Spain is Living in 2050? Revolutionary 1 Stroke INNengine Analyzed
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- Опубліковано 6 тра 2024
- innengine.com
Balance: • Deep Dive: Inline 4 vs...
Today I’d like to introduce you to a very special engine. It claims to be a 1 stroke engine. It has no crankshaft and no cylinder head and it squeezes out 120hp naturally aspirated from only 500cc of displacement and weighs only 35 kilograms. It’s called INNengine and it comes from the beautiful city of Granada in Spain. The engine has already been manufactured and it was even installed and tested in a Mazda mx-5. Today we will take an in-depth look at this engine, we will explain how it works and we will discuss its potential, its benefits and drawbacks and we will see what makes sense and what doesn’t.
First up, let’s see how this thing works and what makes it a 1 stroke engine. To understand that we must learn about the anatomy of this little thing. As you can see we have a total of 8 pistons in an opposed piston arrangement. Instead of a crankshaft we have this complex shaped wavy thing and the pistons ride on rollers along the wavy surface. As the combustion force pushes down the piston the piston pushes down on the wavy thing, as the piston goes down the slope it also forces the wavy thing to rotate. There are two wavy things connected to each other via a common shaft. All 8 pistons act on the wavy things and the forces generated by all 8 pistons are transferred through the shaft resulting in a single torque output at both ends of the shaft. So in theory you could connect a drivetrain at both ends. For example one of these at the center with an axle at both ends could create a simple, well balanced and very lightweight four-wheel drive vehicle.
We can connect a drive-train on both ends of this engine because this engine does not have a cylinder head and it doesn’t have camshafts or valves. So it does not need to use one end of the engine to drive the cams via an easily accessible and serviceable cam chain or cam belt. How does it work without cams or valves then? Well instead of valves we have intake and exhaust ports which are opened and closed by the piston, just like in a typical 2 stroke engine. At the middle between the two pistons we have an injector and a spark plug which ignites the air fuel mixture.
As the combustion pressure builds it pushes on the piston sending them outward. As the pistons move they uncover the intake and exhaust ports. 4 pistons on one side of the engine deal with intake and 4 pistons on the other side of the engine deal with exhaust. So how do we prevent exhaust gasses from escaping out through the intake and messing everything up? Well, we do that just like we do it in a traditional engine, by relying on scavenging which occurs when both the intake and exhaust valves are open at the same time.
The exhaust port of the INNengine likely gets uncovered first which allows the pressurized gasses to start escaping out from the combustion area. Since they are pressurized they escape rapidly and leave a void or vacuum behind them. This vacuum is at a lower pressure than the intake charge outside the chamber which is at atmospheric pressure, which means that the intake charge rushes into the combustion area and fills it with fresh air. The upward sloped part of the wavy thing then pushes the pistons back up and so they close the intake and exhaust ports and now start compressing the air. The injectors add fuel and we now have a compressed air fuel mixture in the combustion area and the process starts once again. The spark plug fires, combustion occurs, pressure builds, the pistons are forced down, they rotate the wavy thing and torque is generated.
So what we have here is a very simple engine without cams or valves but with direct injection, but also without all the deposits that accumulate on the intake valves, because we have no valves. So we have the benefits of direct injection without the drawbacks.
Bur this is clearly not a 1 stroke engine. Here we have the combustion stroke which overlaps with the exhaust stroke, followed by the intake stroke which then overlaps with the compression stroke. This is a 2 stroke engine, a direct injection two stroke without the emissions problems because the oil is under the piston and never burned, which I personally find more impressive than the 1 stroke gimmick. The other thing is the opposed piston design and this is an advantage because opposed pistons designs are more efficient than a non-opposed design. In a non-opposed design some of the energy of combustion is simply wasted on heating up the combustion chamber above the piston. The combustion chamber doesn’t go anywhere and it just absorbs the energy as heat. But in an opposed design we have a piston instead of a combustion chamber which means that more combustion energy gets to be transferred and converted into useful torque leading to improved efficiency.
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too long videos, you just talk and have nothing to say
It reminds me of a car air conditioner compressor
It all comes down to marketing/sales/investors. It is like thorium vs uranium thing, Thorium is technically better, but since the cold war era was around that time, the president at that point wanted to invest in Uranium (plotonium...etc). Currently switching from the nuclear reactors to thorium based reactors, would cost immense amounts of money and/or would cost a lot of energy. Sometimes it is just based where peoples eyes are at, rather than what is better
So its INNgine ?
Their claim of 4x combustion does hold true though... Each cylininder fires every 180°, and the engine fires two cylinders at once, every 90°, which definitely is 4x more than one cylinder every 180°, and one single cylinder experiencing an ignition only every 720° in a traditional inline-4.
But otherwise I liked the vid, and share your concerns of the low torque due to low mechanical advantage of the swashplate/cam-plate design.
Although, one could optimise the system by making the cam curve asymmetric, giving the crank more leverage at higher compression near top-dead, and giving the piston more leverage at whichever point in combustion makes pressure and force most efficiently.
I was trying to think of ways that could build this engine into an actual torque monster. Thinking "hey, just take the pistons and rotate them 90 degrees, 360 degree placement around a central crankshaft! That will build TONS of low torque!" And then I realized I just discovered a radial engine lol
😂😂😂 lol
It's kinda cool that you were able to think your way to something like that though
Wouldn't 90 degrees make them inline ?
90 degrees (upright) an then rotated in another plane and placed around the crankshaft in a circle@@jimmyjames8573
Love to see this in a Motorcycle .
Actual one stroke engine, mass manufactured and used widely in it’s era: the double-acting steam engine. Each stroke of the piston is a power stroke.
Hey, i am using your comment to warn people. This company is a scam. They don't have a product. If you give them money, it will be gone without any use for you.
steam engine is not even a 1 stroke, it is always on a power stroke on either side of the same piston. power on push and pull of every stroke.
It's still intake and exhaust though. It's just using both sides of the piston
I came to comments to say that as well.
Stream engines are external combustion engines; you're mixing apples and oranges.
I absolutely love your, " that's really great but wait just a minute buddy" attitude towards design claims and the like. A very humble but well educated and honest matter of fact approach and comment. Nice video as usual.
I love this guy I am hearing impaired and hespeaks slowly, delibertly, with perfect diction.
Probably because he is European, and many times people from different countries get self conscious about their accents. Great to know that by doing this we actually help some people with impairments understand us better, cheers!
Thank you for pointing out the error of thinking "if it hasn't been done before it's because it can't be done". One of my perpetual pet peeves. There are cases in history where it definitely looks like something wasn't done earlier (sometimes for centuries) simply because no one thought of it. More precisely, no one thought of it who was in a position to do anything about it.
Correct, also, even when a "new" idea is "better" than existing technology,
marketing, materials & ancillary services may need to be developed for it to be accepted
& used.
This usually requires extensive capital investment, maybe, even
previously non-existent materials or processes.
Standard internal combustion engine isn't really "better" than a horse without
places that sell affordable gas or roads to drive on.
Not to mention an infrastructure in place for replacement parts & training on proper repairs.
Airplanes weren't a thing over night, and neither was the gas turbine engine.
Why do we use boats If an airplanes would actually work, or propellers
if a jet engine could work.
If nuclear material can be used to run an electrical powerplant, why
are we still using coal & dams?
Nuclear weapons, essentially everything in modern society.
Somebody came up with the idea AND had a means to advance it beyond the "idea" stage.
@@travissmith2056good points 👍
@@travissmith2056 The same people that marketed things yesterday, today and tomorrow is Wall Street.
So what changes.
