Radial engine

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article is about the conventional radial engine with fixed cylinders and a revolving
crankshaft. For the otherwise superficially similar engine with a rotating cylinder block, see
Rotary engine.

Radial engine timing and cam mechanism. Click here for full resolution animation.

Radial engine of a biplane

Master rod (upright), slaves and balances from a two-row, fourteen-cylinder Pratt & Whitney
Twin Wasp
Mounting of a Wright R-2600 Twin Cyclone engine on a North American B-25 Mitchell bomber,
1942
The radial engine is a reciprocating type internal combustion engine configuration in which the
cylinders "radiate" outward from a central crankcase like the spokes of a wheel. It resembles a
stylized star when viewed from the front, and is called a "star engine" (German Sternmotor,
French moteur en étoile) in some languages. The radial configuration was very commonly used
for aircraft engines before gas turbine engines became predominant.
Engine operation
Since the axes of the cylinders are coplanar, the connecting rods cannot all be directly attached to
the crankshaft unless mechanically complex forked connecting rods are used, none of which
have been successful. Instead, the pistons are connected to the crankshaft with a master-and-
articulating-rod assembly. One piston, the uppermost one in the animation, has a master rod with
a direct attachment to the crankshaft. The remaining pistons pin their connecting rods'
attachments to rings around the edge of the master rod. Extra "rows" of radial cylinders can be
added in order to increase the capacity of the engine without adding to its diameter.
Four-stroke radials have an odd number of cylinders per row, so that a consistent every-other-
piston firing order can be maintained, providing smooth operation. For example, on a five-
cylinder engine the firing order is 1, 3, 5, 2, 4 and back to cylinder 1. Moreover, this always
leaves a one-piston gap between the piston on its combustion stroke and the piston on
compression. The active stroke directly helps compress the next cylinder to fire, making the
motion more uniform. If an even number of cylinders were used, an equally timed firing cycle
would not be feasible.[1] The prototype radial Zoche aero-diesels (below) have an even number
of cylinders, either four or eight; but this is not problematic, because they are two-stroke engines,
with twice the number of power strokes as a four-stroke engine.[citation needed]
The radial engine normally uses fewer cam lobes than other types. As with most four-strokes, the
crankshaft takes two revolutions to complete the four strokes of each piston (intake,
compression, combustion, exhaust). The camshaft ring is geared to spin slower and in the
opposite direction to the crankshaft. The cam lobes are placed in two rows for the intake and
exhaust. For the example, four cam lobes serve all five cylinders, whereas 10 would be required
for a typical inline engine with the same number of cylinders and valves.[citation needed]
Most radial engines use overhead poppet valves driven by pushrods and lifters on a cam plate
which is concentric with the crankshaft, with a few smaller radials, like the Kinner B-5 and
Russian Shvetsov M-11, using individual camshafts within the crankcase for each cylinder. A
few engines utilize sleeve valves such as the 14-cylinder Bristol Hercules and the 18-cylinder
Bristol Centaurus, which are quieter and smoother running but require much tighter
manufacturing tolerances.[citation needed]
History

