed as shoun
in Fig. 13. The gear teeth are nou cut
in an extension of the steel rotor
bearing outer r a c B . The high-grade SG
iron shell-moulded rotor casting is
of a more flexible type (Fig. 14) uith
no integral bridges across the corners.
It is interference assembled uith only
local contact both axially and circum-
ferentially to thB baaring slseve.
Final prevention of relative movement
is by fitting three axial grub screus
into the joint line betueen each com-
ponent.
The opportunity uas taken uhilst
making the neu rotor castings to inc-
orporate some cooling fins into the
rotor corner passages in order to give
The further temperature reductions to both
the bearing outer race and the rotor
itself.
Ma cracking nou occurs in 75 hours
at 7500 rpm U0T.
GAS SEALING - Conventional Uankel
engine gas sealing component designs
are used.
The apex seals are tuo-piece IKA 3
cast iron material uith the split line
on top. UBar rates of about 15 microns
per 1000 milBS are typically measured
during relatively high speed and longer
than average road journeys.
A large number of cold starts and
a high proportion of short journeys can
increase this uear rate considerably.
The uear rates of the mating
Elnisil surface on the trochoid bore
has aluays been acceptably lou.
Side seal end clearances have been
progressively reduced during development.
Higher load and more temperature-resis-
tant seal springs are nou fitted.
There is potential for further
improvemsnt to the gas sealing quality
by adopting some of the developmBnts
made by Mazda ( 1 1 ) . Improvements to
the gas sealing system result in louer
housing and rotor temperatures as uell
as reduced fuel consumption.
IGNITION SYSTEM - A single
leading - position 10 mm diameter semi-
surface-gap spark plug uith long-life
platinum centrB electrode is fitted.
The capacitive discharge (CD) ignition
system is triggered by a permanent-
magnet variable-reluctance unit sensing
the start and end of a 180° duration
recess cast into the flyuheel periphery
(Fig. 1 5 ) . The step-up or step-doun
is discriminated and electronic suitch-
ing causes thB appropriate coil and
spark plug to be fired. The ignition
timing is fixed at 18° BTDC far all load
and speed conditions.
To avoid over-speeding the ignition
system incorporates a cut-out system
uhich operates at 9250 rpm.
A 10mm plug uas chosen because
this enables the spark to be brought
close to the uorking chamber uithout
having an unnecessarily large diameter
hole at the trochoid surface. Even
uhen in a leading position this hole
can allou gas leakage over the apex
seal at some load and speed conditions
uhen thB pressure across the seal is
unbalanced.
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Bringing the spark closer to the throttling of a reciprocating engine

