Title: A study on connecting rods for IC engines

Authors: Sergio Baragetti, Simone Mori, Enrico Scarabotto

Addresses: Dipartimento di Progettazione e Tecnologie, Universita degli Studi di Bergamo, Viale Marconi 5 – 24044 Dalmine (BG), Italy. ' Dipartimento di Progettazione e Tecnologie, Universita degli Studi di Bergamo, Viale Marconi 5 – 24044 Dalmine (BG), Italy. ' R&D Engines Design, Same Deutz-Fahr Italia S.p.A., V. le F. Cassani 15 – 24047 Treviglio (BG), Italy

Abstract: A study on connecting rods for internal combustion engines is proposed here. The work is based on analytical calculations of inertial and pressure forces; in order to perform an analytical study it is necessary to break the connecting rod mass into discrete parts that can be easily written into equations. Here a very simple method is often used, but there are a lot of different methods (Sesini, 1964) which are more complicated (they need a good personal computer), but far more precise. The authors developed a method that has proven to be quite precise but not too time-consuming. The results obtained were validated by the use of finite element techniques then all the parts of the connecting rod were calculated, for example against fatigue damage or instability. With the experience gained in this work a new design for the existing connecting rod was proposed. This allowed saving some mass without affecting resistance.

Keywords: connecting rods; fatigue behaviour; FEM models; internal combustion engines; finite element method.

DOI: 10.1504/IJCAT.2006.010597

International Journal of Computer Applications in Technology, 2006 Vol.26 No.3, pp.126 - 136

Published online: 07 Aug 2006 *

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