Nowadays, basically all internal combustion engines are reciprocating piston engines, and the number of cylinders and pistons that we usually talk about is the number of cylinders and pistons, but in fact, reciprocating piston engines are not the only form of internal combustion engines.

The rotary engine is another form, its special mode of operation and mechanical structure, which is talked about by countless car fans, and its development path full of hardships is also sighed by Yang Quan, a half-car fan.

As a person who has spent half his life in a Japanese engine factory, Yang Quan not only focuses on reciprocating piston engines, but also understands other types of engines in his spare time, and rotary engines are one of them.

The rotary engine, known as the Wankel engine, was inventored by the German Felix Wankel. When it first came out, the media also called it a "continuous internal combustion engine".

In fact, before that, Walter James, the inventor of the connecting rod and crank mechanism, had also studied the rotor internal combustion engine, but in the end it was only a concept. It wasn't until 1957 that Wankel put it into practical use.

In February 1957, Wankel successfully developed a prototype DKM 54, the world's first piston-free rotary engine, which is why it is also known as the Wankel engine.

The rotary engine is generated by the combustion of the air-fuel mixture, and the expansion pressure is directly converted into the triangular rotor and eccentric shaft rotation force, so there is no need to set up connecting rods, and the air intake and exhaust ports rely on the movement of the rotor itself to open and close. There is no longer a need for valve trains, including timing belts, camshafts, rocker arms, valves, valve springs, etc., which are an essential part of reciprocating engines.

In summary, the number of components required for the composition of the rotary engine is significantly reduced. For all the merchants in the world, the reduction of parts means a reduction in costs and a reduction in assembly processes, so that they can have a better advantage in competition.

The volume of the rotary engine can be very small, and because there is no reciprocating linear motion of the piston, it runs with less vibration and is smoother. Finally, the rotary engine is also easier to achieve higher speeds, and the advantage in terms of liter power is great, and the DKM prototype prototype produced by NSU has a maximum speed of 17,000 rpm.

Its advantages are firstly high rpm and high power, and secondly, light weight and fast throttle response.

First of all, the rotary engine is much lighter than the ordinary piston engine, so the inertia of the movement is smaller, which is conducive to increasing the rev, and the throttle response is particularly fast.

It is also smaller than ordinary piston engines, which is more conducive to arrangement, and can more easily achieve 50:50 weight distribution between the front and rear axles. It also has a good front end styling, which allows the hood to be designed lower, improving the driver's visibility and expanding the interior space.

With so many advantages, the rotary engine was basically a black technology at that time. So when Wankel publicly presented his invention at a meeting of the German Society of Engineers in 1960, the world was shocked. (Everyone sees a new world, which is the same as the current new energy)

At that time, many people thought that it would inevitably replace the piston engine and was the direction of future engine development. So they approached NSU to get authorization, but NSU refused and applied it to their own cars, although the idea was good, but the reality was that NSU could not solve the technical problems of the rotary engine.

The sealing strip on the rotary engine constantly rubs against the rotor chamber wall during operation, which will cause problems such as poor sealing and scratches on the rotor chamber wall for a long time, and the corrugated wear of the "devil's scratch" is even more difficult to solve. Because of the short combustion time, rotary engines have an inherent disadvantage in terms of fuel consumption and emissions.

Immediately in order to obtain the transfer fee for research, NSU authorized almost all car companies.

On behalf of the advanced productive forces, no one could bear to lag behind others in the technological change at that time, and everyone paid the tuition fee and got the admission ticket.

Companies such as Rolls-Royce, Porsche, Citroën, Alfa Romeo, and Suzuki have combined their own technological advantages to develop rotary engines suitable for their own products. The rotary engines of this period showed a posture of a hundred flowers.

Faced with the general trend of rotary engines replacing piston engines (at least at the time, it was widely believed to be a general trend), Chinese policymakers and "car people" were not indifferent.

Yang Quan understood that in the 60s, the national policy was to install the rotary engine on the truck, and began to try to take a different path from foreign countries. At that time, the slogan was "What is not available abroad, we in the red country must invent and create", and in the spirit of this fearless revolutionary optimism, Tsujo began the development of the rotary engine truck TJ140.

