Design and Analysis to Improve Buckling Strength of Light Vehicle Connecting Rod

International Research Journal of Engineering and Technology (IRJET) e-ISSN: 2395-0056
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Design and Analysis to Improve Buckling Strength of Light Vehicle
Connecting Rod
Mr. Gaurav Sapte1, Mr. Girish Walunjkar2, Mr. Tushar Dhamal3, Mr. Ajay Mohite4, Nivedita5
1,2,3,4 BE Student, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, ACEM, Pune
5 Assistant Professor Dept. Mechanical Engineering, Alard college of Engineering & Management,
Maharashtra, Pune
---------------------------------------------------------------------***---------------------------------------------------------------------
Abstract -
Depending on the number of cylinders in the engine, any
vehicle that use an internal combustion engine requires at
least one connecting rod. It is subjected to intense cyclic
stresses. These loads might range fromhighcompressiveloads
caused by combustion to high tensile loads caused by inertia.
As a result, the component's long-term durability is crucial. As
a result of these considerations, the connecting rod has been
the subject of research in a variety of areas, including
production, materials, performance simulation, and so on.
In this study, several materials such as aluminium, titanium,
and C70 steel, as well as high strength carbon fibre, are
compared to existing materials. The primary goal of this
project is to find new materials that can be used to replace
existing materialswhilealso increasingbucklingstrength with
reducing weight.
Key Words: Buckling strength, Connecting rod, Four
wheeler (light vehicle).
1. INTRODUCTION
Due to the demand for downsized engines, greater specific
power and increased mechanical efficiency, reciprocating
power cylinder components are expected to exert less force
on the cylinder walls to more efficiently transfer the
combustion force in the cylinder to a reciprocating motion
by the crankshaft, mainly by means of lighter weight. At the
same time, these lighter cylinder components are expected
to maintain sufficient strength and safety even as internal
combustion engines have significantly increased both
specific power and maximum speed during the last decade.
One critical cylinder component is theconnectingrod,which
transfers the oscillating movement of the piston into the
rotating movement of the crankshaft. The connecting rod
must not only provide the stiffness and the strength to
withstand the cylinder pressure and inertia forces of the
engine, but must also be of minimal mass. Additionally, the
hydrodynamic performance of the small end and big end
must be considered and optimized in order to improvewear
and friction properties and to meet tougher NVH
requirements.
This included Visual observation, metallurgical testing,
magnetic particle testing, fractography analysis by stereo
and scanning electron microscopy, residual stress analysis,
dimensional inspection, chemical analysis, Brinell hardness
testing, tensile testing, inclusion analysis, microstructure
analysis and grain flow analysis.Connecting Rodisoneof the
most important components of reciprocating internal
combustion engine. It acts as a link between piston and
crankshaft to convert the traverse motion of the piston to
rotational motion of the crankshaft. It consists of small end
(piston side), big end (Crank side) and I-section. Small end
and big end are machined to ensure properfittingofbush (at
small end) and Bearings (at Big end). The small end is
connected to piston through piston pin. The small end
exhibits reciprocatingmotionwhiletheBigendwhichissplit
in two parts for clamping it on the crankshaft exhibits
rotational motion. Due to its operational nature, complex
state of stresses which includes compression stresses
associated to the pressure exerted by the combustion gases,
and tensile stresses related to the inertia of the components
in motion, either alternative or rotational. Increasing trend
of higher power density engine and harsh emission
regulation tends to increase the mean effectivepressureand
the peak firing pressure. There are all four critical areas of
the connecting rod the small end or pin end, the shank or I-
beam, the crankshaft or big end and the bolted joint. A
solution for an optimized componentlayoutwill beprovided
that combines excellent strength and improved durability
with reduced mass. This optimized solution will enable
automakers to design engines with higherfuel efficiencyand
greater reliability in order to meet the challenges of the
future.
2. LITERATURE REVIEWS
[1] “Connecting Rod Buckling Analysis Using
Eigenvalue and Explicit Methods” by Arden
Anderson, Mercury Marine; Masahiro Yukioka,
Mercury Racin.