A Continental radial engine, 1944

A Pratt & Whitney R-1340 radial engine mounted in Sikorsky H-19 helicopter
C. M. Manly constructed a water-cooled five-cylinder radial engine in 1901, a conversion of one
of Stephen Balzer's rotary engines, for Langley's Aerodrome aircraft. Manly's engine produced
52 hp (39 kW) at 950 rpm.[2]
In 1903–1904 Jacob Ellehammer used his experience constructing motorcycles to build the
world's first air-cooled radial engine, a three-cylinder engine which he used as the basis for a
more powerful five-cylinder model in 1907. This was installed in his triplane and made a number
of short free-flight hops.[3]
Another early radial engine was the three-cylinder Anzani, originally built as a W3 "fan"
configuration, one of which powered Louis Blériot's Blériot XI across the English Channel.
Before 1914, Alessandro Anzani had developed radial engines ranging from 3 cylinders (spaced
120° apart) — early enough to have been used on a few French-built examples of the famous
Blériot XI from the original Blériot factory — to a massive 20-cylinder engine of 200 hp
(150 kW), with its cylinders arranged in four rows of five cylinders apiece.[2]
Most radial engines are air-cooled, but one of the most successful of the early radial engines was
the Salmson 9Z series of nine-cylinder water-cooled radial engines that were produced in large
numbers during the First World War. Georges Canton and Pierre Unné patented the original
engine design in 1909, offering it to the Salmson company; the engine was often known as the
Canton-Unné.[4]
From 1909 to 1919 the radial engine was overshadowed by its close relative, the rotary engine,
which differed from the so-called "stationary" radial in that the crankcase and cylinders revolved
with the propeller. Mechanically it was identical in concept to the later radial except that the
propeller was bolted to the engine, and the crankshaft to the airframe. The problem of the cooling
of the cylinders, a major factor with the early "stationary" radials, was solved by the engine
generating its own cooling airflow.[5]
In World War I many French and other Allied aircraft flew with Gnome, Le Rhône, Clerget and
Bentley rotary engines, the ultimate examples of which reached 250 hp (190 kW) although none
of those over 160 hp (120 kW) were successful. By 1917 rotary engine development was lagging
behind new inline and V type engines which by 1918 were producing as much as 400 hp
(300 kW), and were powering almost all of the new French and British combat aircraft.
Most German aircraft of the time used water-cooled inline 6-cylinder engines. Motorenfabrik
Oberursel made licensed copies of the Gnome and Le Rhône rotary powerplants, and Siemens-
Halske built their own designs, including the Siemens-Halske Sh.III eleven-cylinder rotary
engine, which was unusual for the period in being geared so that the engine spun at a higher
speed and in the opposite direction to the propeller.
By the end of the war the rotary engine had reached the limits of the design, particularly in
regard to the amount of fuel and air that could be drawn into the cylinders through the hollow
crankshaft, while advances in both metallurgy and cylinder cooling finally allowed stationary
radial engines to supersede rotary engines. In the early 1920s Le Rhône converted a number of
their rotary engines into stationary radial engines.
By 1918 the potential advantages of air-cooled radials over the water-cooled inline engine and
air-cooled rotary engine that had powered World War I aircraft were appreciated but were
unrealized. British designers had produced the ABC Dragonfly radial in 1917, but were unable to
resolve the cooling problems, and it was not until the 1920s that Bristol and Armstrong Siddeley
produced reliable air-cooled radials such as the Bristol Jupiter and the Armstrong Siddeley
Jaguar.[citation needed]
In the United States the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) noted in 1920
that air-cooled radials could offer an increase in power-to-weight ratio and reliability; by 1921
the U.S. Navy had announced it would only order aircraft fitted with air-cooled radials while