trochoid surface also improves the light uhich has been shoun (14) to be bene-
load SFC and the idle quality ( 1 2 ) . ficial for fuel consumption and ex-
Plug life is 15,000 miles minimum haust emissions.
uith no cleaning or adjustments req- b ) There is much reduced pressure
uired. Life is limited by the diffic- variation in the inlet pipes as the
ulty in preventing tracking from the load is varied. Hence less mixture
very exposed NT leads in the motor- enrichment is necessary during rapid
cycle uhen the plug electradB gap throttle opening.
reaches about 1.75mm. A neu plug has IDLING SYSTEM - It is more diff-
a 1.2mm gap. icult to achieve a satisfactory idle
The advent of lou-cost CD ignition quality uith a Uankel rotary engine
systems allauing the use of cold surface than uith a reciprocating engine.
gap plugs has been an important favour- Detrimental factors include:-
able factor in the development of this a) Late closing of the exhaust
engine. port giving high dilution uith exhaust
The short spark duration of CD gas of the related intake charge.
ignition is often found (13) to be b) Relatively poor gas sealing
inferior to the longer duration spark quality.
available from an inductive system for c) 5Q% extended duration of each
the ignition of ueak mixtures. In uorking stroke relative to a reciproc-
engine tests carried out uith an in- ting engine allouing more time for
stantaneous change-over system from a heat loss and gas leakage.
short CD to a long inductive spark no The situation is particularly
change in engine performance uas det- difficult for the air-cooled-rotor
ected. Initial combustion at least type of engine because of its lou
must be quite rapid in this engine mechanical friction losses. This
because there is negligible penalty in results in a lou fresh mixture volume
operating at all load and speed condit- requirement at idle and therefore an
ions uith the ignition timing at 18° even higher percentage dilution uith
BTDC (equivalent to only 12° BTDC for exhaust gas.
a reciprocating engine). Even at Uith a fan-less air cooled housing
9000 rpm there is negligible torque engine it is essential that a reasonably
gain uith further advance. Only at the lou idle speed is achieved because high
lightest road-loads uould more advance idle speeds result in high heat rejec-
be slightly beneficial to the SFC. tion rates and general engine overheat-
The hot induction air is thought ing.
to be a major factor in the lou ign- A solution uas found by supplying
ition-advance requirements of the engine. the idle mixture to only one rotor as
CARBURATI0N AMD PORTING - Peri- shoun in Fig. 5. The parasitic drag
pheral inlet ports are used in order to of the non-firing rotor imposes extra
give good volumetric efficiency at high load on the other. That chamber then
rpm. At light load the relatively long requires a larger charge per cycle and
duration overlap of the inlet and ex- the dilution is much reduced.
haust ports by the combustion recess in A steady 850 rpm idlB is achieved
the rotor flank uould normally give mis- uith zero misfires by using this sys-
fire problems due to the lou pressure tem. IdlB fuel consumption is about
mixture in the inlet pipes being ex- 650 cc per hour.
cessively diluted by exhaust gas. The housing cooling problem is
The problem is minimised by sit- also eliminated because the firing
uating the throttle valves in the rotor chamber can use the cooling fins of the
housing casting and VBry close to the non-firing chamber, as uell as its oun,
trochoid surface as shoun in Fig. 16. for heat rejection.
Tuin constant-velocity carburetters A problem of rotor cooling still
uith hydraulically-damped pistons are remained because the firing rotor uas
used uith the normal throttle valves only being cooled internally by half
merely omitted. the induction air flou - the other
Placing the throttle valves at the half passing through the non-firing
engine end of the inlet pipes has tuo rotor.
further advantages: - This problem uas overcome by
a) At part load a high pressure using the non-firing rotor as a pump
drop exists at the throttle disc edges to drau a relatively large quantity of
causing high turbulence and good mixing additional air through the centre of
at a point very close to the induction both rotors during idle and over-run
chamber. This is akin to inlet valve conditions. This is achieved by the
closing of the throttle lever activ-
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Fig. 12 - Rotor uith integral gear THIGGIRUNIT

and symmetrical recess

Fig. 15 - Flywheel uith ignition

trigger unit and spark plug

Fig. 13 - Revised rotor assembly

Fig. 16 - Throttle disc in inlet port

of rotor housing

Fig. 14 - Rotor casting (part machined)

