A new interesting (and very, very unproven) design. Main benefits seem to be ultra compact and lightweight … hence potential application to aviation.
Any thoughts?
Obviously very premature question … especially for certified GA … but perhaps might be relevant in ~? years for homebuilts…
Very interesting; thanks for posting.
Barrel or swash plate engines in various forms are a concept that has never quite taken off. The most prominent recent example for light aircraft was the Dyna-Cam. which was apparently certified and flown 700 hrs in a Piper.
This one is a two stroke with two swash plates and opposing pistons, which is slightly different but also similar to previous designs, e.g. diesels.
Silvaire, thank you for directing me down a rabbit hole. :-)
So … nothing really revolutionary, but not total cookery either.
On one hand, the idea of mechanical simplification is alluring. Also, there is potential for efficiency improvement as the combustion work happens in almost constant-volume fashion.
On the other hand, there is no leverage the connecting rods/crankshaft combo provides for … hence the piston’s rollers apply the full force of the combustion on the swash plates at the ends – incurring both difficult to meet material’s requirements, but also strong sideways force that surely does not help with limiting piston ring friction and wear. In that sense Dyna-Cam’s solution was a bit better (still side-forces, but at lest not trying to pivot the piston).
Not to say anything about the potential cooling problems of high power in very compact package … good water cooling is mandatory.
We will see whether anything useful will come out of this … eventually.
esteban wrote:
nothing really revolutionary
It has infinitely variable compression ratio (within limits) built into it from the beginning, for what that is worth. Otherwise it is simply an opposed 2 stroke piston engine, like the Junkers Jumo engines used on German aircraft during WWII, although much more compact. It cannot possibly work without externally forced induction. Big marine two stroke diesels have both a supercharger and a turbocharger.
It’s an order of magnitude more complex than a Wankel engine for instance, much more moving parts, complex mechanical solutions, and not an inch more compact.
