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Materials Today: Proceedings 4 (2017) 7810–7819 www.materialstoday.com/proceedings

ICAAMM-2016

Analysis of Piston, Connecting rod and Crank shaft assembly

G Gopala, Dr L Suresh Kumarb, K Vijaya Bahskar Reddyc, M Uma Maheshwara Raod,
G Srinivasulue*
a
Chinthalapudi Engg College, Ponnur, Guntur 522124, A.P, India.
&cb,
C.B.I.T, Hyderabad, Telangana, India.(d) SMICH, Hyderabad, Telangana, India, eMIET, Jaggaiahpeta, Krishna dt., AP, India.

Abstract

The paper deals with study of an assembly of the Piston, Connecting rod and Crank shaft of a four wheeler petrol engine. The
components of the assembly have to be rigid and the assembly has to move as a mechanism. Hence, the analysis should involve a
rigid-body analysis and flexible-body analysis. So the forces in the components as the engine reciprocates have to be calculated
and these forces are used to calculate the dynamic stresses in the component of interest i.e. the connecting rod. It is proposed to
replace with two new sets of materials for the components of the assembly and check the parameters by performing the static,
dynamic and thermal analysis
In this project, the main parts of the assembly i.e. engine piston, connecting rod and crankshaft are modeled and
assembled as per the given design. And the Finite Element Analysis is done in Ansys. The meshing is done in HyperMesh.

© 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Selection and Peer-review under responsibility ofthe Committee Members of International Conference on Advancements in
Aeromechanical Materials for Manufacturing (ICAAMM-2016).

Keywords: Piston; Connecting rod; Crank shaft; HyperMesh; Rigid body analysis; Flexible body analysis

1. Introduction
The present analysis for the piston, connecting rod and crank shaft assembly is done to replace the existing
materials with two different sets of materials. This is done as a part of decreasing the weight of the components and
to increase the speed of the engine. The components of the assembly are to be rigid and at the same time, the
assembly is to perform as a mechanism. This can be done as a rigid body analysis for the components and flexible
body analysis for the assembly acting as mechanism.

* G Gopal. Tel.: +91 94416 32074.

E-mail address:cadcamgopal@gmail.com

2214-7853© 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Selection and Peer-review under responsibility ofthe Committee Members of International Conference on Advancements in Aeromechanical
Materials for Manufacturing (ICAAMM-2016).
 G Gopal / Materials Today: Proceedings 4 (2017) 7810–7819 7811

The models are developed from the dimensions provided in the 2D drawing. A detailed Finite Element (FE)
model is to created for this purpose. The FE model consists of the main parts of the Mechanism assembly, and it
includes a description of the mechanical loads and the contact interaction between them. The meshing is done using
HyperMesh. Static, thermal and thermal analysis are done.

1.1The piston

Piston is the important part in an engine which works and produces the result. Piston forms a guide and
bearing for the small end of connecting rod. It transmits the force of explosion in the cylinder, to the crank shaft
through the connecting rod. Piston transmits the driving force of combustion to the crankshaft and makes the
crankshaft to rotate. They also acts as a moveable gas-tight plug that keeps the combustion in the cylinder. It has to
get rid of the heat from combustion.
Materials for the Piston
Cast Iron, Aluminum Alloy and Cast Steel etc. are the common materials used for piston of an Internal
Combustion Engine. Cast Iron pistons are not suitable for high speed engines due its more weight.
The Aluminum Alloy Piston is lighter in weight and enables much lower running temperatures due to its higher
thermal conductivity. The coefficient of expansion of this type of piston is about 20% less than that of pure
aluminum piston but higher than that of cast iron piston. It is easily machinable, light in weight and has good
thermal conductivity (can transfer heat quickly).

1.2Connecting rod

The connecting rod links the piston to the crankshaft. The upper end has a hole in it for the piston wrist pin and
the lower end (big end) attaches to the crankshaft. It is under tremendous stress from the reciprocating load of the
piston. With every rotation, it is stretched and compressed and the load increases to the third power with increasing
engine speed.

