Brians Radial Engine

[Brian Rupnow]

I think the time has come!!! I have built 5 single and double cyl. engines, with and without valves. Now for something a bit more challenging.--I really like the Hula engine as designed by Philip Duclos. I think perhaps I will design and build something similar. Follow along if you like. This should be very interesting. Please note that I have never seen the plans for this engine.---only the YouTube video of it running. All designwork you will see on this build originates with me. It is not my intent to rip off nor plagerize someone elses engineering work.----This solid model is my "begining concept"---It will change as I go along and get deeper into it.--- Brian

 

[Krown Kustoms]

Nice, Im on the wagon.
-B-

 

[black85vette]

Arranging all the connecting rods on the crank would drive me crazy. Looks like a fun one.

So what contraption are you going to drive with this one?? ???

 

[BAH101]

Hi Brian, its gonna look nice with all the rest of your engines. On a IC radial, they use a Master Rod, similar to the pic (I hope gets inserted). This is a 7 cylinder master, but I think you will understand where I am coming from.

 

[Brian Rupnow]

Arranging all the connecting rods on the crank would drive me crazy. Looks like a fun one.

So what contraption are you going to drive with this one?? ???

Jeez----Give me a break!!! It will be enough of a challenge to make this work without worying about what to drive with it. Besides---It will be kinda like the beam engine. There will be enough monkey motion going on with just the operation of the engine.---Its not going to need to run anything else.

 

[Brian Rupnow]

Should ought to look something like this when it runs----

 

[Cedge]

Brian
That is among the most mesmerising engines you'll ever watch run. The cylinder motion is almost organic. The Duclos version has 6 cylinders and is a messy little monster, slinging oil to all points of the compass. You might find you want to give the exhaust ports a bit of directional assistance....

Steve
The guy with a Dalmatian spotted T-shirt ala Duclos.....(grin)

 

[lathe nut]

Brain if you are going to do that I know its a done deal in your mind,you have built all the parts and see it running all in the minds eye, how about if you rest someday can I borrow your brain, you have enough projects to keep all of going for several years, so looking forward to this one, thanks again for sharing, Lahte Nut

 

[Cliff]

Hey Brian looks like a fantastic build sounds exciting I will be following along watch a great build. Cliff

 

[Brian Rupnow]

All of the cylinders, pistons and connecting rods are identical.--However, the main frame which holds everything does get pretty strange---

 

[black85vette]

I have no idea if it would work for a wobbler configuration, but could you use a plate for all the pistons to connect to on the same geometric plane like the radial in this picture?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radial_engine

 

[kvom]

So to keep the connecting rods identical you need to offset each cylinder.

 

[Brian Rupnow]

Okay---This is the configuration using a seperate hub which all the con-rods connect to. The cylinders are not offset, and the cylinders are all fixed position with one "master rod" attached rigidly to the conrod hub. It works--I have "proven" that with the attached animation. Right now I'm going bananas trying to see if this is adaptable to oscillating cylinders. It is bending my head quite a bit trying to figure this out. If I can use this method with oscillating cylinders, I would prefer to. Its just that I've never actually seen it done this way with oscillating cylinders. The beauty of oscillating cylinders is that there is no valve train to be concerned with, as the oscillating action of the cylinders provides the valving.

 

[putputman]

kvom, this is kind of an ugly version of Brian's stepped concept. It does work well.
To eliminate all the external plumbing required to run several cylinders, I machined a labyrinth of grooves on the back side of the frame and then sandwinched them with a back plate.
Also made the cylinders double acting by capping the open end.

 

[Brian Rupnow]

Damn!!!--I think I can make this work---

 

[black85vette]

th_wav woohoo1

Looks great.

 

[Brian Rupnow]

Can it really be this easy??? Everything SEEMS to work okay in the solid model. I may be all wet here, but I guess the only way to tell will be to go ahead and build it.

View attachment ASSY-BRIAN RADIAL NEW TRY.PDF

 

[Brian Rupnow]

And Cedge---Thanks a million for the phonecall. That was very thoughtfull of you. like I said---If I get this thing all built and it doesn't work, I may call you back to get help scraping the egg off my face!!!---Brian

 

[Brian Rupnow]

This seems to be the most complex part, so I will start with it. Don't copy this, as it will probably have errors and changes in it as I go along. I will post a revised and corrected drawing when the engine is running properly. I just wanted to give you a preview of what I will be working on as we go along here.

View attachment MAIN SUPPORT FRAME-RADIAL-NEW TRY.PDF

 

[eskimobob]

Looking forward to following ths :bow: