Last login: 4 hours agoBrian is a 60 year old married guy from Hitchin, England, UK.
I like looking on the bright side. I relate very much to the Mediterranean extended-family, take-it-slow, money-isn't-everything outlook on life. I'm not a great cook but I like cooking, especially Mediterranean food. I'm interested in environmental issues. My main hobby is flying (on a PC simulator).
The people I admire most are those who see no end to pain, illness, grief or disability and who still retain a sense of humour, people who spend time making life better for others in any way, and people with toxic parents who have "broken the chain" in bringing up their own children.
If you like my pages you will probably also enjoy my web site - do visit!
You are looking at an extraordinary new engine, developed by Revetec in Australia, which doubles everything you want (like fuel economy) and halves everything you don't (like weight). It has pistons like a normal engine; what's missing is a conventional crankshaft. Currently it runs on petrol (gas), in future it may also run on diesel and other petrol substitutes.
Click the picture above for one of many articles on this engine, and click the main picture below for a good description of how the engine works.
It might help to know that the fearsome-sounding "trilobate cams" are somewhat triangular shapes with the points rounded and the sides squashed inwards. There are two of these cams rotating in opposite directions, with each piston pushing a bearing that rides down into the "valleys" that open up, and is then pushed up again as the cams come back into line. The shape of the cams can be tweaked to give different performance characteristics.
The "spreading" action (like forcing open a pair of scissors) creates good torque for much more of the piston's descent than is the case for a conventional piston engine, where the descent turns a crank - for details, see here. This difference is the key to this engine's improved performance.
That didn't help? Oh well, click the picture below for a better description.
And in case you think this new development isn't going to have a major impact on the automotive industry, check out these links for the world's reaction so far.
I like them
Jun 27, 2008 9:36am
It might help to know that the fearsome-sounding "trilobate cams" are somewhat triangular shapes with the points rounded and the sides squashed inwards. There are two of these cams rotating in opposite directions, with each piston pushing a bearing that rides down into the "valleys" that open up, and is then pushed up again as the cams come back into line. The shape of the cams can be tweaked to give different performance characteristics.
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