303

AUTOMOBILE DIVISION
TRIBQLQGY GROUP

Third Paper

LUBRICANT D
ENT FO
WAN KEL-TYPE ROTARY ENG INE
D. A. Beavis,

CEng, MIMechE*

A. Towle, AJSc(Eng), CEng, FIMechEt

A review has been made of the factors which may influence the development of lubricants suitable for the
Wankel-type engines.
The lubricant requirements of the Audi-NSU R080 engine are discussed in comparison with the performance
level of lubricants currently in use with conventional reciprocating piston engines.
In Europe, high-speed pre-ignition has been one of the main causes for concern, but at the other end of the
performance scale, cold wear of cast-iron apex seals under stop and go driving conditions, created conflicting
performance requirements for the lubricant under development.
A compromise lubricant formulation has given complete freedom from pre-ignition and a marked decrease in
the cold wear rates, whilst maintaining the other desirable properties necessary for satisfactory Wankelengine performance.

13 INTRODUCTION

WORLD-WIDE
DISCUSSIONS concerning the possibility of
the Wankel engines becoming a real challenge to the
reciprocating-piston engine have continued ever since the
first publications about the Wankel engine.
The present energy crisis has brought disturbing
conditions to the world of technology, and it would be
imprudent and perhaps misleading to enter into the pros
and cons of the Wankel-type engine. At this time the
Wankel engine is going through a period of rapid and
turbulent development concerning fuel economy, durability, exhaust-emission control, production costs and
service requirements.
The oil industry in general, and the additive manufacturers in particular, may, however, be able to provide
the link which will assist in the final success of the Wankel
engine.
From a lubrication point of view, the Wankel engine
stands in a unique position. On the one hand, lubricants
have been developed to meet the specific requirements of
the reciprocating-piston engine. These requirements are
not necessarily those of the Wankel engine. On the other
hand, lubricant technology is now available which makes
possible the formulation of oils to meet the Wankelenginerequirements. It is the correct use of this technology
which forms the challenge to those concerned, whilst
there is some evidence to show that the separate lubrication
requirements of the Wankel and reciprocating-piston
engines lie on converging paths.
The M S . of this paper was received at the Institution on 29th
January 1974 and acceptedfor publica5ion on 10th April 1974. 34
* Lubvizol International Laboratories, The Kmowle, Hazelwood,
nufield, Derby.
t Lubrizol Limited, Elliott House, Allington Street, London S. W.I.
@ IMechE 1974

This paper will show some aspects of the lubricant

development work which has been done for the European Wankel engine.

14 BASIC LUBRICANT REQUIREMENT

Some design considerations of the KKM 612 Wankel

engine in the NSU Ro8Q car have a direct bearing on the

lubricant performance required. These may be summarized as follows.
(1) Blowby gases from the combustion space, which
leak past the rotor-side gas seals, are fed back to the
carburettor intake from the space between the gas seals
and the inner oil-seal ring. The main charge of engine
oil, therefore, is not contaminated with combustion
products.
(2) Oil consumption is controlled by the metering
pump which feeds lubricants into the fuel system
adjacent to the carburettor. Very little, if any, oil is lost
by othcr means, provided that the other seals are
satisfactory and the appropriate viscosity grade is used.
Regular changes of oil are no longer required.
(3) Oil circulation through the rotors is the main
methad of controlling rotor temperatures. Possibilities
exist for modifying the heat flow from the rotor
combustion space in order to achieve optimum combustion temperature.
(4) Engine oil from the main pump is used as the
hydraulic medium in the transmission torque converter.
The torque converter can assist as an oil cooler at high
speed and maximum power when torque conversion is
zero. At lower speeds within the torque-conversion
Proc lnstn M e c h Engrs Vol 188 14/74

304

D . A. BEAVIS AND A. TOWLE

range, engine power is lower or only sustained for brief

intervals so that heat input to the oil directly from the
cngine is reduced considerably.
These operating conditions are somewhat different from
those of the conventional piston engine, and the basic
lubricant requirements can be summarized as follows.
(The other aspects of seal lubrication and lubricantinduced pre-ignition will be considered separately.)
(I) Cleanliness of the combustion chamber is
necessary in order to prevent seal sticking and the
build-up of deposits which could lead to carbon cutting
of the trochoid surface.
(2) Oxidation inhibition is required to combat the
effect of localized high temperatures within the rotors.
(3) Extreme-pressure performance requirements are
minimal since there are no highly stressed components
such as with conventional valve-train systems, but the
retention of low-friction properties is desirable.