uith cooling fins
 Downloaded from SAE International by University of Bath , Friday, March 29, 2019
10
ating a microsuitch. This switch
controls a solenoid valve in a 14mm
diameter by-pass passagauay betueen the
plenum chamber and the inlet port of
the non-firing housing,
EXHAUST SYSTEM - Noise regulations
relating to motorcycles required that
a lot of effort had to go into devel-
oping a suitable exhaust system (shoun
in Fig. 1 7 ) . The high exhaust gas
temperature of the Uankel engine, par-
ticularly uhen combined uith short and
partially shielded exhaust manifold
pipes (compared uith most m o t o r c y c l e s ) ,
result in mild steel silencers having
an unacceptably short life. Therefore
type 321 stainless steel is used
throughout.
Thin-uall tubular exhaust port
liners uith a surrounding air gap reduce
the heat input to the rotor housings
in the region of the exhaust ports.
The exhaust system has a back
pressure of about 140mm HG at 8500
rpm.
LUBRICATION - A twin-outlet
variable-stroke oil metering pump
(Fig. 1 8 ) , of the type fitted to most
Japanese tuo-stroke motorcycles, is
driven from a free end of the gearbox
mainshaft. At a given engine speed
the flow is related to engine throttle
opening by means of a cable connection
to the pump lever.
The oil is fed via two small-bore
pipes into the induction airstream in
the intermediate plate. From there it
is carried to all the bearings and
rubbing surfaces.
The oil eventually finds its way
either past the rotor gas side seals
or uith the airstream through the
carburetters into the combustion
chamber before being burnt or being
scraped out of the exhaust port.
precise pattern of oil movement in the
engine is not yet fully knoun.
The oil quantity used during
development has been approximately
1.3% of the fuel flou at light throttle
openings and 3,5% at UOT - uhich is
only used for a small percentage of the
time in a pouerful motorcycle.
There is evidence that the resi-
dence time of the oil in the engine is
quite long and probably the oil quant-
ities can be reduced considerably.
More research is rBquirsd in this area.
Oil type - The recommendation
from earlier Papers on the chargB-
cooled rotary engine ( 1 ) , ( 5 ) , ( 9 ) ,
have been folloued and single grade
SAE 40 detergent type oil (API Service
CC) uith about 1% ash content havB
been used.
There is considerabls build-up of
deposits on the rotor flank. The thick-
ness appears to stabilise by pieces
flaking off and passing out of the
exhaust port. Pre-ignition or plug
fouling has not been a problem. At
continuous high pouer, uith high
housing temperatures, apex seal sticking
can occur. This is not a problem uith
the motorcycle on the road.
Based on a feu recent tests there
is evidence that modern synthetic lou-
ash high performance two-stroke oils
have advantages in this respect. This
has yet to be confirmed.
Smoke - Some design changes had
to be made to eliminate visible smoke
during occasional transient conditions.
The problem uas eliminated by fitting
drain tubes to a pocket at the bottom
of the induction air transfer passages
in each end plate, and to the base of
the plenum chamber.
These small-bore drain tubes are
connected to the main inlet pipes
betueen the carburetters and the throttle
valves. The tubes tend to be purged of
the small oil quantity in them whenever
the throttle is opened due to the addit-
ional vacuum from the damped carburetter
pistons. In these conditions the oil
is burnt uithout producing smoke.
ENGINE PERFORMANCE RESULTS
Fig. 19 shows the UOT performance. The
peak torque occurs at a relatively high
speed of about 7500 rpm. This is normal
for most motorcycle engines.
The full load SFC is some 1 0 % or
so higher than necessary for best torque.
This is due to a slightly rich mixture
being supplied in order to give some
additional internal coaling for this
air cooled engine. To illustrate this
ThB point the lean-out capability of the
engine is given in Fig. 20.
The SFC map, as carburatad for the
motorcycle, is shoun in Fig. 21.
Fig. 22 gives the steady speed fuel
consumption achieved in t h B motorcycle
in top gear. This is competitive uith
the best four-stroke reciprocating-
snginBd motorcycles having a similar
accelBrativB performance. It is much
superior to any six cylinder machines
uhich are the most direct equivalents
of a tuin rotor motorcycle.
Motoring Friction - The measured
motoring friction lass af the engine is
shown in Fig. 23. For this test the
engine uas equipped uith the complete
motorcycle induction and exhaust systems.
Therefore this measurement includes all
cold pumping losses as uell as a prop-
ortion of the non-adiabatic compression
and gas sealing losses that exist in the
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11

120

UWhp.hl

n
5 o.o a

— —

<a
\ pm
000
/
/ \ /
300C
50 0 0 '

\
irn
/ >
^ \/
V
r )
—SFC
1
20 25 3 0 35 4 0
FUEL FLOW ilmperia! P i m s / h )

Fig. 20 - BMEP and SFC versus mixture

strength at UQT

Fig. 17 - Motorcycle exhaust system

|
!
: -
0
%
-B
0. JO.
0 A
13 —
0.
J - * "
- 7
0. ii_ •
— 0.
- 6
0 57
i'
s\ N
>nu>hi

-5 1 s
| 0.55
i

i
•4 1
1

-3 [ f 1 1 "
Q 65 i
' 6.7

-2 i
0.9 L _ ... i _

-1
C=j
1.0 —|
l '1.5 !