The most critical task of engine development fell on the shoulders of Jincheng Power Engine Factory, for which the factory set up a rotary engine workshop in 1968. However, in the midst of the movement, we are not in a position to obtain authorization from NSU like Western car companies.

Therefore, the method is also very simple, just like Yang Quan is now dealing with the ejector rod machine, buy a rotary engine from abroad, and then carry out dismantling research and reverse development.

In just one year, Jincheng Power Engine Factory developed the code 2110 rotary engine.

In 1969, the twin-rotor gasoline engine codenamed 2110 was successfully developed, and according to the plan, this 120 horsepower engine was mainly used in 4-6 ton trucks and buses. Subsequently, the body of the TJ140 was successfully completed at the Jincheng Truck Repair Workshop.

In November of this year, the TJ140 equipped with a rotary engine officially rolled off the assembly line. That's just two years after Mazda's first rotary engine model, the Cosmo Sport, to be proud.

Workers from the two factories drove TJ140 trucks loaded with 4 tons of rice and salt from Jincheng, passing through Shuzhong and Ganoderma lucidum, and finally arrived in Sky City, where they returned with a cart of local cowhides, deer antler velvets, cordyceps and other supplies after the Spring Festival. The journey of nearly 10,000 kilometers included the extremely difficult Sichuan-Tibet Highway, but the TJ140 withstood the test and returned safely to Jincheng.

However, in the end, Yang Quan only knew that the TJ140 trucks of the Jincheng Truck Repair Plant were only arranged to produce 40 units, and the output of the 2110 rotary engine of the Jincheng Power Engine Factory was less than 100 units. After that, the rotary engine was drowned in the dust of history, but that's fine, after all, it seems that this is a bottomless pit that I don't know how deep it is.

……

In the world, only Mazda's achievements are worth mentioning.

In other car companies, the rotary engine was the icing on the cake, but for Toyo Kogyo at that time, it was the only straw that saved the day, and if the development failed, Toyo Kogyo would be merged. At that time, RB's policy was that small car companies could only avoid being merged if they had their own "cores".

This "Toyo Kogyo Co., Ltd." was later known as Mazda, and Toyo Kogyo was operating poorly and was on the verge of being annexed. The president at the time, Tsuneshi Matsuda, decided to give it a go and become a live horse doctor, believing that the rotary engine was the life-saving straw that could save the company's situation.

As a result, in February 1961, Toyo Kogyo paid 280 million yen to NSU, which had the rotor technology at the time, and obtained the right to develop a rotary engine.

Since then, rotor technology has entered the Mazda era.

To the amazement of the world, this little-known RB factory actually gnawed this hard bone down, and it was quite successful, at that time almost all Mazda's car series were equipped with rotary engines.

Mazda's unusually desperate spirit finally brought the rotary engine into practical use.

Mazda is now in the middle of a marathon boom, and the rotary engines of its production models are shining in North America and on the field. But Yang Quan knew that the gun hit the first bird, and a few years later, when the FIA banned rotary engines on the field, Mazda's rotary engine road also went into confusion, and finally officially withdrew from the stage of Mazda after the RX-8 was discontinued in 2012.

……

The test can be entrusted to someone else, but to meet the participants of the 2110 rotary engine who participated in the Jincheng Power Engine Factory, it is necessary to meet in person. Yang Quan pulled Yuan Qingli and rushed back to the research group, turned around and didn't see a new face, he looked at Yuan Qingli with a blank eye, waiting for his next step.

Yuan Qingli spread his hands, shrugged his shoulders from a foreign movie and said, "I didn't say he was at work today?"

"Are you still at home? Let's go to his house."

Without saying a word, he dragged Yuan Qingli out again. The research team relies on the Wujiacun Bicycle Factory, and now the means of transportation are naturally bicycles and motorcycles.

A Lady Panda Generation exhaust pipe beeped and rushed out. On the seat, Yang Quan hugged Yuan Qingli's waist, and the painting style was weird.

Yuan Qingli also noticed that the situation seemed to be a little wrong while riding the bike, and changed the topic and shouted loudly: "What, wait until I see Wu Hao and remember to tell him, don't focus all your attention on the ladies pedal, and you have to be considerate of the suffering of gay men."