Totally agree. The side thrust from the swash plates on the pistons would be an issue, also as with all opposed piston engines, the exhaust pistons get quite hot. Not a problem for the Junkers Jumo engine as it was a diesel but certainly a concern for an Otto cycle engine, the compression ratio would have to be tempered to protect the engine. I was totally suspicious of the initial description of the engine because there is no way opening the exhaust early is going to create a vacuum for the intake process, and there at the end was the reality, a compressor to pump the air in like every other two stroke engine.
@@kramnull8962 Everything, you're just too small minded and emotional to perceive reality. You're not exploited, you're doing the exploiting, because no one is greedier than a socialist.
It's an axial, uniflow, 2 stroke, opposed piston engine. My favorite arrangement, but it's been around a LONG time. Hopefully these guys will give it the development time it needs.
Modern direct and HCCI ignition systems can really bring a lot of older i.c.e. designs back. If synthetic fuels come like they are touted then yeah maybe we see 2strokes and rotaries make a come back
An aviation related company tried to develop one with the wavy thing in the middle about 20 years ago. Axial 6 cylinder with 12 pistons. The cam had a stronger angular pitch, and I think it had an outer cam to operate a four stroke valve train. High hp/weight ratio, ordinary efficiency. I think they pursued federal drone development and quietly faded away.
@@captaintoyota3171 Two strokes, forget it. It will never pass emissions.
@@expertmax32 That's exactly what I was thinking. This thing is never going to see production
@@expertmax32 Fuel injected 2 strokes have been running on roads for many, many years
I have enjoyed the video as always and as a mechanic/machinist/amateur designer, you never cease to amaze me with what you dig up and how you are able to explain it in Lehman terms so everyone is able to understand it .
I agree. (By the way, it’s “Layman’s” terms. Don’t you just hate autocorrect?
Thank you! Well done. Also, the comments section contributors are very helpful….”swash plate” is something I can now never forget😊
so basically this engine is an AC compressor
No. I guess you didn't even watch the video.
Yes basically it is likely a ac compressor in car
With that logic, any engine with a piston can be an AC compressor...
Yes, but that doesn't make it a bad idea. I'm sure there are plenty of other limitations that make it a bad idea.
More like,.. GUNS
You once again break down it down to its simplest parts and call it what it is, a 2 stroke engine. I see this as being a great hybrid engine. Small, light weight and can run at a set RPM and get great fuel efficiency. Keep up the great work, and may God bless you brother.
I'd see it as being a great range extender in EV applications.
I was thinking the same thing, this engine seems great for using in a hybrid configuration. It's small efficient, light, low-vibration and electric engine can produce extra torque whenever needed.
IMHO I see it as a Primary Source for the Drive Motor(s) with Batteries as the $ange Extenders.
Love your videos and passion and the fact you seek to explain even the most technical details in a none baffling way
Love your explanation and honest humble opinion. We need more people like you on the internet! Thank you
the rollers at the bottom of the piston will cause reliability issues. I see wear marks on camshafts all the time, but fluid bearings basically live forever if they have oil pressure.
you got it.
cams at least are rolling. these are SLIDING. hint... think about taper roller bearings.
all cones converge to a common point, and they roll on a line of contact.
whereas on this design, only one infinitesimally small line is actually rolling. everywhere else, its sliding. theres no real way around it. the swashplate has to follow a certain helical path for the line of contact. converging to a point. the angles are always changing. so either the rollers must have matching bumps, at which point theyre simply gears, or they must be infinitely thin... lots and lots of them, side by side.
tis why most of these designs tend to use rocker arms and spherical ends, or uni joints of some type. most. not all. the geometry isnt as simple as it looks at first glance. a spherical path is actually whats wanted. hence, ball ends are best.
the only good swashplate design i know of was michels. that uses pads, thrust bearings, that create an oil wedge under themselves. no line of contact or metal on metal.... true oil film, spread over an area. someone should revive that little feature again. its still used. in ships. the prop shaft thrust bearing.
I feel the big issue with this design would be wear. The cams/rollers supporting the piston return movement are offset causing a lot of lateral force on the piston and guides. Also, tolerance on the dual rollers and piston would need to be very tight to avoid knocking.
@@paradiselost9946 They could probably shape into a conical shape to have the bearing to be in line with the rotation. That would definitely be a manufacturing challenge though.
Like a cone-and-cup system in bicycle hubs, this lobe thing will wear down, causing pitting and caverns in the races.
You obviously missed the lubrication segment at 6:22
This has been done in a diesel engine, look up Fairbanks-Morse 38 8-1/8. Used extensively in locomotives and diesel electric submarines, originally designed in the 1930s. It uses 2 conventional crankshafts instead of the swash plates.
Exactly
We had 3 on the barbel...dbf
Used the same engine on Los Angeles class nuclear submarines too.
Had one on the ship I served on as the ships EDG. Lights would go out, you'd hear the HP air valve kick open and that thing would roar to life. Was a cool engine
I think even in old airplane diesel engine
So much to love in this engine! I notice that each piston pair fires twice per engine revolution, which is nice from the standpoint of applying shaft torques in opposed pairs.. but I think it would be fun to design the cam plates (wavy things) with three lobes instead of two (increasing the angle of their slopes, increasing torque output), and then using either 4, 5, or 7 cylinder blocks, so that there is always a cylinder delivering torque when another cylinder is in compression. The configuration shown, 2 lobes and 4 cylinders, relies on momentum to power compression, so the output is constantly switching from acceleration to deceleration, and a relatively larger rotating mass is necessary to dampen these pulses and provide the rotational momentum for compression. Using a setup where the number of cylinders isn't an integer multiple of the lobes number, would have the engine powering its compression strokes to provide smoother output with less need for adding rotating mass like a flywheel. Powered compression should also help the engine run better at lower speeds.
I agree that their test drive description ("no turbo.. atmospheric pressure") was deceptive.. two strokes always require forced induction. The old GM Diesel 2 strokes had Roots blowers.. Mercury 2 stroke outboards (and smaller 2 strokes like chain saws, leaf blowers, and even tiny nitro engines for RC models and such) use the crankcase under the pistons to compress the intake charge and effect cylinder scavenging. A two stroke which relied entirely on port timing and exhaust momentum to initiate scavenging and draw in the intake air, would be extremely sensitive to exhaust tuning and engine RPM, and might struggle to run at all except under ideal conditions.
This is actually a really cool concept. 2 stoke is the best stroke in terms of power output potentiential. Technology is now catching up to make some pretty awesome advances in 2 stoke engineering. Just look at Mazda's new valved 2 stroke... excited about that one!
This could be a perfect back up engine for an electric car. Make it much smaller, make it run all the time at low speed so its always charging the battery. A great way to add airconditioning and heat too. This might extend the range by hundreds of miles and reduce anxiety.
Erm.. EV drivers don't have range anxiety. We can do 30' more to do the one journey per year that is more than 400km, sure, but I don't think this is important.. And solid state batteries are due to be commercial in 5-6 years so even that edge case will be gone.. This has it's uses, like, electric planes range extender, yeah, probably. But not EV I feel.
Like, if you are going to do up to 2000km on an EV today, that would need around 6 stops of 30', aka, 3h extra.
In an ICE, you would need 3 - 4 10 min stops to refuel aka, 30' - 40' extra. So we did 2000km, or, 20h of driving, with 2h 30' difference... not a problem.
EV stopped and stretched a healthy amount, ICE drove 20h non stop.
And if you plan to do more than 2000 km well... use a plane, it is cheaper.
I am not bashing your idea, I am just saying that the whole range anxiety thing is not real, it is a silly oilcompany fed narrative.
