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The Duke Engine

Craig

Craig

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Craig

Craig

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outsydthebox said:
It is sad that they have worked for almost twenty years on this beautifully simple design. Lets see now, "patent protection" lasts for how many years?
Click to expand...
I think there is something fishy about the reason for the 20yrs. EM is designing a new motor from scratch and don't seem to be having any problems getting it certified. JMO
 
goofyone

goofyone

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I understand that it can take a good bit of time and money to develop a completely new concept through several generations of development however I also don't buy the line that it would cost too much additional cash to certify for passenger vehicles. Everything has advantages and disadvantages and while this engine does on the surface appear to have some promising advantages we are not hearing about what issues the design has.

One obvious issue I see right away are that this design has never been proven reliable over extended periods of use. They claim to have run a smaller prototype in a car for a year however they don't say how much use or maintenance it needed or what the results where after that year.

A bigger issue I see is that even according to their own chart, http://www.dukeengines.com/advantages/power-density/ with most of the numbers estimated and not verified in the real world, they don't expect this engine to produce more useful torque than the production Nissan V6 they are comparing it to while burning the same amount of fuel. They claim more power potential however they are also operating at higher RPMs which if you are generating similar torque levels will result in more peak power.

With the issues I have seen I just don't see automakers taking a chance on this technology anytime soon. They may find some customers in niche markets interested specifically in the size and weight advantages however they still need to prove the viability and performance of the engine design outside one off builds tested in a lab environment.
 
O

outsydthebox

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goofyone said:
I understand that it can take a good bit of time and money to develop a completely new concept through several generations of development however I also don't buy the line that it would cost too much additional cash to certify for passenger vehicles. Everything has advantages and disadvantages and while this engine does on the surface appear to have some promising advantages we are not hearing about what issues the design has.

One obvious issue I see right away are that this design has never been proven reliable over extended periods of use. They claim to have run a smaller prototype in a car for a year however they don't say how much use or maintenance it needed or what the results where after that year.

A bigger issue I see is that even according to their own chart, http://www.dukeengines.com/advantages/power-density/ with most of the numbers estimated and not verified in the real world, they don't expect this engine to produce more useful torque than the production Nissan V6 they are comparing it to while burning the same amount of fuel. They claim more power potential however they are also operating at higher RPMs which if you are generating similar torque levels will result in more peak power.

With the issues I have seen I just don't see automakers taking a chance on this technology anytime soon. They may find some customers in niche markets interested specifically in the size and weight advantages however they still need to prove the viability and performance of the engine design outside one off builds tested in a lab environment.
Click to expand...

I watched the video again and think you are correct about reliability. I noticed that basically, the cylinders rotate around the head...kind of like a "revolver" cylinder rotating. So sealing between the cylinders and head has got to be a real challenge! I would guess worse than a wankel!
 
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