15 ANTI-WEAR REQUIREMENTS FOR

A P E X SEAL AND TROCHOID SURFACE:
DEVELOPMENT P R O G R E S S

The first commercially available Wankel-engined car

appeared in 1965. This was the two-seater N S U Spider
which was equipped with a single-rotor engine giving a
capacity of 500cm3 for each of the three combustion
chambers, which was comparable to a 1000 cm3 four-stroke
reciprocating-piston engine. Carbon seals and a chromiumplated trochoid were used.
I n order to overcome the inherent fragility of carbon
seals, it was desirable to use metallic apex seals which
were knock-resistant to the wide variety of fuel qualities
available in different countries in the world.
I n conjunction with metallic apex seals, an alternative
material for the trochoid surface had to be developed. The
process finally adopted for the production version of the
Ro8O (KKM 612) was the now well known Elnisil system.
This comprises an electric-deposited nickel matrix into
which silicon-carbide particles are dispersed. D r Froede
(14)* quotes the Elnisil process as being superior to
chromium with respect to quality, reliability and cost.
Thc apex-seal material selected was a cast-iron piston-ring
alloy, and this combination went into production for the
Ro80 car in October 1967.
Lubricants were still not considered in detail, and
typical SAE 30 or 10W/30 and 20W/50 oils generally were
recommended
Under certain conditions of predominantly stop and go
driving, it was found that the cast-iron apex seals were
prone to accelerated wear rates, especially as the result of
low coolant temperatures. Development commenced on
the use of Ferrotic (sintered iron and titanium alloy) for
the centre section of the apex seal. During 1971 production
commenced; a Ferrotic centre section with cast-iron
corner pieces was used.

Wankel-engine oil specification. Although Ro8O engines

have been installed recently at the Lubrizol Laboratory,
England, all the significant lubricant engine tests in the
above programme have been carried out at an independent
laboratory using the Audi NSU test procedures.
One theory put forward for the accelerated wear of the
all-cast-iron apex seals concerned the attack by acidic
products on the Elnisil nickel matrix, which led to the
exposure of the silicon-carbide particles which then acted
as an abrasive on the cast-iron seals.
This theory has been substantiated to the extent that a
highly alkaline oil additive reduced the seal wear to oneseventieth of what it had been and the Elnisil wear to oneseventh.
The elimination of sulphur from the fuel had a marked
effect on wear, as did the use of lead-free fuel. Unleaded
gasoline was found to be beneficial, not necessarily as a
result of the elimination of the lead but rather because of
the absence of the halogen scavengers which are present
in leaded gasoline to prevent heavy lead deposits. Lead
itself can be an excellent lubricant, and valve-seat
recession in conventional engines is one of the problems
associated with its removal. I n the Wankel engine,
however, with its special materials the disadvantage of the
acidic reaction due to the halogen scavengers appears to
outweigh any possible lubrication advantages due to the
presence of lead.
Considerable work has been carried out on the development of lubricating-oil formulations in an attempt to
produce acceptable wear values for the Elnisil/cast-iron
combination. This work was initiated in the early stages in
order to make the desirable return to much cheaper castiron seals possible.
Whilst a satisfactory solution to the wear problem only
was achieved with the highly basic lubricant formulation,
the pre-ignition and plug-fouling tendencies were intolerable, and further testing of this formulation was
abandoned.
High-speed pre-ignition became a serious problem in
Germany where driving speeds were probably higher than
anywhere else in the world. Until the recent fuel crisis, it
was normal for high-powered vehicles to be driven at
near their maximum speed on the autobahns when conditions permitted, and journeys of several hundred miles
could be covered at average speeds of 90-100 mile/h. When
these conditions were mixed with congested city driving
when deposits tend to build up, the conditions for highspeed pre-ignition could easily be met.
Although the metallic apex seals could withstand
abnormal combustion conditions without breaking up,
the resulting high trochoid and end-plate temperatures
sometimes led to severe distortion and eventual mechanical
failure of the complete cngine.
During the development period of the lubricants, it
became evident that with cast-iron apex seals pre-ignition
was of greater importance than cold wear. As a result, new
targets for lubricant development were established in the
following order of priority:
(1) freedom from pre-ignition;