So, what about the many people who aren't convinced of the practicality of EVs yet or can't use an EV for their purposes because they drive larger distances than the EV can do on a charge without time to recharge (for instance cab drivers, delivery drivers, mobile nurses, field service)?
Range anxiety is as real as your view is narrow!
yeah@@LRM12o8
I immediately recognised this as an Axial engine and similar to a swashplate engine.
These are normally always inspired by what others will recognise as AC/Refrigerative compressors and Hydraulic/Hydrostatic pumps and motors.
Hey, anyone here can tell we can replace the roller attached to the end of each connecting rod with a gear to drive the plate below it, or this idea is impossible??
that's exactly what I was thinking very similar to hydraulic axial pump and another thing two stroke diesels been around for years gone now do to emissions.
This engine is a hoax. Those rollers will spin impossible RPMs (at least 4X) due to the size difference between the wavy plate radius and roller radius. No bearing can take 25,000 RPM for more than a few seconds. Also, it's not a 1-stroke, so they shouldn't be claiming that. And the HP claim is impossible too by 4X.
@@travelinkevin5130 i guessing you are missing a zero on that number? Most ball bearings can go to 25k rpm for standard use.
But realistically, you can't just go call the engine a hoax more so that the dreamt up figures and efficiencies are what is made up.
Its possible and the engine will work with a variety of different bearings, just dont expect it to be reliable let alone put in race car.
@@Syncrusan
Look up ball bearing speed limits. Caged ball bearings overheat and die at about 6k RPM. This application has vibrations that would make the matter worse. 500cc is only 30 cubic inches. They claim ~4 HP per cubic inch, which is ridiculous. For those roller bearings to survive, the mainshaft speed would need to stay below ~1000 RPM.
That layout has 8 power impulses per 360 degrees on the mainshaft. Working the 'PLANK' formula shows a mean pressure like a Top Fuel engine. I liked the engine initially too, but on closer inspection, it's a pipe dream.
Manufacturers and inventors ought to have this man evaluate their product and marketing. Great and informative video. Thank you.
WRT the 1 stroke description of a 1 stroke, I see why they called it a 1 stroke relative to all other engines since their 'strokes are based on a 360deg rotation. I noticed there are 2xtdc and 2xbdc per 360deg on the wavy thingy ie 2 power strokes per 360deg. I agree with you that it is not a true 1 stroke since power is only delivered from 1 direction of the piston. awesome and informative content. love your channel!
Looks like a perfect generator unit for a hybrid electric vehicle. Electric motor will compensate for lack of torque.
That is exactly what they show on their tech page. it is a range extender.
If reliable can be decent for small planes.
I’ve always wondered why not run a small gas turbine for charging - much lighter.
Terrible fuel economy, hot exhaust and high materials costs.
@@popuptoasterust high costs.
Gas turbines are actually very efficient due to its simple mechanism that is versatile for features like heat recuperator.
So the only thing that holds gas turbine back is expensive design for the blade's engineering and poor throttle response which won't be an issue for range extensing use.
The wavy thing strickly speaking is a type of cam.
For instance the shift drum in a motorcycle transmission is a drum cam or cylindrical slot cam.
It would be fine to call the wavey thing a plate cam. Or since its driven a crank plate wouldn't be a bad name either.
Swash plates in hydraulics last for years and years. That is going same RPM happily bathed in hydraulic fluid. The end cams (swash plates) in these INNengines live in a more complicated world. It will be fun to learn more, thanks for posting. Great commentary and graphics.
Now that's what I call a very informative video. A man who is capable of taking complex ideas, processing them, and then translating them into fully digestible pieces of information. I am very impressed with his gift and thank him for sharing it with us.
You mean moronic ideas
But he didn't get the idea, he is wrong about the combustion cycles
I need this guy to explain the meaning of life to me!
For all that excellent description he had to do a lot of research so HOW could he miss the name of the "wavy thing"??!!
@@aguerra1381 dude, he didn't even count the number of the cycles right.
I love your rational and completely unhysterical approach to evaluating these new engine designs.
He is cool
Except with Alfadan lol
@@Larslegos he learnt a lesson there 😂
@@facepalmboy4203 At least this engine is a proven concept that runs lol.
Thank you very much!
Absolutely brilliant analysis. You covered every important aspect of this subject. I learned a lot from your work and found it very thought-provoking. (Especially the variable timing potential.)
[I suggest Radial Sinusoidal Cam RSC instead of "wavy thing."]
Again, Thank you.
One reoccurring theme that I always notice with opposed piston engines is that they all seem to have a supercharger. I personally think they're critical to the design, mainly because the exhaust scavenging action isn't enough to pull fresh air in, so they need a little extra "push". Detroit 2-stroke diesel engines have a similar operating principle as far as the supercharger goes (or "air pump" as they call it).
Also since the engine technically have 2 outputs might as well use the other output for something useful since one of the output already being use to drive the car forward
2-Stroke Diesel engines need supercharging at low speeds since you need a source of pressure to push the spent exhaust gases out of the cylinder. On turbocharged EMD 2-strokes, the turbocharger becomes a centrifugal supercharger at low speeds.
Right, even though those Detroit engines were NA, they still had the supercharger in order to run.
Yes the supercharger is there for scavenging gases. This engine need it to work. It can use a turbo too to being more efficient.
@archise3191 EXACTLY! I instantly thought they should add a centrifugal supercharger on one end feeding into a ring shaped intake manifold that circles the intake ports!
I think what would have been cool to mention is how the swash plate offsetting not only varies the compression but also the timing of the exhaust and intake ports.
Bingo!!! 😃
Would it not also affect the balance?
Balance is relative to the movement of the piston in relation to the crankshaft…in this case, both are still moving at the same speed so the relative balance isn’t affected.
@@davidchristensen2970 Yes it would indeed. For some period, both pistons are moving in the same direction when the wavy things are not in time with one another.
No doubt this is the reason for the existence of the adjustment. I'm surprised he missed that...
I have worked on direct injected 2 stroke engines for over 30 years. A major issue is at light loads you MUST have sufficient air flow to scavenge the exhaust gasses out of the cylinder otherwise on the next cycle there will be an excess of exhaust gas in the cylinder causing typical 2 stroke combustion instability and misfires.
With the increased air flow to scavenge the cylinder then there is too much air for the amount of fuel you wish to inject The only answer to this is to run a highly stratified mixture. You need a very carefully designed combustion chamber shape and injector spray characteristics to achieve this.
A homogeneous mixture will not work at light loads. Air fuel ratios around 30:1 are needed to achieve this at idle conditions. A homogeneous mixture at 30:1 will not ignite from a spark.
This same combustion chamber design and injection system then also needs to work at high loads.
Next problem, when running at light loads and high air fuel ratios the NOx part of a conventional catalyst does not work although lean NOx catalysts are being developed.
I have tested hundreds of combustion chamber shapes with a variety of injector spray shape characteristics and have never found a set up that works with a radially mounted injector. The only set up that works over the full speed/load range of the engine is with an axially mounted injector near the centre of the combustion chamber and a small bowl in the piston directly below the injector. Good luck doing that with this engine design.
Roy B.
Given the amount of reliability and wear challenges inherent in their roller-transmission arrangement, if they solve those, putting injectors right in the middle of one or both pistons is not prohibited by natural laws either.
The way the pistons push the screw/spiral/wavy thingy with what I presume is some extremely hard wheel-bearing-thingy, I expect this to start digging into the wavy-thingy and start creating grooves, eventually leading to dead-space-movement.
