DESIGN CONSIDERATION OF

ENGINE

List of Engine components

Piston
Piston Pin or Gudgeon pin
Piston rings
Connecting rod
Crank shaft
Poppet valve
Cylinder head
Cylinder block
Camshaft drive
Rocker arms
Crankcase

Piston
Piston is a heart of engine and performs the following
task:
It forms a guide and bearing for the small end of the

connecting rod
It takes the lateral thrust
It transmits the forces to the connecting rod
It reciprocates and forms a gas tight chamber to restrict the

charge in the cylinder.

Design criteria of piston:

Vast variation in operating temperatures

Weight must be reduced (vibration, friction and other losses inertia loading
on bearing)
Piston walls kept thicker (heat transfer, mechanical loads)
Large Clearance for piston rings (Piston clout, fatigue life, noise, damage
the sealing)
Small clearance (Thermal expansion, Excessive pressure)
Piston crown (Thermal flow)
Material Al: (Higher coefficient of thermal expansion, Thermal conductivity,
enable to run 200oc lower than CI
Thermal breakdown of lubricant (No carbon deposit)

Piston Rings
1. Main functions of Piston rings:
It generates pressure seal (Prevent leakage)
Heat transfer path (Piston and cylinder walls)
Controls the flow of oil to the skirt and themselves
Prevent excessive flow of oil in CC

Design criteria of piston rings

Materials good heat and wear resistance

Chromium plated (wear and corrosion resistance)

Cross section Depth (mostly simple rectangular) is determined by radial

stiffness required

Thickness is determined by bearing pressure required

Distance b/n rings must be large (braking up under dynamic loading)

Bearing areas of b/n rings and grooves are adequate

Gudgeon Pin
Main functions are:
To connect piston with smaller end of connecting rod
Takes bending shearing and crushing stress

Design criteria:
Diameter is decided by bending stress
External bearing surface is controlled by high degree of accuracy of fit
Alternate load will be taken care to avoid fatigue crack originating at the

surface of the bore

Connecting rods
Main functions are:
To provide link between piston and crank
To transfer reciprocating movement of piston to crank
Generate oscillating motion to rotate crank
To supply oil in splash lubrication system

Design criteria of connecting rod:

Materials will be light as possible

While oscillates cannot be balanced completely. Less mass improves

overall balancing

I section gives best inertia distribution and better balancing performance

Length plays vital role, short one makes angular swing resulting in greater
side thrust on piston

Dimension of cross section derived from Rankines formula for buckling of

the CR in the plane of rotation of crank.

Crankshaft
Main functions are:
To provide rotary motion of crank from reciprocating motion of piston and

Connecting rod
To provide power at the end of shaft to run various auxiliary devices

through belt drive

Design criteria:
Sufficient strength to withstand bending and twisting moments
Sufficient rigidity to keep lateral and angular deflections
Sufficient endurance limit stress to avoid fluctuating stress

CYLINDER HEAD
Main functions are:
To accommodate inlet exhaust valves, OHCS, rocker arm, spark plug,

injectors, and ports

To form a combustion chamber
To provide gas tight top end for the cylinder

Design criteria:
Light weight
High thermal conductivity
Highly corrosive resistance
Sufficient cooling should be provided

CYLINDER BLOCK
Main functions are:
To form a cylinder and combustion chamber
Provide guide way for piston
High rate of transfer
Amount of cooling
Withstand high compressive forces during combustion

Design criteria:
Material should be withstand High pressure
High thermal stresses
Resist to wear due to piston movement
Corrosive resistant
Good surface finish to reduce friction and wear
Water jackets are properly distributed throughout cylinder
Cylinder bores and valve seats should be relatively free from distortion

CAM SHAFT
Main functions are:
To drive the valves
It runs half the speed of crankshaft (ie each valve should run only once

at 2 revolution of crankshaft)
Largely depends on Maximum valve lift required during strokes

Crankcase
Main functions are:
Lower dead end of the engine
Store the lubricating oil
Light weight alloys with thermal conductivity
Contains small like oil strainer, filter, oil pump
For mounting adequate strength is required

Rocker arms
Main functions are:
Open and close the valve wrt cam and follower
Bending stress (gas pressure on valves)
Inertia force of valve and weight (I section)
Spring force to hold
The thickness of the web and flanges is kept uniform
Uniform strength by tapering the width and depth

Poppet valves
Main functions are:

Materials should be heat resistance

Good thermal conductivity

Corrosion resistance (To avoid Nickel, manganese, cobalt, chromium, silicon,

molybdenum, tungsten, titanium alloys will be coated)

Shock resisting and wear resisting (Thermal, mechanical loads)

Provide sufficient cooling

Failure :

Tensile elongation

Either hot or cold corrosion

Wear

Burning

Cold corrosion ( condensation acid products of combustion)