In this research it presents the designing a connecting rod.
The buckling strength is heavilyaffectedbythebeamsection,
and Johnson's buckling equation is used to estimate the
buckling strength of a given beam section. This approach is
acceptable if the beam section geometry is constant from the
small end to the big end. But, recent expectations for light
weight, low NVH, and low fuel consumption engines require

optimizing the connecting rod section geometries to be
progressively changing from the small end to the big end.
Finite Element Analysis (FEA) is often used to evaluate the
buckling strength of a rod that has complex changes in beam
section.
[2] “Optimization Methods Applied to Automotive
Connecting Rod Mechanical Design” by Rafael
Augusto De Lima E Silva, Marco LúcioBittencourt
In this journal it concludes that the mechanical design of
automotive connecting rods is essentially guided by analytic
calculations followed by numeric methods to assess the
stresses, displacements, contact pressures, fatigue and
buckling. In this work it applies an alternative methodology
based on the method of topology optimization to design the
connecting rod aiming mass reduction. Two connecting rods
designs were developed using two different methodologies,
which the methodology considering the topology
optimization generated a 3%lighter connectingrodandwith
improved lubrication performance when compared withthe
conventional design obtained from the current design
methodology.
[3]“Fatigue Failure Analysis of Diesel Engine
Connecting Rod” by Md Tauseef Alam, Anil Thakur,
Venkatesh Kumar PS, and SatayaGhadei
In these article it suggests that the connecting rod of a high-
performance reciprocatinginternalcombustionengineisone
of the criticalcomponents exhibitingcomplex motion.Thisis
subjected to both compressive load due to combustion force
as well as tensile load due to inertia of the moving
components. These loadings are cyclic in nature and the
component is highly prone to fatigue failure if not deigned or
manufactured carefully. Therefore, connecting rods are
designed and manufacturedwith high degreeofprecisionfor
infinite loading cycle. But failures in connecting rod is often
reported which is associated to either fatigue, bending,
bearing failure or assembly faults.
[4] “Advanced Connecting Rod Design for Mass
Optimization” by Michael T. Lapp, Roger A. Krause,
Christopher C. Hall, Dan H. Dinu and Alex Antoc
In this paper it is discussed that an effort to optimize the
connecting rod of an internal combustion engine for both
mass and reliability, an all-new forged steel design has been
developed that is 37% lighter than the lightweight
production design. The connecting rod has been optimized
using 3DModeling,FEA,advancednumericalsimulationsuch
as PIMO3D, and a variety of mechanical testing and lessons
learned. The four critical areas of the connecting rod are
defined and discussed in detail, and an optimization solution
for each area is presented. Finally, the optimized connecting
rod incorporatingall of the knowledge and informationfrom
the previous sections is presented.
[5] “Optimized Power Cell Unit in IC Engine –
Design for Light Weight and High Strength Piston
and Connecting Rod” by Dan Dinu and Michael T.
Lapp MAHLE
In this article it concluded that the optimization of the
connecting rod covers material and design features in order
to reduce weight and improve function.Materialselectionfor
connecting rods has to consider functional and
manufacturing aspects. Function The basic criterion for
optimum function of the component is the fatigue strengthof
the material. High fatigue strength allows a reduction in the
cross section and this contributestooverallweightreduction
of the component.
[6] “Connecting Rod Optimization for Weight and
Cost Reduction” by Pravardhan S. Shenoy and Ali
Fatemi the University of Toledo
In this journal it presents an optimization study on a steel
forged connecting rod with aconsideration forimprovement
in weight and production cost. Since the weight of the
connecting rod haslittleinfluenceonitstotalproductioncost,
the cost and the weightweredealtwithseparately.Reduction
in machining operations, achievedbychangeinmaterial,was
a significant factor in manufacturing cost reduction.
Literature survey suggests cyclic loads comprised of static
tensile and compressive loads are often used for design and
optimization of connecting rods.