But I digress. I am no engineer, but considering how much trouble a vankel-engine is this feels like it would be even less reliable.
On the other hand, I love how they brought back two-stroke in a more efficient manner. Question is if they can make it not eat up so much oil then. And does this engine then require two-stroke oil to be added to the fuel as a traditional two-stroke engine?
Probably one of the better engine designs I have seen in several years. Hope they make it. Looking forward to the bigger engine version.
the liquid piston engine is pretty cool too, check that one out & lmk what you think. My intuition is that this one might have a little bit of the upper hand (for racing/motorsports) because of the simplicity of the dynamic compression ratio mechanism though, but the lack of moving parts in the liquid piston engine is noteworthy no doubt.
its opposed 2 stroke engine .. made 100 years ago .. works but poor emissions and economy
Just How many engine designs have Seen ? I'll be 70 in a few months, I've seen them ALL ! LIKE your 100 years old! .
@@STRUTZKOFF You beat me to it. Not only is this not a new design, but it is certainly not a good design, lol. At least a regular 2 stroke engine uses the crank case area and piston to pressurize the intake charge and ensure adequate scavenging of the combustion chamber. These probably still have 30%-50% exhaust in the charge without some form of forced induction to actually scavenge adequately.
Watching this video I am so curious if this person knows the history, but is trying to steal it, or if they are so ignorant of engineering and history that they honestly think they came up with something new...
@@willchristian5954 The Dynacam engine was about the same. It was used during WWII in torpedoes and it's a certificated aircraft engine. This is nothing new.
This would be a great small / light aircraft or drone engine. Aviation engines tend to run at high RPM continuously. Maybe in a push puller arrangement with two props
Especially good for aviation there are no belts/chains and a simple design is everything you want, especially if you're on to going to the FAA for getting a permission ^^
what about motocycles! :D
Motorcycles as well come on!
Using it to drive a prop certainly helps with the pressure on the swash plate.
@@pespsisipper yep, my first though, perfect powerplant for 2 wheels.
It's not just that conventional engines have so much research and refinement behind them, but they have inertia. Manufacturing capacity already exists, engineers already know how to design/adapt them, mechanics know how to fix them, etc...
You have to make a significantly better product than an existing well established product. Being as good or a little better just isn't worth trading off all that established infrastructure
If you could, LS engines would have gone away a long time ago
what a neat little design, i need to look into this one. i'm mostly interested in reliability of it over time
That engine would probably be fantastic in equipment like boom lifts. Just has to run at one speed all day, and the compactness would be hugely beneficial.
I would have major concerns about longevity with that roller/cam design. How the lubrication system works will make a big difference there.
probably lots of wear and tear on that wavy plate, but maybe the lack of maintenance and tuneups might make up for it?
It looks like it is simple to service and inspect. It is light enough to lift out easily.
looks like the swash plate and bearings would be a wear part.
Well, they are rollers, so fundamentally less friction than cam shafts or pistons. Those rely entirely on a layer of lubricant to keep prevent friction.
Also the metallurgy of these components, as their meeting surfaces would be enduring some fairly unique stresses over time.
This is a very clever design and a very nice analysis. I appreciate it.
Great video and very well explained. Thanks man!
Would probably make a really good generator in stationary applications and range extender for Hybrid Electric vehicles, where it could run continuously at the most efficient rpm
Free-piston linear generator looks better.
that was my first thought too: if it doesn't have torque but it does have size / weight / efficiency, they should just mate it to an EV platform that takes care of the driving needs and doesn't have to be as big or lossy as existing hybrids
You'll have a 7000rpm tiny engine revving like crazy... not sure if it's ideal haha
One of the reasons this would work great for a hybrid is if it actually low torque output the electric motor would easily compensate for that
@@tecnogadget2 But you can tune an exhaust system to make it less harsh.
I suspect that the weak point (and reason you'll always be torque limited even with forced induction) is those roller bearings running on the wavy ramp. There's also lateral loading on the bottom of the piston because it's pushing against an angled ramp so if you increase the ramp angle to increase torque, you're also increasing the force applied against the side of the cylinder wall. Their cutaway 3D printed models don't show how they handle those lateral forces (causing friction and wear), at all.
have you ever seen the angle of a connecting rod? There is already huge side load in conventional engine. this part is probably easily manageable especially since the piston is really long.
Yes. I agree about the roller bearing on the piston being the weak point. That’s a lot of shock and a big load for it to handle… not to mention the side loading of the wobble plate ends
@@TJPDmemberthe connecting rod has a bearing between it and the piston meanwhile this engine it is a one solid piece
@@copy4862 This is a 3d animation... Even tho they're not common, engine like this already exist. A "journal bearing" like we use on our crank still work the same on a flat surface as long as it has oil pressure.
I suspect the second wave plate, which retains the pistons from smashing into each other, deals with the lateral loading too. 8:56
Wow.. mine was the 150cc variant of your TZR which is a TZM here. Im impressed.
i enjoyed your well balanced and analytical approach to this subject. Like you said towards the end, I think the low weight and simplicity of the engine are it's main selling points. I think the 500cc variant would be fantastic in a microlight as they are always looking for weight loss in order to make the aircraft more user friendly. So if you could lose say 50-60Kg this could translate into a greater range as you could carry 50-60Kg more fuel (About 50-60Litres). also in drones, you could carry the saved weigh as extra equipment or reduce the power, and hence the power needed to keep it aloft. Great video.
This would be great as a range extender/generator engine. Charge DC batteries and electric drive motors to the wheels will provide your torque.
I'm sure that or ducted fan aircraft is what they are targeting.
Two or three cylyders would be nice instead of four.
Now we are talking. My thoughts also. Still, upset to the oil and engine industries must be considered.
@@peterbaugh51 yes. You are right. Much better to go to a two stage tesla turbine, keep the pistons for pumping the condensed working fluid to pressure on the evaporator side. Drive the pump with the turbo expander condensing second stage.
Then you have three moving parts, reversing with the turn of a valve, no electricity required, last forever, and you can get unlimited energy from the day night temperature difference.
And five hundred horsepower from something a quarter of the size and weight of this.
All proven by 1909.
We certainly have to consider the necessity of burying those industry scumbags where in a pit so deep they can never climb out.
@@Maungateitei Both ideas are on the pipeline.
My thoughts exactly, especially given the apparent sensitivity to changes in rpm. Just find the optimum rpm and use that for the generator.
Axial designs like this, using a swash plate rather that a crankshaft are very relevant. They have great potential for constant speed applications - aviation, marine, generators and of course range extenders. Another huge benefit of flexible compression is the ability to easily adapt to different fuels. We'll done! Great review - thanks.
Been around since 1911.
I think that swash plate could be an interesting solution for Atkinson cycle
The Dyna Cam engine and the Achates opposed piston engine, had a BABY!!
That was a great detailed review. Thanks. I like your channel
I always found it weird how the Detroit 2 stroke diesel design was completely abandoned. Glad to see it come back somewhat.
love the old detroits !!
The emissions regulations killed them. Using direct injection and an oil pump would probably be enough to get them to meet regulations again.
@@affiliatereviews4079 Yeah, apparently you can get a kit with different cam timing, injectors and turbo that makes them meet current emissions, but the coolest part about them was the smoke and noise :), trying to get a 6x6 project truck happening soon :),
here's where one gets converted to common rail hi pressure injection;
ua-cam.com/video/XocHVgHeOLQ/v-deo.html
ua-cam.com/video/kRziS6C3i1Q/v-deo.html
Love those Detroit Diesels :)
Same here; I'd love to see a modern 92 series with common rail injection, bypassable blower, and twin turbos on the V engines.