Materials used for Connecting Rod

Steel is normally used for construction of automobile connecting rods because of its strength, durability, and
lower cost. But, they have high mass density and make the crank shaft heavy. This limits the speeds of the
engine. Therefore, light alloy metals such as aluminum and titanium are currently being used in high speed
engine connecting rods. Titanium has better mechanical properties than aluminum but are costly. This higher
density and cost have made aluminum connecting rods more popular and attractive. However, they suffer from
relatively low strength and fatigue life.

1.3Crankshaft

The crankshaft converts the up and down (reciprocating) motion of the pistons into a turning (rotary) motion. It
provides the turning motion for the wheels. The crankshaft is connected to the pistons by the connecting-rods.

Materials used for Crankshaft

The crankshaft is made usually either with alloy steel or cast iron.
7812 G Gopal / Materials Today: Proceedings 4 (2017) 7810–7819

2. Analysis Procedure

2.1.2D Drawings
The 2D drawings of the components of crank shaft and assembly are shown in fig 1 and fig 2

Piston Connecting rod Crankshaft

Fig 1. Component drawings

Fig. 2 Assembly drawing

2.2.Introduction to CAD

Computer-aided design (CAD), also known as computer-aided design and drafting (CADD), is the use
of computer technology for the process of design and design-documentation.
Types of CAD Software
2D CAD
The most popular 2D CAD programs are AutoCAD, CADkey, CADDS 5, and Medusa.
3D CAD
Some 3D CAD programs include Autodesk Inventor, CoCreate Solid Designer, Pro/Engineer SolidEdge,
SolidWorks, Unigraphics NX and VX CAD, CATIA V5.

Introduction to Pro/ENGINEER

Pro/ENGINEER Wildfire is the standard in 3D product design mostly used and has features as required by
the industry. The 3D modeling of the crank shaft assembly are shown in fig 3 and fig 4.
 G Gopal / Materials Today: Proceedings 4 (2017) 7810–7819 7813

Model of piston Model of piston pin Model of connecting rod

Fig. 3 3D models of the components

Model of crankshaft Assembly

Fig. 4 Model of the Assembly

2.3Introduction to FEA

FEA is a computer model, of a material or design either new design or existing product refinement, that is stressed
and analyzed for specific results. It is used in to represent the numerous algorithms (functions) in linear and non
linear systems. Linear systems do not take into account plastic deformation and Non-linear systems considers the
plastic deformation and are capable of testing a material up to fracture. Many FEA programs also are equipped with
the capability to use multiple materials within the structure.

The model is made into number of elements and nodes at the elements. The nodes make a grid called a
mesh. This mesh is programmed to contain the material and structural properties which define how the structure will
react to certain loading conditions. Depending upon the stresses, the node density is assigned. The mesh acts like a
spider web in that from each node, there extends a mesh element to each of the adjacent nodes.

Objective functions available :

Mass, volume, temperature , Strain energy, stress, strain, Force, displacement, velocity, acceleration, etc

The loading conditions which may be applied to a system are:

● Point, pressure, thermal, gravity, and centrifugal static loads

● Thermal loads from solution of heat transfer analysis
● Heat flux and convection
● Point, pressure and gravity dynamic loads
7814 G Gopal / Materials Today: Proceedings 4 (2017) 7810–7819

2.4.Introduction to HyperMesh

Altair HyperMesh is a high-performance finite element pre-processor to prepare even the largest models,
starting from import of CAD geometry to exporting an analysis run for various disciplines.
A long list of CAD formats ensures a high level of CAD interoperability. Altair’s connector technology
automatically assembles individual parts with their Finite Element representation. HyperMesh is entirely
customizable.

Meshing in HyperMesh
The meshing of the assembly is done in hypermesh as shown in fig 5

Assigning material properties to the piston assembly

Fig. 5 Meshing of the Assembly

1. Introduction to ANSYS

ANSYS is general-purpose finite element analysis (FEA) software package. Finite Element Analysis is a
numerical method of deconstructing a complex system into very small pieces (of user-designated size) called
elements. The software implements equations that govern the behaviour of these elements and solves them all.
These results then can be presented in tabulated, or graphical forms. This type of analysis is typically used for the
design and optimization of a system far too complex to analyze by hand.

