How the Duke Engines Increases the Efficiency of the Internal Combustion Engine

They been trying to build this engine for a long, long, long time....still no pudding...

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

Sounds great, like they all do. But what are the chances of it replacing the standard IC engine? Very small to none, I would say. I wonder if the major engine manufacturers got so burned with the Wankel and Ralph Sarich's engines that the have given up looking at alternatives.

Another company trying to reinvent the wheel. I still see a big honking counter-weight on the crank shaft, and I see their concept as trying to mimic the radial engine(pre-turbine engines). At least with the radial engines you have 1 master rod, and if your geometry is correct, you don't need 10 pounds(+) of counter-weight on the crankshaft. And your not limited to the amount of cylinders, even or odd numbers of cylinders. the only draw back with radial engines is packaging the unit into a size that fits under the hood.

I'm all for turbo-electric. We know GMC and Chrysler tried turbines and not successful. But the technology has came a long ways since then.

I am not following the overly complex concept in general. Axial piston hydraulic pumps and motors have been around for decades and have proven that the basic concept of a high power high RPM axial piston based power is more than possible and reliable.

What I don't get is why so few are looking at taking that simple and well built design and just converting it over to have a set of valves on each cylinder further eliminating the need for the rotating barrel and sliding valve system which to be honest in every prototype engine using combustion gas expansion as its driving fluid ever attempted has proven to be the #1 down fall to the design.

A self-propelled (supposedly) version of the old swash-plate GM Fridigaire A/C compressors!

Learn proper capitalization, especially when not to use it.