Preferably with a long stroke as well, as I find the short stroke/bore ratios of Detroit 2-stroke engines to be rather odd.
It's mechanically a _really_ interesting design, though I still can't get over my suspicions with efficiency losses to friction and directional change in transferring the lateral movement of the pistons pependicularly to the swash plate. That said, the fact that they actually succeeded in mounting it in a car and drive it shows that it still works. The inconsistencies with terminology I can chalk up to the investors in the project not actually understanding what the engineering team were saying. Definitely want to see where this project goes.
For a car the inefficiency from constant stop to high load won't work good with this design. It's a great engine for continuous run applications though where it can just keep going at the same rpm and load.
The big weakness of this engine has to be the bearings. You make bearings for heavy torque that go slow and last 50 000 hours. You make bearings for light torque that go fast and last 50 000 hours. Once you make bearings for heavy torque that go fast, you're looking at 1000-5000 hours of operation. Suddenly a full engine breakdown is on your yearly car maintenance so that's not going to work.
@@Rizon1985 Yeah, I wonder if instead having each piston attached to a crankshaft which then drives the main shafts through 90 degree gears might produce better results
Yea the swash plate will probably wear out super fast unless it's made from some kind of super metal like titanium or inconel or something idk
@@joshuasimmons2412 The chambers will use lubricant to prevent galling just like in any crankshaft housing.
@Rizon1985 well yea, but the perpendicular forces instead of parallel put way more load on it than a normal engine though. I'm not saying it can't be fixed with better material and tolerances and things but it could be a potential problem
Thank you for a very detailed and critical evaluation of this novel engine, I like your presentation style.
Excellent! Another brilliantly and clearly explained technical "story", again with very dispassionate and logical argumentation! Again, another good advertisement for technology diversity.
The "wavy thing" would be called a swash plate in a helicopter, if I'm not mistaken. Given it has the exact same functionality here -- converting rotary motion into reticulating motion -- the name swash plate probably works.
I was think wave crank but now seeing this I’m think swosh crank
Based on the definition of a "cam" there is no rule as to what its shape, only that it rotates.
A "cylindrical" engine cam is what is used in most engines.
Here in this application I would call it a "disc" engine cam.
It’s definitely a swash plate
Axial Cam
and indeed, swashplate engine did exist
In a hydraulic piston pump the wavy thing is referred as a swash plate (or swash disk)
Isn't a swash plate a flat disk on a shaft that is tilted relative to the axis of rotation? In this engine I think the "wavy thing" would be more correctly called it a cam plate. It is anything but flat.
Improvise on the Gear Ratios and high performance parts . Additionally , i can see there are still many rooms to tweak for performance , such as redesign the rotating base to minimal as such to reduce weight and recarved which help more on tolerance and expansion . Recommended titanium base , performance forged pistons , 4 pcs of ceramic bearings for each piston. Titanium iridium spark plugs .Lastly add on a turbo-charged and high-end tubing and hose insulation.
Few months ago I did repair my water jet and saw similar to this engine. 😅
That sounds wicked expensive for what is ultimately a pretty fringe use case.
Love the way you analysed and explained the whole ❤
Phenomenal explanation sir!!
this engine seems like the sort of thing that is perfect for use as an ICE for a hybrid car or as a petrol range extender for an EV
Yup, with the additional advantage of lower weight, further decreasing the net weight of the vehicle ( _and,_ making it possible to create smaller hybrid vehicles).
Less battery drain for equal, or better, results.
@@ironwolfF1 I'll subscribe to those comments also. Great presentation, as usual!
Hoping this is why it's called amper
A constant high rpm generator.
@@nobiden3134 If you want to run continuous high RPM, a small gas turbine is much more efficient.
What struck me was the complex shape of many of the parts and how polished/plated I'm guessing the main shaft - swash plate parts are. Most mass produced engines eschew anything polished with the possible exception of valves and possibly ports. It adds loads of cost to the end product
They're probably not in the stage where they optimise for mass production
This thing will likely be expensive to re-produce in mass. Whether or not this thing could live for a reasonable amount of time with the way people take care of their stuff remains to be seen. I don't hate it though.
@@Schaddn If they haven't been engineering manufacturing processes along the way then they're in big trouble.
While I agree with you on polishing /coating parts is expensive. They are waving the cost of cams,valves,and a traditional crank. It may be enough to offset the cost of hardening coatings.
Well, to make a crankshaft and cam shafts is only cheap because the mass production part was already covered in the hundred years+ since they started building those, but that doesn't mean those are not expensive to balance and manufacture polished parts.
I love the catch on the supercharger.
Still, this engine is a really cool idea.
I love the opposed pistons.
This has to be a useful trick.
Something tells me with a little tuning and a bit of luck, this design could spin really quickly.
The variable compression idea. Woah.
That could really be abused.
You know already that it responds well to a supercharger.
Bet it would be even stronger with a turbo as well.
I always thought that 2 stroke engines had some major advantages, all it takes is a good design.
This might be the one.
Would love to own one to tinker on.
😁
Killer video.
you got hearted, wow
Excellent video with a great explanation!
This is an existing idea used on the Rapier Deltic engines used in railway engines and more often in high performance shipping (minesweepers for example). These engines had some issues that were design related so it’s good to see it being re-engineered in a modern environment with better design tools.
Napier.
@@markbeale7390 I didn’t even notice until you pointed it out. It’s an age thing. A friend recently rebuilt one (because he could) and my father was a chief engineer in the RN. The Deltics were his expertise as they required a lot of babysitting. Very high power to weight ratio. I for my part was involved in Electro Motive Diesels and GM as a distributor for engines that included the big supercharged diesel two strokes. You could dump full load on those (over a MegaWatt) in one step. Great for trains, tugs and emergency power generation.
The Napier Deltic was a development of the German Junkers Jumo 205 to 208 aircraft engines, effectively putting 3 of them together in a delta. Napier licensed the Jumo before WW2 and worked on their own variants. Many people had tried to make a delta engine and failed but Napier realised it would work if one of the 3 crankshafts should rotate in the opposite direction to the others.
@jacksjaunts8580 That's very interesting thanks,napier made a rapier engine,a 16 cylinder H configuration.
I read the New York fire debt have or had a deltic fire pump to deal with high rise fires 🔥.
@@lisakingscott7729 Very informative thank you 👍
It'd make a good motorbike engine, with their light weight compared to cars and not having the need for big torque at low RPM, and the lack of camshafts, chains etc. would be great for low required maintenance. I owned many two stroke bikes in the 1970's but one was always aware that they'd wear out pretty fast, at least regarding the top ends.
Great review, as always.
2 straight me bikes are amazing
I miss my 1982 rd 350 lc
Motorbike engines can already make that much power with that displacement. There's no advantage.
@@user-tc7fp1nu6t I once had a ported Kawasaki 500 that made around 80 crank horsepower but was totally gutless at anything under 3000 RPM, needing lots of clutch slipping to even move off the line. A Suzuki RG 500 Gamma made about 95 crank horsepower. To my knowledge, only Bimota's ill fated V Due was a 500cc two stroke that made about 120 BHP in roadgoing form, and like all two strokes, needed tearing down too often. We're talking about usability here, not racing or dragstrip antics. This engine had a 500cc displacement. Have you owned one or smaller two stroke road bikes that were tuned ? If not, I can assure you that you'd soon be sick of the sight of them if you had to use any at throttle openings of less than flat out. I also had a Suzuki T500 and GT750 in standard trim that were pretty torquey but made only 47 and 70 BHP respectively.