[7] “Development and Application of Buckling
Estimation Method in Engine Connecting Rod”
byHeewook Moon, Sungwon Shin, Kyungwoo Lee,
Hoon Chang and DaejoonYeom
In these research it presents the studies of automobile
engineering on developing the high performance and high
fuel efficiency engine. Particularly most engineers have tried
to reduce the weights ofmovingcomponentsoftheenginefor
achieving high fuel efficiency. However, the connecting road
(hereafter referred as connecting rod) tends to be
overdesigned for the reliability since it is one of the main
moving parts transferring the huge ignition pressure to the
crankshaft. The connecting rod consists of a small-end
transferring the ignition pressure through the piston, a big-
end gripping the crankshaft,andfinallyashanklinkingsmall-
end and big-end. The reduction of cross section of shank
brings a light connecting rod but increases the possibility of
buckling failureas well therefore the buckling analysis in the
early design phase has to be carried out.
2.1. OBJECTIVES
 Modelling four-wheeler connectingrodin3DDesign
software.
 Find out the new material which can replace the
existing material

 To perform static analysis for existing 4-wheeler
connecting rod with composite reinforcement to
determine the enhancement in mechanical
properties under buckling analysis in ANSYS 19
software.
 Reduce the weight of the connecting rod and
Improve the Buckling Property.
2.3. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY:
Flow chart .01
Organization of the Project (Methodology Detail)
[1]. I started the work of this project with literature
survey. I gathered many research papers which are
relevant to this topic. After going through these
papers, we learnt about buckling strength of 4
wheeler connecting rod.
[2]. After that the components which are required for
our project are decided. after finalizing the
component, we can also find out the different
material which we are use in this Project like
aluminum, High strength carbon fiber, titanium, C
70 steel etc.
[3]. After deciding the components,the3DModel will be
done with the help of Solid works software.
[4]. The Analysis of the components will be done with
the help of ANSYS using FEA.
[5]. In the analysis we are performing Static structure
analysis for connecting rod in buckling with
different material.
[6]. Comparative analysis betweenthe Existingmaterial
& analysis result of other material which we are
consider.
3. DESIGN AND ANALYSIS:
In the project we are creating 3D CAD Model Drawn in
the SOLID WORKS software show in the figure 1.
Fig. 1: Connecting Rod Model in Solid works
The figure 1. show that 3D CAD model of Connecting
rod after completing the 3D model wemoved forthedrafting
of the component.
The drafting of the component is show in the figure 2
and providing the dimension of the component.
Fig. 2: Connecting Rod Draft in Solid works
3.1. Calculations
Bore diameter – 75 mm
Stroke length – 95 mm
Bore x Stroke (mm) = 75 × 95

Displacement – 3.14/2 x (Bore diameter)2 x Stroke length
Displacement = 419.4 CC
Maximum Power = 60 PS @ 4500 rpm
Maximum Torque = 105 Nm @ 2500 rpm
Compression Ratio = 9/1
Density of Petrol C8H18 = 737.22 kg/m3
= 737.22E-9 kg/mm3
Temperature = 600 F= 288.8550 K
Molecular Weight of Petrol - 114.228 g/mole
From Gas Equation,
PV = mR specific T
P = Pressure, V= Volume, m = Mass, T = Ideal room
temperature and R specific = Specific gas constant
Mass = Density × Volume
= 737.22E-9 x 419.4 X E3
= 0.309 kg
R specific = R / M
= 8.314 / 0.309 = 26.88 J / kgK
Maximum pressureexertedonthesurfaceofsmallpistonend
P = (0.30 × 26.88 ×288.85) /4.19 X 𝐸-4
P = 5.5 MPa.