16 LUBRICANT DEVELOPMENT

I n 1971 a co-operative programme was set up to develop a

reference lubricant which could form the basis for a

References are given in Appendix 4.

Proc lnstn Mech Engrs Vol 188 14/74

(2) overall engine cleanliness and acceptable wear in

tests other than the cold-wear test;
(3) cold wear for reference purposes with cast-iron apex
seals.
0 IMechE 1974

SOME ASPECTS OF THE LUBRICATION OF WANKEL-TYPE ROTARY ENGINES

17 DETAILS O F T H E LUBRICANT
DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME

305

Despite the shifting priorities and the mechanical development which has taken place during the course of the
lubricant evaluation, we feel it right to give some details of
the considerable work which went into the attempt to meet
the cold-wear requirements with the cast-iron apex seals
while avoiding pre-ignition. We have to admit that this
target was not achieved.

development projects of this type, but it is considered

important to present some of the data obtained.
Nearly 50 different lubricant formulations were prepared and evaluated during the course of the development,
but only those oils which showed significant trends at the
time will be considered in some detail.
I n order to appreciate some of the problems involved,
it may be appropriate to explain the constituents of a
typical engine oil additive system. Such additives can
comprise the following.

17.1 Cold-wear tests

Simulation of the stop and go seal-wear problem, which
was detected in early customer service, was made possible
by means of a rig test devised to cycle the engine between
cooling-water temperature limits of 30 and 50C (Fig. 15).
The engine is installed complete with the torque
converter and transmission. The transmission output is
locked, and the engine is loaded against the torque
converter. Coolant temperature i s allowed to rise to 50C
at an engine speed of 2000rev/min. The engine is then
stopped until the coolant temperature falls to 30C. Wear
of the seals and trochoid is measured after 10 h of actual
running time, i.e. not inclusive of standing time,
As stated previously, this test procedure was used to
evaluate many lubricants in conjunction with cast-iron
apex seals. The fact that this requirement is obsolete
merely shows one of the disadvantages of long-term

(1) Detergent compounds based on alkaline metals

such as calcium, barium, lithium and magnesium.
These are burnt in the combustion chamber and
produce complicated oxides known as metallic ash. The
sulphated-ash levels of these metals are generally considered to give more consistent analytical results, and
this method of reporting the ash level has been everywhere adopted.
(2) Dispersants, whose function is to coat the particles
of fuel-combustion products, etc. to prevent the
coagulation of the particles into sludge-forming
materials. Dispersants are generally ashless materials
of metal-free organic components, although some of the
ash-containing detergents have similar characteristics.
(3) Antioxidants and anti-wear additives are conveniently combined in zinc diary1 dithiophosphates and
zinc dialkyl dithiophosphates (z.d.d.p.). Anti-oxidant

Fig. 15. Cold-wear test rig

@ IMechE 1974

Proc lnstn Mech Engrs Vol 188 14/74

D. A. BEAVIS AND A. TOWLE

306

TBN Ash

Trochoid

Apex Seal

G M APPROVE

Oil viscosity: SAE 20W/20 (except oil No. 5).

