King of nomenclature mess ups

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PWR4360-59B

Senior Airman
379
19
May 27, 2008
The "Rotary" engine of old. Its really a Radial engine, but with a stationary crankshaft.
In all sense of the word all engines with a rotating element that transmits torque from combustion of a fuel, is a rotary engine. So if lets say we use a horizontal opposed engine and ground or mount the crankshaft stationary then according to rotary engine nomenclature we have a rotary engine, with no identity of the cylinder arrangement ? Funny how on any other reciprocating engine the cylinder arrangement is what names the type of engine it is. V-8, Inline 6, V6, Opposed 6, we can all identify. If we say its a rotary engine, first to mind for most all people unacquainted with the goofy funky spinning crankcase radial engine will of course think Wankel engine. The name rotary just does not define the engine design or type.

My edit was adding the N to the "I all sense of the word"
 
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All engines are "rotary" in the general sense that they all make something rotate. A Wankel was termed a Rotary to differentiate it from the reciprocating piston engine and the aircraft rotary due to the rotating cylinders/stationary crankshaft as opposed to the radial's stationary cylinders/spinning crankshaft.
Methinketh that you make way too much out of English terminology which confounds, at time, even native speakers, i.e.:

Why are there interstate highways in Hawaii?
Why do fat chance and slim chance mean the same thing?
Why do we drive on parkways and park on driveways?
Why is it that when you transport something by car, it's called a shipment, but when you transport something by ship, it's called cargo?
Why is it called a TV "set" when you only get one?
Why does your nose run and your feet smell?
If pro is the opposite of con, is progress the opposite of congress?
Why does "cleave" mean both split apart and stick together?
Why is it, whether you sit up or sit down, the result is the same?
Why call it a building if it's already been built?
If corn oil comes from corn, where does baby oil come from?
Why do girls wear a pair of panties and but only one bra?
If ATM stands for Automatic Teller Machine, why do we call it an ATM machine? And if PIN stands for Personal Identification Number, why do we call it a PIN number?
 
The rotary engine was air-cooled which gave it a huge advantage in power-to-weight.

The problem was it lacked cooling fins, and without them, it was difficult (if not impossible) to dispel the heat into the airflow if was stationary. Radials overcame this issue because of the fins which increased surface area and made effective cooling possible.
 
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And why is abbreviation such a long word???
 

Why do they call it rush hour when nobody is moving quickly?

Why do people stand in line except near New York, where they stand on line?
 
PWR4360-59B said:
If you read what I said you can't include them, if they have no rotating element.
Click to expand...
If you read what he said "What rotates in a solid rocket or compressed gas engine?", he's implying that your implications that all engines are "radials" is actually false, as you yourself noted that "they have no rotating element".
I could also include the Steam Engine to VB's list, as it is essentially comprised of a butterfly valve and a piston...
 

Yes, all reciprocating engines are rotary... But Gnome and C° are not "rotary" engines, but "rotary engines" (!!!!).... When you see the engine running, you see it rotating entirely - and not only the output shaft !

And, in the same way, Wankel is not a "rotary" engine, nor a "rotary engine", but a "rotary piston" engine...

About Wankel, this error is very common... because all people tend to say (and write) the less and shortest words they can... See post §8 : "And why is abbreviation such a long word???" No comments !!!!!!

Regards

Alain
 
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GrauGeist said:
comprised of a butterfly valve and a piston...
Click to expand...
Whose reciprocating action is converted to the rotary motion of the drive wheels.

vikingBerserker said:
What rotates in a solid rocket or compressed gas engine?
Click to expand...
Solid rocket - essentially nothing Compressed gas engine - is no different from a steam engine wherein compressed gas moves a piston in reciprocating motion to make something rotate...or the compressed gas stream can impinge directly upon fan blades to again produce rotary motion. If you look at the pic above the rotating element is pictured...the propeller

Playing with words is always fun and so very many use precise terms imprecisely, common usage as it were. The term ENGINE is simply a mechanical device used to convert some form of energy into mechanical energy.
Various devices such as catapults are commonly referred to as SIEGE ENGINES for example. The solid rocket ENGINE is actually just an early INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE. In some cases we even abbreviate. The word GIN as in COTTON GIN is simply an abbreviation of enGINe. Early STEAM ENGINES were actually used to turn impellers to pump water.

While it is true that the original term ROTARY engine referred to the Otto-cycle fixed crankshaft rotating cylinder block engine used primarily in early aircraft (cars and motorcycles too) . ROTARY was used to distinguish it from RADIAL ENGINE (fixed cylinder block rotating crankshaft) though both have their cylinders arranged radially. The term ROTARY has since passed into common usage.
As to the Wankel, it is a pistonless rotary engine or rotary combustion engine. The rotor has even been referred to as a ROTARY PISTON. All parts move in the same direction, there are three power pulses per rotor revolution, and the drive shaft spins three times faster than the rotor (so one power pulse per shaft revolution).
 
I guess it's the smoke there in redding. Any way "rotating element" is any stinking thing that rotates. It can be a shaft, yeah like a CRANK shaft etc.
All engines are rotary engines as well as all electric motors are rotary motors. BECAUSE SOMETHING ON THEM OR rather STICKING OUT OF THEM ROOOOOTTTTTAAAAAAAAAAATTTTTEEEESSSS. <----- ROTATES................
So simple stuff here read it slowly, any engine that has its power out put rotating is a rotary engine. Steam engine? Now think carefully does it have something ROTATING that puts out the power and or torque? Rotating <<<<<< >>>>>>>>Rotary, see do you see it? This isn't brain surgery or rocket science.
 


Well, there are linear electric motors.
 
Don't get smartass - the smoke here in Redding isn't thick enough that I can't see where you screwed up.

Let me point where you once again, said all moters are rotaries:
PWR4360-59B said:
All engines are rotary engines as well as all electric motors are rotary motors.
Click to expand...
Read it slowly, champ and if you need, we'll draw you a picture.

Not ALL engines are rotaries: steam engines, rocket engines and so on have no rotating parts involved in their creation of power and yet, they are called engines.

THIS was the point being made by VB and expaned on my myself and Mike.
 
Hmmmmm, can you make an engine doesn't rotate or have some rotating part or parts?

The actual answer is yes (or maybe?) but then you have real problem, transmitting that power without using rotating parts (like a drive shaft)



At some point you have to have an output in a rotating fashion.


see pulley at lower right.
 
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