3 PROJECT MD-3

a. DESIGN OF ROCKER ARM FOR EXHAUST VALVE

b. Problem specification
It is required to design a rocker arm for operating the exhaust valve of the petrol engine.
The rocker arm oscillates around a pivot whose axis is 180 mm away from the axis of the
valve. The two arms of the rocker are equal length and make angle of 135° with each
other. The diameter of the valve is 75mm. when the exhaust valve opened, the
maximum pressure inside the cylinder is 0.4 mPa. The mass of the valve can be assumed
as 0.5 kg. when the exhaust valve is closed, the maximum suction pressure in the
cylinder is 0.02 MPa below atmospheric pressure. The valve is accelerated when it opens
and the maximum acceleration of the valve is limited to m/s 2.

Rocker Arm
the construction of the exhaust valve gear for the petrol engine is shown in fig. 3.55. The
function of the rocker arm is open and close the exhaust valve at the correct instant.
the rocker arm is basically a lever which oscillates about the pivot. One arm of the
rocker has forked end, where a roller is fitted. The other arm is made circular at the end
to accommodate a tappet. The tappet is a stud with a lock nut. The tappet is in contact
with the valve rod. The compression of the spring can be adjusted by the axial
 movement of the tappet. As the cam rotates, the roller and the rocker arm oscillates
about the pivot. The oscillates of the rocker arm results in upward or downward
movement of the tappet. The movement open and closes the valve.
c. Selection of materials
the rocker arm is subjected to fluctuating stresses. The ideal method to make the rocker
arm is to forge it from plain carbon steel. The fibrelines of forged component can be
arranged in a predetermined way to suit the direction of external forces, which improves
the strength and toughness. The forged components have light weight construction with
low inertia forces. However, forgings are costly. The equipment and tooling required for
forging is costly. They are economical only when manufactured on large scale.
Considering this cost factor, we will select carbon steel casting of Grade 20-40 ¿ as the
material for the rocker arm. Cast steel offers following advantages:

(i) The tooling required for casting process is relatively simple and inexpensive. This
reduces the cost of steel castings.
(ii) It can be given any complex shape without involving costly machining operations.
(iii) Cast steel parts are lighter with low inertia forces compared with cast iron
components.
The cost of steel component is between forged component on one side and cast-iron
component on the other.
The rocker arm is designed on the basis of bending stresses. The analysis is based on
following assumptions:
(i) The effect of stress concentration is neglected.
(ii) The rocker arm is subjected to fluctuating stress which result in fatigue failure.
Such components are designed on the basis of endurance limit by calculating
mean stress, stress amplitude and constructing modified goodman diagram. This
approach is avoided in present design.

d. Permissible Stresses

S ut 400
σ τ= = =¿ 66.67 N /mm 2
(fs) 6
Mb y
σ b=
I
 S sy 0.5 S yt 0.5 (400) 2
τ= = = =33.33 N /mm
(fs) (fs) 6
R 3451.63 2
τ= = =2.44 N /mm
[
π 2
] [
π
2 d 1 2 (30)
4 4
2
]
e. Force analysis
the maximum force exerted by the valve rod on the tappet will determine the bending
moment for the design of the cross-section of the rocker arm.
This force consists of following four factors:
(i) The gas pressure on the valve when it opens;
(ii) The weight of the valve;
(iii) The inertia force when the valve moves up, and
(iv) The initial spring force necessary to hold the valve on its seat against suction or
negative pressure inside the cylinder during the suction stroke.

The conditions are illustrated in fig 3.56. when the valve opens, the total gas load P g
action upon it is given by,

P g=
[ ] π 2
d p
4 v
where,
d v =diameter of valve(mm)
p=maximum pressure inside the cylinder whenthe valve opens ¿ )

f. Design of Rocker Arm

as shown in fig 3.57 (a), the arm is subjected to bending moment under the action of
force p1 . the bending moment is maximum at the centre of pivot. The maximum
bending moment is ( p1 x 11)However, the dimensions of the central section passing
through O are decided by bearing considerations. In general, the central section is
sufficiently strong to withstand bending moment. We will design the cross-section of
rocker arm at XX. The bending moment at section XX is taken as ( p1 x 11) although, the
actual bending moment is slightly less than this value. This assumption results in slightly
stronger section. As shown in fig. 3.57(b). the moment of inertia of this cross-section is
determined by subtracting the moment of inertia of inner rectangle from the moment of
inertia of outer rectangle. The size of outer rectangle is (2.5t x 6 t ¿ .The inner rectangle is
formed by adding two vertical strips, each of width [ ( 2.5t−t )/2 ] and height is (4t).
therefore,
1 3 1 3 4 4
I = ( 2.5 t ) ( 6 t ) − ( 1.5 t ) ( 4 t ) =(37 t )mm
12 12
 y= (3 t ) mm

g. Fulcrum for Rocker Arm The forces acting on the rocker arm are shown in Fig. 3.58.
Since the arms are of equal length.
P1= P2
From Eq. (3.31), the reaction R at the Fulcrum is given by,
R =√ P22+ P 22 −2 P1 P2 cos θ
=√ 1868.012+ 1868.012−¿ 2 (1868.01 )( 1868.01 ) cos(135°) ¿
= 3451.63N
h. Design of Forked End
The constructional details of forked arm are sown in fig. 3.60. the roller is carried by
means of a pin in the forked end. The pin is kept free to revolve in the eyes of the fork
end. Phosphor bronze bush of 3 mm thickness is fitted in each eye of the fork. The
permissible bearing pressure at the pin is taken as 5 MPa. The length diameter to ratio
for the pin is taken as 1:1 From Eq. (3.33).
R = p(d ¿ ¿ p x 1 p ).¿
Substituting values,
1868.01 = 5(d ¿ ¿ p x d p )¿
d p=19.33∨20 mm
and 1 p=d p=20 mm
The value of 1 p is minimum distance between eyes as shown in fig. 3.60. each eye must
be at least (1/2 1 p ¿ wide. Therefore, width of each eye is taken as 10mm. the
dimensions of eye are as follows.
i. Design of Tappet Rod
The tappet is a stud, which is subjected to compressive force of 1868.01 N. it is assumed
that the tappet is made of plain carbon steel 30C8 ( S yt = 400 N /mm 2 ¿ and the factor of
safety as 6. Assuming,
S y c =S yt
We get,
S S 400
σ c = yc = yt = = 66.67 N /mm 2
(fs) (fs) 6
The stress area A of tappet screw is given by,
P
σ c=
A
1868.01
66.67 =
A
A = 28.02 mm 2

j. Design solution