other naval air arms followed suit. Charles Lawrance's J-1 engine was developed in 1922 with
Navy funding, and using aluminium cylinders with steel liners ran for an unprecedented 300
hours, at a time when 50 hours endurance was normal. At the urging of the Army and Navy the
Wright Aeronautical Corporation bought Lawrance's company, and subsequent engines were
built under the Wright name. The radial engines gave confidence to Navy pilots performing
long-range overwater flights.[6]
Wright's 225 hp (168 kW) J-5 Whirlwind radial engine of 1925 was widely claimed as "the first
truly reliable aircraft engine".[7] Wright employed Giuseppe Mario Bellanca to design an aircraft
to showcase it, and the result was the Wright-Bellanca 1, or WB-1, which first flew later that
year. The J-5 was used on many advanced aircraft of the day, including Charles Lindbergh's
Spirit of St. Louis, in which he made the first solo trans-Atlantic flight.[8]
In 1925 the American Pratt & Whitney company was founded, competing with Wright's radial
engines. Pratt & Whitney's initial offering, the R-1340 Wasp, was test run later that year,
beginning a line of engines over the next 25 years that included the 14-cylinder, twin-row Pratt
& Whitney R-1830 Twin Wasp. More aircraft engines of this design were produced than any
other; nearly 175,000 were built.[citation needed]
In the United Kingdom the Bristol Aeroplane Company was concentrating on developing radials
such as the Jupiter, Mercury and sleeve valve Hercules radials. Germany, Russia and Japan
started with building licensed versions of the Armstrong Siddeley, Bristol, Wright, or Pratt &
Whitney radials before producing their own improved versions.[citation needed] France continued its
development of various rotary engines but also produced engines derived from Bristol designs,
especially the Jupiter.
World War II
Aircraft
125,334 of the American twin-row, 18-cylinder Pratt & Whitney R-2800 Double Wasp, with a
displacement of 2,800 in³ (46 L) and between 2,000 and 2,400 hp (1,800-1,000 kW), powered
the American single-engine Vought F4U Corsair, Grumman F6F Hellcat, Republic P-47
Thunderbolt, twin-engine Martin B-26 Marauder, Douglas A-26 Invader, Northrop P-61 Black
Widow, etc.
The American Wright Cyclones powered the American single-engine Grumman TBF Avenger,
twin-engine North American B-25 Mitchell, Douglas A-20 Havoc (not all), four-engine Boeing
B-29 Superfortress, etc.
Over 28,000 of the German 14-cylinder, two-row BMW 801, with between 1,560 and 2,000 PS
(1,540-1,970 hp, or 1,150-1,470 kW), powered the German single-seat, single-engine Focke-
Wulf Fw 190 Würger, and twin-engine Junkers Ju 88.
30,233 of the Japanese 14-cylinder, two-row Nakajima Sakae powered the Japanese single-
engine Mitsubishi A6M Zero, twin-engine Kawasaki Ki-48, Nakajima Ki-43 Hayabusa, etc.
11,903 of the Japanese 14-cylinder, supercharged, air-cooled, two-row Mitsubishi Zuisei with
between 875 and 1,080 hp (652-810 kW) powered the Japanese single-engine Mitsubishi A6M
Zero (prototype), Mitsubishi F1M, twibn-engine Kawasaki Ki-45, Mitsubishi Ki-46, etc.
Tanks
In the years leading up to World War II, as the need for armored vehicles was realized, designers
were faced with the problem of how to power the vehicles, and turned to using aircraft engines,
among them radial types. The radial aircraft engines provided greater power-to-weight ratios and
were more reliable than conventional inline vehicle engines available at the time. This reliance
had a downside though: if the engines were mounted vertically, as in the M3 Lee and M4
Sherman, their comparatively large diameter gave the tank a higher silhouette than designs using
inline engines.[citation needed]
The Continental R-670, a 7-cylinder radial aero engine which first flew in 1931, became a
widely used tank powerplant, being installed in the M1 Combat Car, M2 Light Tank, M3 Stuart,
M3 Lee, LVT-2 Water Buffalo.[citation needed]
The Guiberson T-1020, a 9-cylinder radial diesel aero engine, was used in the M1A1E1, while
the Continental R975 saw service in the M4 Sherman, M7 Priest, M18 Hellcat tank destroyer,
and the M44 self propelled howitzer.[citation needed]
Modern radials