4. MESH
ANSYS Meshing is a general-purpose, intelligent, automated
high-performance product. Itproduces themostappropriate
mesh for accurate, efficient Multi physics solutions. A mesh
well suited for a specific analysis can be generated with a
single mouse click for all parts in a model. Full controls over
the options used to generate the mesh are available for the
expert user who wants to fine-tune it. The power of parallel
processing is automatically used to reduce the timeyouhave
to wait for mesh generation. Creating the most appropriate
mesh is the foundation of engineering simulations. ANSYS
Meshing is aware of the type of solutions that will be used in
the project and has the appropriate criteria to create thebest
suited mesh. ANSYS Meshingisautomaticallyintegratedwith
each solver within the ANSYSWorkbenchenvironment.Fora
quick analysis or for the new and infrequent user, a usable
mesh can be created with one click of the mouse. ANSYS
Meshing chooses the most appropriate options based on the
analysis type and the geometry of the model. Especially
convenient is the ability of ANSYS Meshing to automatically
take advantage of the available cores in the computer to use
parallel processing and thus significantly reduce the time to
create a mesh. Parallel meshing is available without any
additional cost or license requirements.
Fig. 3: Meshing of steel material
Fig. 4: Meshing Details of stainless-steel material
4.1. Boundary Condition
A boundary condition for the model is that the setting of a
well-known value for a displacement or an associated load.
For a specific node you'll be able to set either the load or the
displacement but not each. The main kinds of loading
obtainable in FEA include force, pressure and temperature.
These may be applied to points, surfaces, edges, nodes and
components or remotely offset from a feature.
Fig.5: Boundary condition

FEA Result of Steel
 Equivalent stress
Fig. 6: Details of Equivalent Stress of stainless-steel
material
In the boundarycondition of the steel wegivethePressureto
the component of 6 Bar. So that the Equivalent stress in
connecting rod are 76.20 MPA.
 Deformation
Fig. 7: Details of Deformation in Steel material
the component of 6 Bar, so that deformation in connecting
rod are 0.026 mm.
 Strain energy
Fig. 8: Strain energy results of stainless-steel material
the component of 6 Bar, so that strain in connecting rod are
0.0003 Mpa.
FEA Result of Al7075
Fig. 9: Details of Equivalent Stress of AL7075
Material
In the boundarycondition of the Al7075wegivethePressure
to the component of 6 Bar. So that the Equivalent stress in
connecting rod are 76.04 MPA.
 Deformation
Fig. 10: Details of Deformation in Al7075 material
In the boundarycondition of the Al7075wegivethePressure
to the component of 6 Bar, so that deformation in connecting
rod are 0.074 mm.
 Strain energy
Fig. 11: Strain energy results of Al7075 material
In the boundarycondition of the Al7075wegive thePressure
to the component of 6 Bar, so that strain in connecting rod
are 0.00010 mm.

FEA Result of Titanium Alloy
Fig. 12: Details of Equivalent Stress of Titanium Alloy
material
In the boundary condition of the Titanium Alloy we give the
Pressure to the component of 6 Bar. So that the Equivalent
stress in connecting rod are 75.91 MPA.
 Deformation
Fig. 13: Details of Deformation in Titanium Alloy material
In the boundary condition of the Titanium Alloy we give the
Pressure to the component of 6 Bar, so that deformation in
connecting rod are 0.055 mm.
FEA Result of Carbon Fiber
Fig. 14: Details of Equivalent Stress of Carbon Fiber material
In the boundary condition of the Carbon Fiber we give the
Pressure to the component of 6 Bar. So that the Equivalent
stress in connecting rod are 98.34 MPA.
 Deformation
Fig. 15: Details of Deformation in Carbon Fiber material
Pressure to the component of 6 Bar, so that deformation in
 Strain energy
Fig. 16: Strain energy results of Carbon Fiber material
Pressure to the component of 6 Bar, so that strain in
4.2. RESULT & DISCUSSION:
In this project of connecting rod we can analyzed the
different material with stress, Strain and Displacement.
Graph 1: Stress in Material
In this Graph show that Titanium Alloy has the Less Stress
generate compared to the Steel & Aluminum Material

Graph 2: Strain in Material
In this Graph show that Titanium Alloy has the Less Strain
generate compared to the Steel & Aluminum Material
Graph 3: Displacement in Material
In this Graph show that Titanium Alloy has the Less
Displacement compared to the Steel & Aluminum Material
Graph 4: Weight Comparison of Material
Titanium alloyand carbonfiberhasthelessweightcompared
to the other material
• In the graph result we can see that Titanium alloy
has been generating less stress and displacement
compared to the other material (Existing material)
• So that we can here improving the strength of our
connecting rod wecanreinforcedtheTitaniumalloy
with Carbon fiber.
