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Hat Tip to stanstocker - I'm going to call it a "Crankless Internal Rotating Cylinder Engine" or CIRCE - the Greek goddess of magic.

I'm busy with the build notes and updating the drawings and will make a video - a few more days yet.

I will migrate it to Finished Projects & the Download section when I get there.
CirceX.jpg

A cross section view I did for the build notes today.

Regards, Ken
 
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The cross-section has gotten me a little closer to understanding, but I think I'm going to need the notes as well - still trying to wrap my head around how you have done the intake and exhaust!
 
Airflow Diagram:

This is how the inlet / exhaust is commutated by the collector ring and distributor axle :-
CIRCEflow.jpg


The annulus grooves in the distributor axle
axle14.jpg


The “blind” zones (there is another on the opposite side) between grooves transits past the inlet exhaust ports when the cylinder is vertical – commutating the inlet to exhaust and vice versa at the transition.

Note: In the main cross section drawing the axles is shown out of position by 90° to illustrate the porting rather than physical orientation – FYI to avoid confusion.
 
Thanks, that helps. And ... I feel foolish for asking, but this is a steam engine, right? I had been trying to puzzle it out as an IC engine, which may have been where I was having a wee bit of trouble.

Regardless of IC or steam, your engineering and execution are both superb - a wonderfully creative design. I can hardly wait to see the video!
 
Yessir - steam - but I only intend to run it on compressed air - if you want to run it on steam you will have to make the piston ring from CI.
 
Attached Zip file of MsWord *.docx build notes and AutoCad *.dwg file.

I had to compress the images a bit to get it under the attachment limit.

Here's the video link

I will post this under finished projects and put the plans in the download section for anyone who's interested.

Regards, Ken
 

Attachments

  • CIRCE.zip
    5.8 MB
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Cool sounding (and looking) engine!

Question: I see the bearings at the lower left and right on which the flywheel sits. I *think* I am also seeing (in the video and in one of the diagrams above) a pair of bearings on either side of the flywheel at the bottom center, angled to match the rim of the flywheel -- I'm thinking this is what keeps the flywheel securely in place, not able to lift off of the other bearings. Is that right?
 
Correct - the wheel sits in a cradle of 2 pairs of ball bearings (@±45° from wheel centre) - a further 2 ball bearings hold it down (in the middle of the "cradle") and keep it central by running against the 45° chamfers. These are mounted on eccentric adjusters which allow you to set the clearance (to near zero) and if required adjust the position of the wheel sideways as well - if your centrality/alignment isn't spot on.
This is the "cradle":-
flywheel12.jpg

And this the adjustable bearing:-
angles3.jpg

This introduces a technical inaccuracy as the bearing also needs to be conical so that the surface speeds match - (see revised cross section in earlier post with optional conical tyre) - but ignoring this means there is some crosswise slippage - but it doesn't seem to create any problems and it keeps things simple (or at least simpler).
Prior post contains the provisional AutoCad *.dwg drawing and the MsWord *.docx build notes in a *.zip compressed file.
Download and unzip for more info.
I will place all the plans in the uploads section in AutoCad *.dwg, *.dxf & *.pdf over the weekend.
Regards, Ken
 
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O.K. I've uploaded all the files into the downloads section and posted a new thread in finished projects.
Any further questions post them there.
Regards, Ken
 
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Awesome! Nice project Ken. With compliment!
 

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