Fig. 46. Lubricant evaluations in NSU cold-wear tests

and dispersancy performance can also be obtained with

non-metallic organic components. Zinc from 2.d.d.p.
is also a minor contributor to the ash level.
(4) Viscosity-index improvers (V.I. improvers). These
are polymeric materials which provide the multigrade
performance of a lubricant and may also provide dispersant properties.
(5) Other less important constituents in this context
include pour-point depressants (to prevent solidifying
of the lubricant at low temperatures), anti-foaming
agents and rust inhibitors.
Initial tests evaluated an SAE 20 oil containing additives
which provided a wide range of treatment performance.
These included : an API (American Petroleum Institute)
performance classification SE additive of moderate ash
and t.b.n. (total base number); a Series 3 diesel-engine
lubricant treatment of somewhat higher ash and t.b.n.;
an additive to marine cylinder lubricants which provides
high t.b.n. and correspondingly high ash; and a.t.f.
(automatic transmission fluid) additives, either in the
SAE 20 base oil or as a normal a.t.f.
Fig. 16 (IS), oils 1-4, shows the reduction in wear
obtained by the progressive increase in the t.b.n. This
effect is analogous to marine cylinder lubricants where
high t.b.n. additives are used to overcome corrosive wear.
The most marked reduction in wear was achieved with
oil 4, in which a typical marine cylinder oil additive was
used at a relatively high t.b.n. value.
The comparison between the General Motors approved
a.t.f. (DEXRON
ATF) and the SAE 20 base oil treated with
the same performance additive suggested that wear was
sensitive to lubricant viscosity and, therefore, to oil-film
thickness. I n fact, the SAE 20 oil with the DEXRON
additive was more effective in preventing wear than the
Series 3 oil of lower t.b.n. On the other hand, the earlier
General Motors a.t.f. additive (Type A, suffix A) compared favourably with the DEXRON
additive of higher
t.b.n. and was better than the Series 3 additive of similar
t.b.n., which indicated that t.b.n. was not the only important factor in oils of equivalent viscosity.
Proc lnstn M e c h Engrs Vol 188 14/74

It must be noted that a marked increase in oil consumption had been recorded with an a.t.f., both in rig
tests and on the road.
Field trials on other additive systems were proceeding
a t the same time as the cold-wear tests. It became evident
from this field experience that pre-ignition tendencies
could occur with lubricants containing as little as 0.44
per cent by weight of sulphated ash.
At present, the oil formulation which satisfies the preignition test (explained later) and at the same time gives
the best cold-wear performance contains magnesium at a
total sulphated-ash level of 0.4 per cent by weight.
In terms of direct comparison with an SAE 20W/20 oil,
meeting the API performance classification SE with
5.2 t.b.n. and 0.8 per cent by weight of ash, wear rates of
cast-iron seais were reduced by 40-50 per cent and of
Elnisil coatings by 75-79 per cent (Fig. 17).
Prc-ignition could nor: be induced in the severe rig test
with the prime candidate oil, whereas the API SE oil
(typical of current brand-name automotive lubricants)
had caused pre-ignition in both the rig test and service.
Some measure of success may, therefore, be claimed

0 100

Cast-iron seals

Elnisil coating

SE oil

Y,

5 80
Q)

.->
c

c1

-G

60

Prime
candidate
\

L
W
W

40

01

c
Q)
u

20

0
Fig. 17. NSU cold-wear test
@ IMechE 1974

SOME ASPECTS OF THE LUBRICATION OF WANKEL-TYPE ROTARY ENGINES

Table 11

although the reduction in wear was not as good as had

been anticipated and the targets were not achieved.