Specific capabilities of ANSYS

Structural - It the most common application of the finite element method used for bridges, buildings, machine
tools, components, etc.

Static Analysis - Used to determine displacements, stresses, etc. under static loading conditions. ANSYS can
compute both linear and nonlinear static analyses.

Transient Dynamic Analysis - Used to determine the response of a structure to arbitrarily time-varying loads.
All nonlinearities mentioned under Static Analysis above are allowed.

Buckling Analysis - Used to calculate the buckling loads and determine the buckling mode shape. Both linear
(eigen value) buckling and nonlinear buckling analyses are possible.

In addition to the above analysis types, several special-purpose features are available such as Fracture
mechanics, Composite material analysis, Fatigue, and both p-Method and Beam analyses.
 G Gopal / Materials Today: Proceedings 4 (2017) 7810–7819 7815

Thermal - ANSYS is capable of both steady state and transient analysis of any solid with thermal boundary
conditions.

Fluid Flow - Modeling a vast range of analysis types such as: airfoils for pressure analysis of airplane wings (lift
and drag), flow in supersonic nozzles, and complex, 3 D flow patterns in a pipe bend.
·
Coupled Fields - A coupled-field analysis is an analysis that takes into account the interaction (coupling) between
two or more disciplines (fields) of engineering. Examples of coupled-field analysis are thermal-stress analysis,
thermal-electric analysis, and fluid-structure analysis.

Modal Analysis - A modal analysis is typically used to determine the vibration characteristics (natural frequencies
and mode shapes) of a structure or a machine component while it is being designed.

Harmonic Analysis - Rotating machinery is subjected to Harmonic analysis to predict the sustained dynamic
behavior of structures to consistent cyclic loading. It is done to verify whether or not a machine design will
successfully overcome resonance, fatigue, and other harmful effects of forced vibrations.

3.Analysis and Results

3.1.Static Analysis of piston, connecting rod and crankshaft assembly

i) Piston (Aluminum alloy 6061), Connecting rod (Al alloy 6061) & Crankshaft (EN308)
The static analysis of the piston, connecting rod and crankshaft assembly is done by applying the material with
properties in table1 and the results are shown in fig 6
Table 1: Material properties
Component - material Young’s Mod. (N/mm2) Poisson’s ratio Density (Kg/ mm3)
Piston – Al alloy 6061 68900 0.33 0.0000027
Conn. Rod – Al alloy 6061 68900 0.33 0.0000027
Cr. Shaft – EN 308 205000 0.29 0.00000785

Displacement Stress Strain

Fig. 6: Output of Displacement, Stress and Strain
ii) Static analysis of Piston (Aluminum alloy 2618), Connecting rod (Titanium) and Crankshaft (High
Alloy steel)
The static analysis of the piston, connecting rod and crankshaft assembly is done by applying the other material
with properties in table2 and the results are shown in fig 7

Table 2: Material properties

Component - material Young’s Mod. (N/mm2) Poisson’s ratio Density (Kg/ mm3)
Piston – Al alloy 2618 74500 0.33 0.0000027
Conn. Rod – Titanium 116000 0.4 0.0000045
Cr. Shaft – High Alloy 205000 0.29 0.00000785
steel
7816 G Gopal / Materials Today: Proceedings 4 (2017) 7810–7819

Displacement Stress Strain

Fig. 7: Output of Displacement, Stress and Strain

1.Thermal analysis –
i) Piston (Aluminum alloy 6061), Connecting rod (Aluminum alloy 6061) and Crankshaft (EN308)
The thermal analysis of the piston, connecting rod and crankshaft assembly is done by applying the material with
properties in table3 and the results are shown in fig 8
Table3: Thermal properties
Component – Material Density (kg/mm3) Th. Conductivity (W/mk) Sp. Heat (J/gC)
Piston – Al Alloy 6061 0.0000027 180 0.896
Conn. Rod – Al Alloy 0.0000027 180 0.896
6061
Crank shaft – EN 308 0.00000785 426 0.0473

