Hypothetical Rotor Distruction?
 

We've all heard of piston engine destroy themselves when abused/pushed beyond the limits of the materials used, but what would happen to a rotary engine if the same abuse was incurred?

Piston engine throw rods, shooting pistons through heads or blocks, etc. Total distruction with parts flying around. Since a rotary spins, would it be possible for a rotor to spit parts out of the housing? I would assume that the first thing to go in a rotary that was over-reved would be the cyclodial gears. When those go, the rotor doesn't have a path to travel in the rotor housing, so I guess it would just get bound up and stop. The eccentric shaft would still be spinning, and catch on the unmovable rotor.

Just a thought of what to expect if/when FI is a reality and the engine is stretched beyond its' strength.

Apex seal issues perhaps, happens in FD's.

So, would the heat of high rpm's, or the pressure kill the seals?

Here's a thought.....

The rotors are spinning at ankle height.

Good point. Hard to work the clutch with a nub. :(

When FI is put into a rotary 90% of the time what goes first is your Apex seals. What would actually go first then you rev too high (were talking 11k+ RPMs, and i'm pretty sure the Renesis can get up to 12k, at 13k i read the resonace and other things just shakes it apart) your e-shaft bends (no center bearing between the houseings) and your rotors hit the sides of the houseing and that is bad news. I've never heard of a rotory actually "exploding" so your feet are safe.

*edit* Our engines are limited to 9,250 RPM so even if sat at that RPM all day long you wouldn't blow it.

Whew! I had the vision of two kung fu fighting rotors flying around inside the car....

Keep in mind that the rotors only spin at 1/3 the rate of the shaft.

Try going 140 mph, then shifting into 2nd or 3rd gear and see what happens :)

Right after you! :D

Good information guys. Thanks! :)

Bingo- just because the computer shuts off fuel and reduces timing at 9250rpm doesn't mean you can't bring it to 11 or 12krpm by overrevving it on a downshift.

Haha very true...but i never said that, i said you could hold it at 9k RPM and have no problem. I actually shifted from 6th (about 80mph) down to 2nd one day. Luckly i realized what i had done when the clutch was just first engaging....Gave quite the scar to my friend who was following in his FD with the wheels breaking loose and all.

Yes the rotors are only spinning at 1/3 the rate the e-shaft is, at 9kRPMs the rotors are only spinning at 3kRPMs. If you really wanna do some thinking, figure out how many times the pistons in an S2K engine change directions @ 9k RPMs and think about the stresses that it has.

There was a post very early on about an Australian dealer downshifting at the wrong time and if IIRC dropping the gearbox on the ground. Will see if I can find it.

I want to meet the first peson who successfully "throws a rotor"!

would you not just get compression lockup???

My users manual says:

driving the vehicle at high RPM's can result in damage to the engine that may not be covered under warranty. (Excessive periods of time beyond 1 minute)

but I still do it anyways > : D

I'm almost 100% positive your Apex seals would blow before you got compression lock-up. It would be similar to running 40 PSI of FI in a rotary that wasn't built for it (now assuming you have a fuel system that would handle the air flow also, or your Apex seals would die from detonation).

Someone please correct me if i'm wrong.

I know a guy runing more pressure than that. He cracks the rear side housing as the combustion cycle begins. It doesn't happen all the time. His seals are staying in. He is not runing factory seals, though. I have been over 10,000 in my first and second gen 7s and never had an engine problem. The clutch is more likely to be what grenades.

John