@@michaelarchangel1163 True enough. I had a gamma for a while, enormous fun but the square 4 setup was just plain stupid if you wanted the engine to last. I'd be worried about the durability of this engine too, and for about the same reasons as the gamma's 2 rear cylinders. the "intake" pistons are going to be effectively cooled, but the exhaust side is going to get really hot, really fast.
There's probably room for cam profile shenanigans in this case, you could, for example, "stall" a piston at TDC or BDC (stupid terms themselves in the case of what's effectively a swash plate engine), with the most gains probably by holding the exhaust open longer to help scavenging, but I really can't see this delivering enough to beat a conventional inline 4 600 without forced induction.
@@user-tc7fp1nu6t 4 stroke 600cc engines can make 120 hp, but require revs up to 14,000 (give or take). This makes them very inefficient. They are being regulated into non existence due to emissions and noise pollution. They are also very maintenance heavy. Most supersports require significant maintenance by the time they reach 40,000-50,0000 miles and just aren't very good for anything other than going fast.
Nobody has mentioned lubrication. if it does not run on petrol/oil mixture how is it lubricated? Some small strimmers and hedge trimmers are now 4 stoke but must rely on 50:1 petr/oil fuel mixture for their lubrication.
The rotating thing is a circular cam disk.
There is a reason why classic car engines uses a crankshaft with cylindrical bearings.
Less risk of surface deteriorate compared to point load from the rollers where any dirt/fragment is imprinted into the surface.
Great presentation and explanation. Interestingly, Napier built an opposed piston 2-stroke diesel engine many years ago in a triangular format with three crankshafts called the 'Deltic'. Used successfully in trains for many years!
Deltic made a great sound!
And marine craft before that during WW2
Old Soviet tanks T64 had 2-stroke direct injection internal opposite engine named 5ТДФ
@@maxjooherand future us tank engine (ACE - advanced combat engine) is also supposed to work with this principle
I seen that on curious droid
Excellent presentation without any hype. Down-to-earth and to-the-point. Really a template for good reviews.
Another great presentation on a very interesting engine design. Full marks to our host for telling it like it is, i.e. exposing the deceptive marketing hype. Personally, I like some of the features of the design and hope that it works in many applications. Whether it works in cars or motorcycles is yet to be proven beyond the companys claims. It it's really all they say it is, it will naturally find its niche or niches, and supply and demand economics will guarantee its success. What's really surprising to me is that it comes from Spain, not Germany or Japan, or America. Hey, maybe it will be the catalyst for the re-birth of Bultaco!
There were some sleeve valve engines that came out of England to power both bombers and a fighter. The engines were both 'best in class' in their applications. The radial engines were put into bombers and the fighter got a 24 cylinder flat engine assembled as a 2 layer flat 12. High reving because all the moving parts were smaller than the standard V-12 used by all the airforces, it surpassed their power levels by large margins. The aircraft was the Tempest, the engine was the Napier Sabre. After the War Napier made an engine for small sea boats, the Deltic, that had 3 crankshafts at the apex of a triangle with one turning opposite to the other two using, of course, sleeve valves. Two pistons in the same bore came together from opposite cranks 120 degrees off-set, each set having 3 crank throws, and 6 pistons floating in rotating and reciprocating sleeves. Beautiful sound from all these engines. And POWER.
It will be interesting to see what he says about the Deltic. NYC Fire Department had one running a pump.
My first thought was that it might be useful as a range extender or portable AC/DC generator system.
With it being relatively light, even a smaller 150cc might be much easier to carry around and generate maybe 10-20kW with maybe a whole 35kg package all in and that would be an amazing generator. Less rattly too seeing as it’s smooth.
Exactly, in one of the interviews the CEO has given he expresses that they want to market first those kind of markets, since it's the perfect engine for a range extender system due to it's really compact size.
I think range extenders are inevitable to fill the gap in battery technology. The smoothness of such an engine will chime well with the ethos of an ev. Also with the engine able to run within a relatively narrow rapm range, the design can be tailored to optimise port timing, compression ratio, scavenge pressure etc. to achieve minimum emissions.
I've been thinking a 49cc version that carries a similar weight saving advantage may well replace a whole lot of scooter / moped engines. Terrible fuel economy could ruin that, as well as other replacement-engine applications, but I don't know what sort of economy the 500cc engine gets.
typical limited thinking and reduction of innovation !!
For another excellent innovation engine with more uses, the Liquidpiston X rotary is excellent with very few parts, components along with air cooling.
Some turbos should help with scavenging.
Fab videos as always. Always makes me think. I'm an ex engineer and I love your presentation style, engaging and keeps the mind working.
cant remember which car it was, but there was an engine with a turbo or supercharger that didnt "push in" air but worked on the other end and basically sucked out the exhaust gasses. something like this could help. it could also create enough vacuum so that it could help with low end torque too
That’s basically what I was thinking… a small turbo.
No such thing as an ex engineer... ;)
Yep it could be a good idea but this engine is design to be use as a range extender so operating contex is full of starting and suddenly stops something turbos don't like to much.
@@rodrigomartinez3937 Ehh… not necessarily: as a range extender, it could be cycled on when the battery reaches 20% or so, and stay running until it reaches 80%. With suitably sized battery pack that could take half an hour or more.
By the way from Western Pennsylvania Farm Belt country you and your family, I hope you had a wonderful Christmas 🎄🎁 and we will wish you a Happy Holidays and a better New Year's than the last one. God bless you all and Good morning to you all today!
I was about to dive in to this comment on how this is NOT a 1 stroke engine, but you explained it at the 4:20min mark. 👍 good job.
This could be really good for the aviation industry. It's the roller wavey components that I worry about in terms of wear and tear.
The rollers would be the part needed to be made of a material that wears easier so it can be changed from time to time and won't damage the wave block.
Was thinking the same. This can be a brilliant turbine alternative for light helicopters. IIRC the APU of Typhoon fighters is about the same weight and output as this.
Yeah ! Ultralight aviation will jump on this as soon as it gets commercial
My thought as well. Since the rollers are rolling in a circular path there is obviously friction in there. A little bit like an axial roller bearing, they are not great for high loads and high speeds.
Also boat industry
Creating rotational force by pushing rollers onto a slope seems like it would be very hard on the parts - especially on one side of the cillinder and certainly not the best way to produce a lot of power on low RPM. Also, it reminds me of an AC compressor :D
Even more than that. In a compressor, the "wavy thing" (the swash plate) moves the pistons. In this engine, the pistons push on the swash plate. It's trying to force energy into a cam, a feat as difficult as turning a worm gear from it's mated flat gear.
see whats funny is that conventional piston engines actually have many small rockers on camshafts that control the valve timing, which I assume adds a lot of friction as well. but we don't see camshafts being broken all the time and these being beefier I assume would be durable with oil lubricating the surfaces.
@@arthurfunk3104 excellent analogy with the worm gear
@@-aid4084you are comparing a tiny light-weight little valves and springs against a big heavy pistons energised with power strokes. Camshaft did wear out over time, though miniscule wear marks against cam roller are visible, no big deal since its only for timing control. Engine piston however transferring powerful energy directly through that "wavy thing"
Rotary hydraulic motors fitted to earthmoving machines use a cam ring with pistons pushing balls or rollers out against the cam ramps to produce rotation.
Cam and roller design, look's interesting. I'd think it would create quite a lot of heat, but in this setup, that could end up being a good thing, to a degree. It looks like it could use existing, easily replaceable parts as well, that's a huge benefit. I would also worry that torque would be an issue, it's the first thought I had when I saw it. I think the only way to mitigate the loss, would be the addition of multiple units in a vehicle, similar to how we use e-motors. The weight savings add up to being the biggest advantage, imo. Application, and scaled down versions, given how simplistic it is, *should* cost less, and perform better than other options. It'll be fun to see if ends up in mass production.
Wow you're doing a very good job ! 👍😁
I've never found two strokes to be problematic. In fact, two strokes are massive fun
Can you imagine the fun 120 hp would be in a side by side!!!
@@abnerschmucker1I have two VMAX-4 750 engines just kicking around, lol.
Sounds like torque will be a problem though
@abnerschmucker1 some boffin will work it out 😁
Someone defending two-strokes in 2023 probably already suffered two strokes.
Is it just me? Why couldn't we hear what it sounds like? How high does it rev? I think it probably sounds incredible. I believe it has big potential in many applications, keep up the good work.
there's a few other videos showing the engine in Spanish YT channels, with sound and all
Found a vid with the engine running ua-cam.com/video/Hc6eTABcLTo/v-deo.html
Think of about four 2 stroke motorcycles reving there engines, Then think of how stinky two stroke - engines are.
Nice engine 1 stroke i agree because you forget we have x2 pistons 😊 then the 2 stroke you talk are divided this 2 pistons ......
The stroke start from bdc intake/exhaust to tdc combustion on x2 pistons. I love your vidéos and your knowledge of my job👍👍👍
This kinda engine could be really benefitial in hybrid cars, or even as just a generator for electrically driven cars. High power output on really small package, and you wuoldn't need to worry about the low rev torque since you could use electricity in acceleration, or desing the alternator to accomondate the specs of the engine.
There was a much larger engine and was similar in design. It was a company called (As I recall) THUNDER ENGINES. It was flown successfully on a Rockwell Twin Commander and produced around 400HP and designed to be very easy and inexpensive (relatively speaking) to overhaul. It had 6 cylinders and 12 pistons. It was based on the General Motors air conditioning compressor that it self was based on an early 1900's internal combustion engine. The Wavy Thing is a Swash or Wobble plate. I suspect the best application would be aviation related as the torque needed would be at a fairly high RPM.
It was not better, it closer to just a inline, but a circle. This here although simlar so many times better.
Right, anytime you discuss low weight, aviation comes to mind. Starting with the ultralights, say under 60 lbs and making 45-50hp, then LSA at 100lbs and say 85- 120hp, and upward. The current piston designs are good but tend to be heavy. Reliability is the next level for aviation and then of course fuel economy. Turbines are reliable but thirsty. If any piston design could incorporate low rpm and still develop acceptable torque and hp, then you would have a solution to a great number of aviation problems. Perhaps this design that is overbuilt for a given application and develops the acceptable performance at a much lower rpm. Just saying.
It would be interesting to see this engine paired with a hybrid system to compensate for the lack of torque. The lower weight and smaller package would also help compensate for the extra battery weight that comes with hybrid cars. But I guess this would essentially be the "range extender" application they mention
Depending on efficiency using a CVT could keep it in peak torque and make it very appealing.
This in a hybrid config with cvt is a legit perfect use case.
my thoughts exactly. maybe throw in some antilag and the tank setup Ford used on the wrc focus that got banned back in '08(?) and the whole system would be high output across ⅔ of the powerband. i can't say i don't want to try it.
There's quite a few free piston generators in the works that skip the whole big rotating mass and hence a lot of friction. Having fewer pistons for the same displacement is certainly better in terms of piston ring friction. It's a bit silly to have 2 engines in a car and not use them both all the time.
Then again, that's a lot of power coming out of a tiny lightweight engine, might as well just connect it to the front axle, no gearbox and just de-clutch it at lower speeds.
I see this engine as more useful for EREV (with 2 axial flux generators), boats and even airplanes.
Would like to know how the lubrication system would work with this engine? What would drive the oil pump? Dry sump?
It would likely need a dry sump inasmuch as otherwise you risk some oil slowly leaking past the rings into the lowest cylinder during downtime. Which would cause catastrophic failure, here. In radial aircraft engines typically you pull the sparks plugs in the lower cylinders then turn the propellor slowly 2-3 revs to bleed any oil out of them. Otherwise bad things tended to happen when you trued to start them.
This engine would also benefit from an oil squirter system to cool the backside of the pistons, due to having 1 combustion pulse per cycle meaning higher average cylinder temperature. 2 stroke engines sometimes suffer from piston blow-through when run at full throttle and full load for extended period. This is one reason why, despite potentially higher torque and HP for a given displacement, 2-stroke engines aren't popular for other than model aircraft.
In the model engine it looks like they have a small amount of splash oiling but no oil pump or filter, which if it's just a prototype you can change the oil every 20 hours or so.
1. This is a hybrid of a opposed piston engine and a reversed Herman Barrel engine. (Herman has a dual faced axial cam center, pistons moving outward). BTW, this engine is not a swashplate, it is an axial cam.
2. This engine has a scavenging blower which also flattens the torque curve. A blower on a piston ported two stroke will not boost as the ports a simultaneously open .
A turbocharger will boost a piston ported 2 stroke because the turbo back pressure and the blower de-clutched.
3. The engine mechanics has quirks. The pistons need a gizmo to seat them on the cam during start, and guides to prevent roller misalignment. Roller to cam interface has line contact stress resulting in eventual spalling fatigue. The rollers riding up and down the cam side load the pistons more than a crank/conrod/piston.
On the bright side the axial cams can be profiled for kinematic and combustion optimization; a crankshaft can’t.
4. Whereas this engine has 8 pistons, it is arguable in a strict sense it has 4 power strokes/rev. Arguable.
5. I wish Innengine success. EVs have a long way to go. The ICE ain’t dead yet. Cheers D
2- I don't see a blower on the short clip shown on the test stand. I'm unaware whether uniflow scavenging of this kind makes a blower a near requirement or whether natural aspiration can be used. Large uniflow marine diesels use turbochargers. Using the spline mechanism to change the phasing of the intake and outlet ports probably helps scavenging performance. I rather suspect that's the primary benefit of such a feature and not reducing the compression ratio as the video claims, which doesn't produce much benefit in a direct injected engines.
3- the pistons have a unique wrist linkage with the crosshead guides that eliminates side loading and allows them to self-center.
The rolling fatigue issue can be addressed by increasing the area of the contact patch and adding a healthy factor of safety to the bearing rating. In railways, for example, you have the incentive to both use a high of an axle load as you can get away with, and also not used premium quality materials for the rails, so the rails suffer fatigue and spalliation while that's less common on the tyres. It can be addressed with modern material and coating processes such as austempered ductile iron,Powder metallurgy steels, pack boriding, Nitriding, carbonitriding, CVD coating like TIAlN, shot peening. It's essentially almost the same wear scenario that gear teeth experience. Although in future iterations I suspect they'll use conical rollers and the cam will have a conical profile. This to avoid sliding wear.
@@TSorovanMHael Thanks for reply.
Blower. I can’t see how this engine starts without a blower. Once it starts, I agree it can scavenge with exhaust gas ‘tuning’.....But only in a narrow RPM band. So if a blower needed to start, why not use it? I think InnEngine is disingenuous on this issue.
Rolling bearing fatigue. Ball and roller bearings have published ‘B10’ fatigue lives. Bearing life is inversely proportional to speed times the cube of the load.
The same principal applies to this engine. As a lark 2 years ago I designed an engine just like the InnEngine.. axial cam Opposed Piston but larger, diesel, and 6 cylinders. Calculated poor cam and roller fatigue life at continuous 75% power. Not much can be done to improve because of other restraints. The question is really about economic life.