Nodal Temperature Thermal Gradient Thermal Flux

Fig. 8: Nodal temperatures, Thermal gradient and Thermal flux
ii) Piston (Aluminum alloy 2618), Connecting rod (Titanium) and Crankshaft (High Alloy steel)
The thermal analysis of the piston, connecting rod and crankshaft assembly is done by applying the material
with properties in table4 and the results are shown in fig 9

Table4: Thermal properties

Component - material Density (Kg/ mm3) Th. Conductivity (W/mk) Sp. Heat (J/gC)
Piston – Al alloy 2618 0.0000027 146 0.875
Conn. Rod – Titanium 0.0000045 17 0.5286
Cr. Shaft – High Alloy 0.00000785 180 0.896
steel
 G Gopal / Materials Today: Proceedings 4 (2017) 7810–7819 7817

Nodal Temperature Thermal Gradient Thermal Flux

Fig. 9 Nodal temperatures, Thermal gradient and Thermal flux
2.Dynamic analysis –
The dynamic analysis of the piston, connecting rod and crankshaft assembly is done and the results are shown in fig
10.

Imported Model Meshed Model Loads

Time Step Pressure

(Secs) (N/mm2)
10 12.26
20 18.39
30 30.65
Fig. 10 Models and Loads applied

i) Piston (Aluminum alloy 6061), Connecting rod (Aluminum alloy 6061) and Crankshaft (EN308)
The dynamic analysis of the piston, connecting rod and crankshaft assembly is done by applying the aluminium
material and the results are shown in fig 11.

Displacement Stress Strain

Fig. 11: Dynamic analysis Output of Displacement, Stress and Strain

ii) Piston (Aluminum alloy 2618), Connecting rod (Titanium) and Crankshaft (High Alloy steel)
The dynamic analysis of the piston, connecting rod and crankshaft assembly is done by applying the aluminium
material and the results are shown in fig 12.
7818 G Gopal / Materials Today: Proceedings 4 (2017) 7810–7819

Displacement Stress Strain

Fig. 12: Dynamic analysis Output of Displacement, Stress and Strain

2. Results and Discussions

The results of the static, thermal and dynamic analysis of the crank shaft assembly are tabulated in table5, table 6
and table7 respectively
Table 5: Static analysis table
Displacement Von Mises Stress Strain
(mm) (N/mm2)

Piston – Al 6061 1.182 787.174 0.017342

Connecting rod – Al 6061
Crankshaft – EN308

Piston – Al 2618 0.868476 933.103 0.009395

Connecting rod – Titanium
Crankshaft – High Alloy
Steel

Table 6: Thermal analysis table

Temperature Thermal Gradient Thermal Flux (W/mm2)
(K) (K/mm)

Piston – Al 6061 973 6.61 1.19

Connecting rod – Al 6061
Crankshaft – EN308

Piston – Al 2618 973 1.19 0.495051

Connecting rod – Titanium
Crankshaft – High Alloy
Steel
 G Gopal / Materials Today: Proceedings 4 (2017) 7810–7819 7819

Table 7: Dynamic analysis table

Displacement Von Mises Stress Strain
(mm) (N/mm2)

Piston – Al 6061 1.559 1178 0.1689

Connecting rod – Al 6061
Crankshaft – EN308

Piston – Al 2618 0.746328 1053 0.005405

Connecting rod – Titanium
Crankshaft – High Alloy
Steel

Static, Dynamic and Thermal analyses are done on the assembly of piston, connecting rod and crankshaft.
The materials considered for piston are Aluminum alloy 6061 and Aluminum alloy 2618, for connecting rod are
Aluminum alloy 6061 and Titanium and for crankshaft are EN308 and High Alloy steel.

By observing the static analysis results,

1. The stresses are increased and
2. the displacements are less when Al 2618 Piston, Titanium Connecting rod and High Alloy Steel
Crankshaft are taken.

By observing the thermal analysis results,

1. the heat transfer rate is more when the materials for Al 6061 Piston, Al 6061 Connecting rod and for
EN308 Crankshaft are considered.

By observing the dynamic analysis results,

1. the stress values are less when Al 2618 Piston , Titanium Connecting rod and High Alloy steel
Crankshaft are considered.
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