i 1 j
2000 3000 4000 5000 COOO 7000 B00O 9000

E N G I N E SPEED I r p m l

Fig. 18 - Oil metering pump Fig. 21 - SFC map of motorcycle

engine

BMEP
• h >—• f / (Ibl/.ff)
j
•
I / 120

/ 110
— r — t
GEARINC
T ™mp~ 7 " n—e t1 ™0 0~0i pm
~- E
= 15.
=p- !00 w §
„

//
30
f-1 •3
BO

SFC
/ Ib/lhphl
.4

/
<—
0.7

0,0 •5

/ SEC
0.5 •G

/ 0.1

/
•fl

•ID
I

1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 GOCO 7000 8000 9000

50 6 0
ENGINE SPEED trpm)
SPEED I m n M

Fig. 19 - UOT performance of motor- Fig. 22 - Steady speed fuel consumption

cycle engine in top gear
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12

firing engine. Therefore it can be umption.

judged that the actual mechanical The development uork described
friction losses are remarkably lou. has increased the maximum BMEP of the
For comparison, typical motoring induction-air-cooled rotor engine to
losses of reciprocating engines and about 10B l b / i n . 2
This is still a
oil-cooled-rator type Uankel engines relatively lou figure for a naturally
are also presented. aspirated spark ignition engine.
The main reasons for the lou fric- In order to make a substantial
tion are that there is:- improvement it uill be necessary to
1. No piston side thrust. use uater-cooled rather than air-
2. No camshaft or other access- cooled housings and to reduce the
ory shafts to drive. temperature of the induction air by
3. No pressure oil pump. means of an intercooler.
4. No cocktail-shaker loss of The proposed induction system
oil in the rotor. arrangement (for a single rotor engine)
5. A lou total sealing line suept uill be as shoun diagrammatically in
area per cycle. This is particularly Fig. 25. At part-load the induction
true for a lou K (R/e) ratio engine air uill bypass the intercooler in
uhen compared to a typical oil-cooled- order to retain the advantages of hot
rotor type. For similar rotor overall induction air in that mode. At full
dimensions and ueight, sealing line load all the induction air uill pass
length and rubbing velocities, the through the intercooler.
higher shaft eccentricity of the air- The possibility also exists for
cooled-rotor enginB results in a achieving a further torque boost at
"free" 1 5 % increase in suept volume. UOT by passing a proportion of ambient •
Cold Starting - The friction air directly to the carburetter for
loss is also lou uhen the engine is short-duration use such as during
cold. The machine uill therefore vehicle acceleration. A richer mix-
start at -17° C uith a small Q.5 bhp ture could be used for these short
starter motor and 14 Ampere Hour periods if necessary to avoid excessive
battery. rotor temperaturss.
The short doun-sloping inlet pipe Some experimental harduare of this
betueen carburetter and inlet port type has been designed and procured.
also assists the engine to cold start All the moving parts and uear surfaces,
readily uithout an excessively rich etc, are identical to the motorcycle
mixture. Unlike the mixture-coolad- engine.
rotor type, the rotor internals are An alternative version of the
not made auash uith liquid fuel during rotor housing uith tuin side-by-side
cold starting. spark plugs has been made because some
EXHAUST EMISSIONS - At intervals brief earlier experiments indicated
a machine has been put through the US that this might be advantageous par-
Federal test procedure for the meas- ticularly for improved light load SFC.
urement of exhaust emissions. Results The uater cooling flou is circum-
are shoun in Fig. 24. These are base- ferential and common castings are used
line figures uith no special features for either single or tuin rotor engines.
incorporated for reducing emission Only the hot side of the trochoid has
levels. a uatBr jacket, the usual necessary
No test has been carried out heating of the cold side being effected
since the revised leading-recess by the heated induction air.
design and final carburetter settings Fig. 26 shous a set of thB assem-
have been adopted. Uith thB improved bled main housings. Uhen fitted uith
on-the-road fuel consumption nou being all the rotating parts, (but uithout
achieved it is expected that signif- induction system or any accessories),
icantly louer levels of HC and CO the ueight is 49 lb (22 kg) for a
uould be recorded. projected vehicle-rated output of
approximately 90 bhp.
ADDITIONAL DEVELOPMENTS Fig. 27 shous some early UOT
performance data achieved uith this
Any vehicle engine uhich operates engine uhen fitted uith an air-to-air
through the load range must aim to intBrcoolsr.
have a high maximum BMEP in order that A one hour "mini" endurance test
the highest gearing can be used. At at 94 bhp, 7500 rpm, uith about 2 5 % of
light load the engine is then operating the induction air bypassing the rotor
further up the SFC map and into areas has been carried out. Strip and
of progressively improving fuel cons- inspection shoued that rotor cooling
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13

•a.