In addition to rolling contact, the system also has sliding contact if the rollers are cylindrical.
Mechanics. Couldn’t tell from video how roller guidance etc, etc accomplished...there are several ways. It’s painful to dirty such a simple design with such stuff. Anyway, if the engine has methodology to absorb side loads other than the pistons, then that method is subject to wear.
Cheers D
Good to see the development of this type of engine continue. Certainly not a new idea. Many different variants have been produced since before 1900. I believe one of the most famous designs was a series of opposed piston diesel aircraft engines produced by Junkers in Germany beginning around 1932.
The English also had this configuration with their famous Commer truck diesel engines that had opposed pistons but unlike Junkers used a common crankshaft with a pivot and lever system for the pistons. Most unusual sound when the supercharger used to howl to boost and scavenge the engine.
@vumba1331 this was Rootes TS3 aka "The Commer Knocker"
those junkers were 2 strokes tho
@@vumba1331 Don't forget the en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Napier_Deltic
in the en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Rail_Class_55
Apparently sounded quite incredible.
Currently used in mk 48 torpedoes
The Detroit diesel engine is a two stroke with a roots blower to scavenge the cylinders by forced induction. The opposed piston arrangement has been used in diesel engines in Britian for years by using two crank shafts on opposite ends of the cylinder. Fairbank Morse also used this arrangement in large stationary and marine engines. I don't think the swash plate will hold up long term but it does make the engine extremely compact. Interesting design.
You're talking about Deltic diesel engines I believe, but they don't directly power the vehicle, they power an electric drive train iirc.
I believe the opposite is the case, with proper lubrication the swash plates will show minimum wear as opposed to crank/cam shafts.
@@amramjose I dunno, the cam in a conventional engine doesn't actually take nearly the amount of load that the crank does and modern roller cams can last a very long time when the valvetrain is set up properly. Plus, in theory at least, the crank journals should never touch the bearings while the engine is running. The bearings float on the oil a thousandth or two of an inch away from the crank journals. Most of the wear you see comes from startup, foreign debris, or not changing the oil before it becomes acidic from mixing with stray combustion gases. Maybe these new "one stroke" engines will surprise me, but it seems a lot more difficult to keep that swash plate oiled than a conventional crank.
@@flammenjc Napier deltics powered mine sweepers and motor torpedo boats 🚢.
This is know as the uniflow principle where a supercharger merely creates the scavenging flow to fill the cylinder with atmospheric pressure and flush the exhaust simultaneously. It works extremely well and my old boat was powered by the Detroit diesel using this principle.
You should investigate the MYT engine. I habe a hard time digging up info on it but apparently it was a beast.
I dig the AW11 you've got hanging out in the garage when you're working on the Yamaha
You did a fine job presenting this video on a non-biased professional manner explaining the operation, limits and application. The company like many new ones marketing a innovative product has to over-embellish to sell it to potential investors that are clueless on the physical/mechanical properties of its performance. Your statement is perfect in how you described it as a "contender in certain applications"...very nicely put ! Your presentation is excellent !
many applications except heavy machines, where we have the 2t diesel which works very similarly without the rotary assembly, check it out!
The "wavy thing" is called a Cam-plate and was used extensively in radial engines in aviation.
I have seen it called a "Wave plate" as well.
@@DocWolph me too come to think of it
Was it used as in this fashion as a power transmission component or a timing device in the plane engine? The forces on the whole arrangement in this videos engine seem counterproductive, but I well could not be understanding
@@desertblbuesman timing, but that component is subject to all the forces the crankshaft is, so I dont think it makes sense to deliniate between its purpose as a timing component or not
When you talked about the engine having perfect primary balance due to the opposed piston design meaning they cancel each other, however i was wondering would this not always be the case in situations such as running in a reduced compression mode due to one set of pistons being offset along the length of the stroke compared to the opposing piston?
Or would the imbalance I'd image this to introduce be eliminated (or mostly eliminated) by an apposing piston from another cylinder? I.E. the opposing piston in the located cylinder (the left piston in cylinder 1 balancing the right piston in cylinder 3).
I may be completely off and the reduced compression has no effect on balance but when you talked about balance my mind instantly jumped back to you talking about the variable compression ability and had me wondering if and/or how this would effect the piston forces cancelling each other
those end bearings are getting a hell of a banging ! !
The marketing material feels like a separate marketing department who never talked to the engineers got a hold of a few spec sheets and stats and just went to town.
I really appreciate your break down on how this as well as other engines work.
This engine being so light would be great in the small boats here in the USA.
that engine is not light so its still heavy
@@steveharrigan3425 oh, the way that guy was holding it in video I thought it was. Thanks.
The weight and less complexity are the big selling points.
Hard to compete with a conventional ICE that can easily last 200,000 miles.
Love to see this in a dirtbike.
@@mxcollin95 No low end torque. Probably can't pull a wheelie 'til you hit 6000 rpm.
Maybe a good candidate for motorbike . I had a600cc and i remember enjoyed the noise as very high rpm , and a moped torque as low rpm, but it was part of the fun .. 😊
Outstanding sarcasm 10 minutes in. Hats off sir!
great video as always!
this is in effect a compact 4 cylinder evolution of the Rootes/Commer TS3 'knocker' diesel engine with a different motion transfer method from the pistons. the TS3 was incredibly clever in its motion transfer to a single output shaft overcoming the need for dual crankshafts.
and yes, the engine featured is a 2-stroke.
The wavy thing bothers me, but I like the possibility of changing reciprocation profile (or that's what I'm calling it). Opposed pistons seem to be making a comeback, though they've been hanging around as an option since I think 1895 or some such. No cylinder head or valve train is a huge potential advantage. I always liked OP. I'm a little suspicious about the amount of vacuum that can be created here. Every OP I've ever heard of needs a blower or compressor, and I see no design feature to make this unnecessary, they all uncover the exhaust ports before the inlet ports, and by the time the inlet ports open the volume between the pistons is no longer expanding. So far, momentum hasn't been enough on any other OP design, I don't see why it's enough here.
"Wavy thing" is commonly called a swash plate. Many aviation hydraulic pumps work this way. Some can vary the angle of the swash plate in order to increase pumping volume.
@@Flies2FLL Some torpedo engines use a similar approach. Lots of power from a small package, short working life not a concern.
@@Flies2FLL This is not a swash plate, it's more accurately called an axial cam. A swash plate is a flat plate mounted at an angle so you only get one cycle of reciprocating motion per revolution, effectively the axial version of an eccentric.
I agree with you about the scavenging. The "air syphon" would be insufficient. It needs some positive PSIG at the manifold to function.
Lots of two cycle engines need positive pressure to operate. Detroit Diesels like the 6V71 required a blower to operate and keep positive pressure. Small motorcycle engines didn't need this and instead employ an expansion chamber in the exhaust pipe to drop pressure quickly, thus enabling scavenging. The difference in a design like this and what we'd commonly associate as being the job of a supercharger is that the blower on a 2-cycle isn't for increasing power. It's load on the engine is largely inconsequential, needing only to generate enough pressure to keep it higher than atmospheric. You could theoretically turn up the boost pressure and get more power, but it isn't strictly needed.
I missed some points. How the contact is assumed between rollers and wavy ramp ? Only with pressure ? And what about parasites lateral forces generated by the cams on each rod ? How thoses useless forces are managed ? What is the critical maximum speed before rollers can loose contact with cam plate (called 'wavy thing") ? How to guide rods to keep the right tangential attitude as i saw nothing to assume this function ?
I love their honesty and this amazing design.