Four-stroke aircraft radial engine Scarlett mini 5

A number of companies continue to build radials today. Vedeneyev produces the M-14P radial
of 360–450 hp (270–340 kW) as used on Yakovlev and Sukhoi aerobatic aircraft. The M-14P is
also used by builders of homebuilt aircraft, such as the Culp Special, and Culp Sopwith Pup,[9]
Pitts S12 "Monster" and the Murphy "Moose". 110 hp (82 kW) 7-cylinder and 150 hp (110 kW)
9-cylinder engines are available from Australia's Rotec Aerosport. HCI Aviation offers the R180
5-cylinder (75 hp (56 kW)) and R220 7-cylinder (110 hp (82 kW)), available "ready to fly" and
as a build-it-yourself kit. Verner Motor of the Czech Republic builds several radial engines
ranging in power from 25 to 150 hp (19 to 112 kW).[10] Miniature radial engines for model
airplanes are available from O. S. Engines, Saito Seisakusho of Japan and Shijiazhuang of China,
and Evolution (designed by Wolfgang Seidel of Germany, and made in India) and Technopower
in the USA.[citation needed]
Comparison with inline engines
A 1935 Monaco-Trossi, a rare example of automobile use.[11]
Pros
Weight: Air-cooled radial engines often weigh less than equivalent liquid-cooled inline
engines.[citation needed]
Damage tolerance: Liquid cooling systems are generally more vulnerable to battle
damage. Minor shrapnel damage easily results in a loss of coolant and consequent engine
seizure, while an air-cooled radial might be largely unaffected by minor damage.[12]
Simplicity: Radials have shorter and stiffer crankshafts, a single bank radial needing only
two crankshaft bearings as opposed to the seven required for a liquid-cooled six-cylinder
inline engine of similar stiffness.[13]
Reliability:The shorter crankshaft also produces less vibration and hence higher
reliability through reduced wear and fatigue.[citation needed]
Smooth running: It is typically easier to achieve smooth running with a radial
engine[citation needed]
Cons
Cooling: While a single bank radial permits all cylinders to be cooled equally, the same
is not true for multi-row engines where the rear cylinders can be affected by the heat
coming off the front row, and air flow being masked.[14]
Drag: Having the cylinders exposed to the airflow increases drag considerably. The
answer was the addition of specially designed cowlings with baffles to force the air
between the cylinders. The first effective drag reducing cowling that didn't impair engine
cooling was the British Townend ring or "drag ring" which formed a narrow band around
the engine covering the cylinder heads, reducing drag. The National Advisory Committee
for Aeronautics studied the problem, developing the NACA cowling which further
reduced drag and improved cooling. Nearly all aircraft radial engines since have used
NACA-type cowlings.[Note 1] Because radial engines are often wider than similar inlines or
vees, it is more difficult to design an aircraft to minimize cross sectional area, a major
cause of drag, although by the beginning of the Second World War, this disadvantage had
largely disappeared as aircraft sizes increased, and multi-row radials increased the power
produced in relation to the cross sectional area.[citation needed]
 Power: Because each cylinder on a radial engine has its own head, it is impractical to use
a multivalve valvetrain on a radial engine. Therefore, almost all radial engines use a two
valve pushrod-type valvetrain which may result in less power for a given displacement
than multi-valve inline engines. The limitations of the poppet valve were largely
overcome by the development of the sleeve valve, but at the cost of increased complexity,
maintenance costs and reduced reliability.[citation needed]
Visibility: Pilot visibility may be poorer due to the width of the engine on single-engine
aircraft, although tight fitting cowlings helped reduce this factor somewhat. Equivalent
inline engines often resulted in overly long noses, which similarly impaired visibility
directly forward.[citation needed]
Installation: It is more difficult to ensure adequate cooling air in a buried engine
installation or with pusher configurations.[citation needed]
Size: The smallest classes of radial engines, with three and five cylinders are very rough
running and unreliable when compared to equivalent four cylinder inline or horizontally
opposed engines which later became more popular for light aircraft as a result.[citation needed]
While inline liquid-cooled engines continued to be common in new designs until late in World
War II, radial engines dominated afterwards until overtaken by jet engines, with the late-war
Hawker Sea Fury and Grumman Bearcat, two of the fastest production piston-engined aircraft
ever built, using radial engines.
Other types of radial engines
Multi-row radials

The Wasp Major, a four-row radial.

Originally radial engines had one row of cylinders, but as engine sizes increased it became
necessary to add extra rows. The first radial-configuration engine known to use a twin-row
design was the 160 hp Gnôme "Double Lambda" rotary engine of 1912, designed as a 14-
cylinder twin-row version of the firm's 80 hp Lambda single-row seven-cylinder rotary, however
reliability and cooling problems limited its success.
Two-row designs began to appear in large numbers during the 1930s, when aircraft size and
weight grew to the point where single-row engines of the required power were simply too large
to be practical. Two-row designs often had cooling problems with the rear bank of cylinders, but
a variety of baffles and fins were introduced that largely eliminated these problems. The
downside was a relatively large frontal area that had to be left open to provide enough airflow,
which increased drag. This led to significant arguments in the industry in the late 1930s about the
possibility of using radials for high-speed aircraft like modern fighters.[citation needed]
The solution was introduced with the BMW 801 14-cylinder twin-row radial. Kurt Tank
designed a new cooling system for this engine that used a high-speed fan to blow compressed air
into channels that carry air to the middle of the banks, where a series of baffles directed the air
over all of the cylinders. This allowed the cowling to be tightly fitted around the engine, reducing
drag, while still providing (after a number of experiments and modifications) enough cooling air
to the rear. This basic concept was soon copied by many other manufacturers, and many late-
WWII aircraft returned to the radial design as newer and much larger designs began to be
introduced.[citation needed] Examples include the Bristol Centaurus on the Hawker Sea Fury, and the
Shvetsov ASh-82 in the Lavochkin La-7.[citation needed]
For even greater power, adding further rows was not considered viable due to the difficulty of
providing the required airflow to the rear banks. Larger engines were designed, mostly using
water cooling although this greatly increased complexity and eliminated some of the advantages
of the radial air-cooled design. One example of this concept is the BMW 803, which never
entered service.[citation needed]
A major study[which?] into the airflow around radials using wind tunnels and other systems was
carried out in the US, and demonstrated that ample airflow was available with careful design.
This led to the R-4360, which has 28 cylinders arranged in a 4 row corncob configuration. The
R-4360 saw service on large American aircraft in the post-World War II period. The US and
Soviet Union continued experiments with larger radials, but the UK abandoned such designs in
favour of newer versions of the Centaurus and rapid movement to the use of turboprops, which
easily produced more power than radials without the weight or complexity.[citation needed]
Large radials continued to be built for other uses, although they are no longer common. An
example is the 5-ton Zvezda M503 diesel engine with 42 cylinders in 6 rows of 7, displacing
143.6 litres (8,760 cu in) and producing 3,942 hp (2,940 kW). Three of these were used on the
fast Osa class missile boats.[citation needed]
Diesel radials