Brake

17.2 Pre-ignition tests

A test schedule was developed which was based on
experience gained from similar reciprocating-pistonengine programmes in which a deposit build-up phase was
run at light load with artificially increased oil supply to
the trochoid. This was achieved by supplying the engine
with a general oil/fuel ratio of 1/135 and then increasing
the oil supply to the carburettor of the drive-end trochoid
only from the metering pump to give an oil/fuel ratio of
1/45.
A subsequent high-speed, full-load run evaluated the
tendency to pre-ignition which was indicated by a sudden
rise in the trochoid temperature. For this purpose a
thermocouple was inserted to within 1 mm of the trochoid
surface, i.e. just beneath the Elnisil coating and 57 mm
after the centre-line of the sparking-plug aperture in the
direction of the rotor movement. This location corresponded to the position of maximum temperatures in
the trochoid. During normal running, the trochoid
temperature reached approximately 180-190C, but when
pre-ignition occurred this temperature rose rapidly to
230C at which point the engine shut down automatically.
A test cycle comprised the programme shown in Table
11.
A minimum of 60 cycles without pre-ignition was considered desirable. When this was not achieved, repeat tests
were carried out and the number of cycles to pre-ignition
was recorded.
Neither the cold-wear test nor the pre-ignition test
requirements could be considered in isolation as far as the
lubricant development is concerned, since it was established right at the beginning of the programme that the
two requirements were in conflict.
Previous work on pre-ignition testing in conventional
piston engines had shown the relation between calciumand magnesium-based additive systems (Fig. 18). At the
same sulphated-ash levels, magnesium-based systems
were less prone to destructive pre-ignition; and when it
became evident that a certain amount of ash was necessary
to reduce the cold-wear rates, a magnesium additive was
the obvious choice. It is perhaps not coincidental that
other laboratories have come to a similar conclusion.
The rig-test series of experimental treatments included
oils with sulphated-ash levels ranging from zero to 0.4
per cent by weight. Some of the oils with lower ash levels,
such as oils 8 and 9 of Fig. 16, while showing promising
wear levels, exhibited plug-fouling tendencies which
prevented the pre-ignition test from being completed. An
analysis of the pre-ignition-test results established that :
oils containing 0.5 per cent by weight of sulphated ash
comprised of zinc from 2.d.d.p. with other metallic
additives failed owing to either early plug fouling or
pre-ignition ;
low levels of 2.d.d.p. (approximately 0.5 per cent by
weight) without other metallic additives met the preignition-test requirements at a total sulphated-ash
content of 0.2 per cent by weight.
additives providing 0.4 per cent by weight of sulphated
ash as magnesium, calcium or barium were free from
pre-ignition ;
@ IMechE 1974

307

power

I I
lmin
30min
2h

5500
Stop
3500

35
I1 Fullload
-

Coolant
Oil
outlet
temperature,
temperature,
"C
"C
82&2

98&3

an additive providing 0.4 per cent by weight of sulphated

ash as magnesium gave freedom from pre-ignition and
was the best compromise for cold wear.
17.3 Endurance and cleanliness tests
As mentioned previously, the target for cold-wear performance with cast-iron apex seals was relaxed, following
the unsuccessful attempt to develop a lubricant able to
meet both the cold-wear and pre-ignition-test requirements.
During that phase of seal-material and lubricant
testing, little importance was placed on higher temperature endurance and cleanliness testing, since earlier
results had shown that there were no significant problems
under that type of operation when high-quality lubricants
were used. This was substantiated by an 800 h rig test,
representing 110 000 km of road service, using an ashless
compound containing phosphorus as a general anti-wear
agent. The result showed that both the anti-wear properties
and cleanliness were adequate. Later experimental
lubricants were formulated to be even cleaner than the
early ashless formulations.
The use of Ferrotic material for the apex seals, whilst
overcoming the problem of cold wear, has made wear of
the Elnisil coating more significant.
Selection of the prime candidate lubricant formulation
from a final list of four possibilities was made in a hybrid
test which consisted in running a cold-wear test in an
Ro80 engine equipped with the following seal materials :
(1) Drive-end rotor with full-width apex seals in
IKA.S9 cast iron.
(2) Free-end rotor with standard Ferrotic apex seals
and IKA.S9 corner seals.