"It makes sense, I'll convey it"

"Well, I want to ask, why must we be riding a car? There are still several empty ones at the door," Yuan Qingli shouted back with his helmet.

"That's a good question, I want to ask you that too"

"What, I still want to ask, I remember that you were going to buy a car, how is the situation now?" continued to change the topic, this kind of awkward chat Yuan Qingli was really fed up.

Speaking of the car, Yang Quan suddenly remembered, it has been so long and he has not received the news. The Toyota Hiace is still in line, and adding a little money can also solve the problem of cutting in line. But the Volkswagen Santana is silent, when it will be in line, and when it will get the car, no one knows.

"That's a good question, I don't know how to answer you," Yang Quan said honestly, saying that when the Panda generation was designed, the seats were short, which was more suitable for two thin lesbians. But it is slightly embarrassing to put it on Yang Quan and Yuan Qingli, although Yang Quan in the back will not have a physical reaction when holding people, but this hugging posture makes the roadside people look so full of reverie.

Yang Quan was bumpy all the way and wanted to tie the two of them together with a rope, but when he saw Yuan Qingli riding for twenty minutes and letting go of the throttle, he knew that he was about to arrive, and hurriedly shrank his hands behind his back and hugged the trunk.

"This is it, I'll knock on the door later" Yuan Qingli stopped and knocked on the door.

"Lao Li, I'm Yuan Qingli, am I at home?" the door was not closed, and Yuan Qingli knocked on the door to avoid suspicion and shouted loudly.

Knocking on the door is considered a notification, it does not matter whether the door is closed or not, the important thing is that the owner must agree to enter the room. If you don't knock on the door, if you don't get permission, how can you know if it's inconvenient for the host and whether it's appropriate. Some people have always been considered "no one in sight", although they are puzzled, in fact, it may be this kind of faux pas to cause trouble. Knocking on the door is the first of all the courtesies, and proper behavior is a passport for unimpeded passage. Politeness is not always wisdom, but impoliteness always makes people suspect stupidity.

"Come in, Master Yuan, the door is not closed," the master Li Jingxian shouted.

Yang Quan followed Yuan Qingli and entered with his hand on the wooden door, and saw that the family was not wealthy. The room is small and the light inside is dim. Trying to enlarge the windows to absorb the light, it gives a warm sense of decadence. The walls are shrouded in the light of a small lamp on the desk, and I don't know whether it is yellow or white. There was no furniture in the room, and a table was littered with books and unfinished meals.

"I'm sorry, the room is a bit messy and hasn't been cleaned for a long time. Li Jingxian saw Yang Quan come in, and hurriedly cleaned up two old stools. Mrs. Li Jingxian and her children passed away a few years ago, and the spiritual food is these books that fill the house, for him to live is not to eat, to eat is just to live. So on weekdays, I just deal with eating two bites.

"Don't be busy, don't be busy" Yuan Qingli watched Li Jingxian pick up the cup to pour water, and hurriedly stopped. "I came here today to introduce a friend, he is very much admirer of your rotary engine research experience back then, and he has to pull me over to meet you."

"Hello, I'm Yang Quan, and I especially admire and worship the successful research of the rotor engine" Yang Quan knows that when communicating with nerds, as long as he talks about the things he researches, he will scratch the soft spot.

"It's worth cultivating, I also contributed a little bit of strength back then. Li Jingxian scratched his head and said shyly, Yang Quan accidentally saw a few hairs falling on the dish with the gravitational pull of the earth. "It's a pity that there are too many flaws, and the funds are not enough to continue the research. ”

"What flaw?"

"High fuel consumption and fast parts loss"

Yang Quan knew that because the rotor's three top corners were responsible for sealing (there are also seals like piston rings on the top corners) and working under the condition that it could not be properly lubricated for a long time, it would lead to premature wear. Although there are many options for improvement, such as porcelain of the cylinder wall (the surface of the cylinder wall is ceramicized, it reduces friction and is more resistant to high temperatures without lubrication), but the end result is that many parts are highly worn.

"What else?"

"The structure of the engine leads to the fact that it can only be ignited and not compression-ignited, that is, only gasoline can be used as fuel and not diesel, which is also a defect. There are too many flaws to elaborate, and the most important thing is the policy, and everything in this country depends on the policy. ”