Packard DR-980 diesel radial aircraft engine.

A Nordberg Manufacturing Company two-stroke diesel radial engine for power generation and
pump drive purposes.
While most radial engines have been produced for gasoline, there have been diesel radial
engines. Two major advantages favour diesel engines — lower fuel consumption and reduced
fire risk.[citation needed]
Packard
Packard designed and built a 9-cylinder 980 cubic inch (16,000 cm3) displacement diesel radial
aircraft engine, the 225 horsepower (168 kW) DR-980, in 1928. On 28 May 1931, a DR-980
powered Bellanca CH-300, with 481 gallons of fuel, piloted by Walter Edwin Lees and Frederick
Brossy set a record for staying aloft for 84 hours and 32 minutes without being refueled.[17] This
record stood for 55 years until broken by the Rutan Voyager.[18]
Bristol
The experimental Bristol Phoenix of 1928–1932 was successfully flight tested in a Westland
Wapiti and set altitude records in 1934 that lasted until World War II.[citation needed]
Clerget
In 1932 the French company Clerget developed the 14D, a 14-cylinder two-stroke diesel radial
engine. After a series of improvements, in 1938 the 14F2 model produced 520 hp (390 kW) at
1910 rpm cruise power, with a power-to-weight ratio near that of contemporary gasoline engines
and a specific fuel consumption of roughly 80% that for an equivalent gasoline engine. During
WWII the research continued, but no mass-production occurred because of the Nazi occupation.
By 1943 the engine had grown to produce over 1,000 hp (750 kW) with a turbocharger. After the
war, the Clerget company was integrated in the SNECMA company and had plans for a 32-
cylinder diesel engine of 4,000 hp (3,000 kW), but in 1947 the company abandoned piston
engine development in favour of the emerging turbine engines.[citation needed]
Nordberg
The Nordberg Manufacturing Company of the United States developed and produced a series of
large two-stroke radial diesel engines from the late 1940s for electrical production, primarily at
aluminium smelters and for pumping water. They differed from most radials in that they had an
even number of cylinders in a single bank (or row) and an unusual double master connecting rod.
Variants were built that could be run on either diesel oil or gasoline or mixtures of both. A
number of powerhouse installations utilising large numbers of these engines were made in the
U.S.[19]
EMD
Electro-Motive Diesel (EMD) built the "pancake" engines 16-184 and 16-338 for marine use.[20]
Compressed air radial engines
A number of radial motors operating on compressed air have been designed, mostly for use in
model airplanes and in gas compressors.[21]
Model radial engines
A number of multi-cylinder 4-stroke model engines have been commercially available in a radial
configuration, beginning with the Japanese O.S. Max firm's FR5-300 five-cylinder, 3.0 cu.in.
(50 cm3) displacement "Sirius" radial in 1986. The American "Technopower" firm had made
smaller-displacement five- and seven-cylinder model radial engines as early as 1976, but the OS
firm's engine was the first mass-produced radial engine design in aeromodelling history. The
rival Saito Seisakusho firm in Japan has since produced a similarly sized five-cylinder radial
four-stroke model engine of their own as a direct rival to the OS design, with Saito also creating
a trio of three-cylinder radial engines ranging from 0.90 cu.in. (15 cm3) to 4.50 cu.in. (75 cm3) in
displacement, also all now available in spark-ignition format up to 84 cm3 displacement for use
with gasoline.[citation needed] The German Seidel firm formerly made both seven- and nine-cylinder
"large" (starting at 35 cm3 displacement) radio control model radial engines, mostly for glow
plug ignition, with an experimental fourteen-cylinder twin-row radial being tried out - the
American Evolution firm now sells the Seidel-designed radials, with their manufacturing being
done in India.[citation needed]