01
0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0

1.2

1.4

16

1.8

Sulphated-ash content of oil, per cent by weight

Fig. 18. Deposit-induced runaway surface ignition

in gasoline engines
Proc lnstn Mech EnQrsVol 188 14/74

308

D.A. BEAVIS AND A. TOWLE

The IKA.S9 cast-iron seals cause less Elnisil wear than

the Ferrotic seals, although the IKA.S9 seals themselves
showed only slightly higher wear than the standard IKA.3
material.
17.4 180 h endurance tests
The original 100 h endurance test comprising:
4 h brcak-in a t 4000 rev/min and 40 per cent load

5 min, no load at 2000 rev/min

>,8 h
15 min, full load at 6000 rev/min
5 min, no load at 2000 rev/min
),,h
15 min, full load at 6500 rev/min
with oil temperature of approximately 130C was not used
extensively during the early part of the lubricant test
programme, which was concerned with the cold-wear
problem of cast-iron apex seals and the probability of preignition.
A variation of the original endurance test has been
developed in which the Ro8O engine is run for 100 h, this
comprising 1000 cycles each of 3 min at 6000 rev/min and
full load and 3 min at 2000 rev/min with no load. The
water outlet temperature is 80C and the sump-oil
temperature 135-140C.
Apart from the assessment of seal and Elnisil wear rates,
the test will be used to evaluate general cleanliness and
freedom from deposits which could cause seal sticking
and affect the performance of other engine components.
This 100 h programme serves as a screening test for the
final oil-acceptance requirements which may be detcrmined by an 800 h programmed rig test and satisfactory
performance in a 20 000 km road test.
A truly representative 20 000 km road test may not be
possible in the light of the current economic conditions
and limitations on maximum speed which exist in Europe.
It is interesting to consider that the lubricant formulation
to meet the Wankel-engine requirements could be altered
considerably if the present restrictions on road performance became permanent.
It is anticipated that the conclusion of the present
evaluation programme will lead to a tectative specification
for a lubricant for Wankel-type engines.

17.5 Exhaust emissions

Legislation for thc future control of exhaust emission
levels is likely to make the use of catalytic cdnverters
necessary. Lubricant additive constituents have been
evaluated to assess their effect on platinum-based catalysts.
The following conclusions were reached as a result of a
joint testing programmed arrange with Messrs Johnson,
Matthey & Co. Ltd.

Proc lnstn Mech Engrs Vol 188 14/74

(1) Oils containing phosphorus bound up with zinc in

the form of either zinc dialkyl dithiophosphatc or zinc
diary1 dithiophosphate are non-toxic.
(2) Elimination of zinc dithiophosphate as a combined
antioxidant and anti-wear agent therefore offers no
advantage.
(3) Severe catalyst poisoning was caused by oils
containing phosphorus in other forms without an
additional metallic reagent which would render the
phosphorus compounds innocuous. Ashless oils containing phosphorus anti-wear agents as a replacement
for zinc dithiophosphate are, therefore, unlikely to be
acceptable.
(4) The presence of ash-containing metallic detergents
in lubricating oils is not itself deleterious to the catalyst.
(5) Sulphur is non-toxic.

The candidate formulations developed in the programme for Audi NSU meet the above requirements and
so can be used with the catalyst systems developed by
Messrs Johnson, Matthey & Co. Ltd.
18 CONCLUSIONS

Despite the remarks concerning the present situation

made in the introduction to this paper, further developments of seal materials and epitrochoid coatings are bound
to improve the reliability and durability of the Wankel
engine. It has been shown that lubricant formulation can
make a useful contribution towards this improvement.
Automotive-engine lubricants in general are tending
towards very low or even ashless formulation. These
developments should ameliorate the high-speed preignition problem of the Wankel engine, since a t present
it seems necessary to introduce metered quantities of oil
to the combustion region.
The development of new apex seal and epitrochoid
coating materials may also benefit from closer co-operation
with the oil industry and additive manufacturers.
19 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The authors wish to acknowledge the permission given by

Johnson, Matthey & Go Ltd to publish the test results
quoted in this paper and to thank Dr E. Shutt and Mr
B. J. Cooper for their considerable assistance. They also
wish to thank their many colleagues within the Lubrizol
organization who have contributed towards this paper.
APPENDIX 4
REFERENCES

(14)FROEDE,
W. G. N.S.U.s double bank production rotary
engine, SAE paper 680461, Detroit, 1968.
(15) HUNTER,C. E. Contribution to the IF Symposium,
Montreux, 1973.

@ IMechE 1974