US military funds pistonless disc engine

An internal combustion engine for unmanned air vehicles that uses a disc rather than pistons is undergoing bench testing. The project aims to develop a 16.3kg (36lb) powerplant that generates 77hp (57kW). Development of the nutating engine has been supported by the US Army and US Air Force Research Laboratory. A single disc wobbles as it rotates inside a housing so that its edge pitches up and down, creating voids that increase and decrease in volume as it spins. The wobble is known as nutation… (www.flightglobal.com) Más...