• In the carbon fiber each layer stress caring capacity
is around 6 Mpa (98Mpa/16 Width THK).
• Hence by applying the Carbon fiber layer on the
titanium alloy we can increase the strength of the
Connecting rod with negligible increase in weight.
Graph 5: Reinforced material Stress Comparison
Strength of titanium alloy is increase by applying the 3 layer
of carbon fiber with negligible increase in weight
Graph 6: Reinforced material Weight Comparison
Hence forimprovingtheStrengthwecanapplyingtheCarbon
fiber on Titanium Alloy then we got the result Improving the
strength of 13% Compared to the Existing material C70 and
Simultaneously reduced the weight 23%
4.3. CONCLUSIONS
 In present investigation with existing material
analysis with determine stress, strain energy and
displacement
 It is observed from analysis that stress produced in
the connecting rod with Titanium alloy is less than
Al7071 & C70 Material.

 Hence for improving the Strength we can applying
the Carbon fiber on Titanium Alloy then we got the
result Improving the strength of 13% Compared to
the Existing material C70 and Simultaneously
reduced the weight 23%.
 Hence we can Successfully complete the project by
achieving the objective of our project.
5. REFERENCES
[1] “ConnectingRodBucklingAnalysisUsingEigenvalue
and Explicit Methods” by Arden Anderson, Mercury
Marine; Masahiro Yukioka, Mercury Racin 0148-7191,
e-ISSN: 2688-3627
[2] “Fatigue Failure Analysis of Diesel Engine
Connecting Rod” by Md Tauseef Alam, Anil Thakur,
Venkatesh Kumar PS, and SatayaGhadei Mahindra &
Mahindra Ltd 0148-7191, e-ISSN: 2688-3627
[3] “Advanced Connecting Rod Design for Mass
Optimization” by Michael T. Lapp, Roger A. Krause,
Christopher C. Hall, Dan H. Dinu and AlexAntoc MAHLE
Industries Inc 0148-7191, e-ISSN: 2688-3627
[4] “Connecting Rod Optimization for Weight and Cost
Reduction” byPravardhanS.ShenoyandAliFatemi;The
University of Toledo 2005-01-0987
[5] “Development and Application of Buckling
Estimation Method in Engine Connecting Rod” by
Heewook Moon, Sungwon Shin, Kyungwoo Lee, Hoon
Chang and DaejoonYeom Hyundai-Engine Company
0148-7191, e-ISSN: 2688-3627
[6] D. Gopinath, Ch.V. Sushma “DesignandOptimization
of Four Wheeler Connecting Rod Using Finite Element
Analysis” 4th International Conference on Materials
Processing and Characterization-( 2015), pp- 2291 –
2299
[7] Xiao lei Zhu, Jing Xu, Yang Liu, Bo Cen, Xiao Feng Lu,
Zhuo Zeng “Failure analysis of a failed connecting rod
cap and connecting bolts of a reciprocating
compressor”, ELSEVIER, PII: S1350-6307(16)30748-8,
Jan 2017.
[8] J. Chao “Fretting-fatigue induced failure of a
connecting rod” ELSEVIER, Centro Nacional de
Investigaciones Metalúrgicas (CENIM-CSIC), Avda.
Gregorio delAmo8,28040Madrid,Spain,October2018.
[9] Mohammed Mohsin Ali Ha, Mohamed Haneef
“Analysis of Fatigue Stresses on Connecting Rod
Subjected to Concentrated Loads at The Big End” 4th
International Conference on Materials Processing and
Characterization, Materials Today: Proceedings 2
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Satya Narayana, B.Nagaraju“FatigueAnalysisofSundry
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Sudhakar,“ForensicInvestigationofaFailedConnecting
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[12] Malkan, S. R., Ko, F. K. “Three-Dimensionally
Braided Preform for a Composite Connecting Rod:
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10.1177/073168449101000205, March, 1991
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