TYPICAL RECIPROCATING
-3.0
ENGINES

T YPin I _r n _
! £i — FIOTOR WANKEt
ENGINES

-2.0

-1.0
NO T O N A I H -COC LED
.HO O R \l / A N K ei p N C I M
( J A N 1931)

| J
0 1000 2000 3000 '1000 5000 6000 7000 B000 9000
ENGINE SPEED (rpm)

Fig. 23 - Motoring friction comparison

\ i | 1
. | 1
\ J |
y -47 Fig. 26 - Uater cooled engine main
— V LIMIT
FOB
MOTORCYCLES
castings
1 }

i I i
1 i i

A
l\
| i
_j_ _ 100
| i

\\ | !
i
90
p
/ BMEP
(Ibf/irA
| /
\ ! LIMIT
/
f
140

r FOU V 130
/
MOTORCYCLES
[ | BMEP
70 s 120
\
/
1
!
/
110

NO. , I 60 100
• i
y t
90
" 1 "
1D7-J 1375 1376 1977 10VB \373 1950 50
YEAF!

Fig. 24 - Exhaust emission results SFC

40 lb/{hp-h)
(LA4 route)
/
PARTIAL A l f l BYPASS VALVE
30 / 0.6

0.5

20 / s
0.4
/
10
CAflBUflETTER

1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 6000 7000 8000 9000

ENGINE SPEED (rpm)

Fig. 27 - Early UOT performance data

of uater coaled engine (uith inter-
cooler and partial air bypass)

Fig. 25 - Induction system of engine

uith intercooler
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14

is adequate even at this high continu-

ous pouer output. This result probably
illustrates that reduced gas cycle
temperatures are very important in
reducing heat input to the rotor.
Development and testing of this
engine is continuing.

SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS

The type of Uankel rotary engine

uith induction-air-cooled rotor has
been developed to have a high specific
pouer output. Various mechanical
problems encountered have been solved.
The induction-air rotor cooling system
has many advantages over oil coaling
of the rotor particularly uith regard
to louer cost and ueight and reduced
mechanical friction.
Air cooling of the housings is
satisfactory for light duty-cycle
applications uhere a suitable cooling
airstream exists such as in a pouerful
motorcycle.
For most applications uater cool-
ing of the housings is superior to air
cooling because it allous the possib-
ility of continuous high pouer output
uithout thermal problems. Despite
the addition of radiator and coolant
the total ueight is reduced.
The particular enginB described
in the paper uith a 294 cc chamber
size already has a superior fuel
consumption at high speed to alter-
native reciprocating engines. The
engine is therefore suitable for
applications uhich require freedom
from vibration, lou ueight, and
relatively lou fuel consumption.
The possibility exists that a
larger suept volume engine using the
rotor cooling principles described
in this paper and incorporating the
best gas sealing and combustion
technology already developed by Mazda,
Audi NSU and others could lead to a
competitive automotive pouer unit.
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15

REFERENCES 11. Kenji Shimamura and Tomoo

Tadokoro, "Fuel Economy Improvement
1. Helmut Keller, "Small UankBl of Rotary Engine by Using Catalyst
Engines". SAE 680572, reprinted Systsm". SAE 810277, presented at
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2. P V Lamarque, "The Design of 12. Kenichi Yamamoto and Takumi
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3. A E Biermann and H H Eller-
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5. Kojiro Yamaoka and Hiroshi
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"Outboard Marine Corp.'s Production
Rotary Combustion Snoumobile Engine".
SAE 730119, presented at International
Automotive Engineering Congress,
Detroit, January 1973.
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Shirasagi, "Suzuki Production Rotary
Engine, Model RE-5 for Pouering
Motorcycles". SAE 770190, presented
at International Automotive Engineering
Congress and Exposition, Detroit,
28 February - 4 March 1977.
 Downloaded from SAE International by University of Bath , Friday, March 29, 2019

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