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Well, not quite. Visualizing thermal expansion is something that
gives everybody headaches. Simply put: on the inside everything gets
farther apart just like on the outside. So the volume of the cavity for
the coolant actually gets larger.
Think of it this way: you are sitting on the edge of a hole drilled
in a plate. As the plate heats up, the metal starts expanding away from
you in all directions. The far side of the hole expands away from you
too.
But the thermal expansion coefficient for liquids is inevitably much
greater than for metals. So much so, that any change in the volume of the
tank (or engine cavity) is trivial in comparison. The liquid expansion
dominates.
Tom Kendall
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Sunday, December 01, 2002 1:04
AM
Subject: [FlyRotary] Re: Coolant loss :
More cooling system test stuff.
Another factor that affects the coolant volume is the
expansion of the metal in the engine. The coolant is essentially
contained in an annular region around the rotors. The inside of that
annulus gets pretty hot. Could be that the coolant capacity in the
engine is decreased.
I have no idea how big a factor this is, but it seems
that that overall coolant "expansion" is more in a rotary. I'd estimate
that the amount of coolant that gets pushed into the catch bottle on the V-8
in my van is a pint or less.
Al
.Tracy
and others, what is the theory behind so much liquid in the
external
expansion tank? Thermal expansion of the initial coolant volume
doesn't
account for such a large overflow. So is vapor building up
inside? If it is
there is no longer a liquid filled system. I don't get
it.
Peter
>> Homepage: http://www.flyrotary.com/
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