Special Issue - 2015 International Journal of Engineering Research & Technology (IJERT)

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ISSN: 2278-0181
ICNTE-2015 Conference Proceedings

Nonlinear Static Finite Element Analysis and

Material Optimization of Connecting Rod

Mr. Vivek T. Fegade Dr. Kiran S. Bhole

Research Scholar, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Head, Department of Mechanical Engineering,
Datta Meghe College of Engineering, Datta Meghe College of Engineering,
Airoli, India Airoli, India

Abstract— This paper describes about nonlinear static analysis it should not alter the performance and safety of the
and optimization of forged steel connecting rod. With the component. Hence the material selection plays an important
implementation of optimization approach connecting rod of role in order to produce light weight connecting rod. This
stronger but equally lighter can be obtained with minimum cost. issue of material selection for connecting rod is taken here in
This paper focus on finite element analysis and material this paper as a part of study to find out alternative materials
optimization of Titanium alloys as an alternative material for for connecting rod by doing some modifications in design of
connecting rod. For comparison Finite element analysis of existing connecting rod.
connecting rod is completed by considering two materials viz.
structural steel & Titanium alloys. A proper CAD model is Finite element analysis has emerged as a powerful tool for
developed using software CATIA V5 then FEA of connecting rod supporting engineers in various fields of product development
is carried out to determine the maximum von misses stresses for and research in the continuous improvement of computational
the given loading conditions using software ANSYS capabilities [1]. Three dimensional FEA of high speed diesel
WORKBENCH. The design and weight of the connecting rod engine connecting rod was first carried out by author [2].The
affect the engine performance. Specifications of connecting rod connecting rod fouling with the camshaft in the engine of DI
have been estimated to calculate the loads acting on it. Structural model of tractor of Mahindra & Mahindra was corrected by
analysis is carried out on piston end and crank end of connecting using the Computer aided modeling and analysis techniques
rod. The component is to be optimized for material subject to
[3]. Sensitivity analysis and optimization based on the
constraint of allowable stress and factor of safety. The percentage
combination of Pro/MECHANICA and ANSYS are applied to
weight reduction obtained was 1.5 % by optimization.
designing of the connecting rod of LJ276M electronic gasoline
Keywords: Connecting Rod, FEA, Nonlinear, Optimization, engine [4]. Author has suggested use of metamodel based
Static etc . shape optimization of connecting rod taking fatigue life in to
consideration. The actual cost of computer simulations of
I. INTRODUCTION connecting rod can be reduced by using metamodel based
As the use of automobiles is increase, there is huge optimization as compare to classical design optimization [5].
demand of automobiles components. The increased demand is Analysis and optimization of forged steel connecting rod for
due to improved performance and reduced cost of these weight reduction has worked out by author [6]. The structural
components. In order to minimize launch time for new product improvement in the structure of diesel engine connecting rod
research and development and test engineers develop critical was evaluated and observed that the destructive position is lie
components in shortest time. It becomes necessary to in between connecting rod shank & transition location of small
understand and rapid incorporation of new technologies while end for condition of maximum compression [7]. For to reduce
developing the new products. Connecting rod is under severe weight & production cost of forged steel connecting rod, an
dynamic load used for transmitting the power in internal optimization study is necessary [8]. The topology optimization
combustion engines. It is considered as important component is used to design internal combustion engine of connecting rod
from the view of structural durability and efficiency. It acts as , to develop structural modeling, FEA & optimization [9].
an intermediary link between the piston and crankshaft of Fully reverse loading is used to estimate longevity of a
internal combustion engine. Its function is to transmit thrust connecting rod and also find the critical points from where
from piston to crankshaft. Connecting rods are subjected to there is possibility of crack growth initiation in the universal
forces generated by mass and fuel combustion which results in tractor connecting rod (U650) [10]. They have introduced a
axial and bending stresses. Due to eccentricities, crankshaft, new method of the connecting rod structural FEA and
case wall deformation, and rotational mass force bending optimization. Stress distribution and strength of connecting
stresses are appear. That's why a connecting rod must be rod are derived to optimize the design of the connecting rod
withstand for transmitting axial tension, axial compression, [11]. Detail load analysis of connecting rod was studied for
and bending stress occurred due to the thrust and pull of the MF tractor followed by its FEA to capture stresses and fatigue
piston and by centrifugal force. It is observed that for to cycles [12]. Investigated failure of diesel engine connecting
produce light weight connecting rod, most efforts in weight rod by Visual and scanning electron microscopy (SEM)
reduction have focused on shape optimization and removal of observations [13]. Connecting rod was redesigned by taking
material which is not always feasible. The requirement is that

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 Special Issue - 2015 International Journal of Engineering Research & Technology (IJERT)
`
ISSN: 2278-0181
ICNTE-2015 Conference Proceedings

manufacturing process effects in analysis to obtain good C. Meshing

fatigue performance with weight reduction [14]. Element used is 10 node Tetrahedron named Solid187.
Connecting rod is subjected to forces generated by mass & First convergence was checked by finding deformation against
fuel combustion which results in axial load and bending different element size .
stresses. A connecting rod must be withstand for transmitting Finite element mesh was generated using solid tetrahedral
axial tension, axial compression, and bending stress occurred elements with various element lengths of 8 mm (5353
due to the thrust and pull of the piston and by centrifugal elements), 5 mm (16928 elements), 3 mm (118152 elements),
force. Finite element Model (FEM) is a new technique for and 2.5 mm (127410 elements), 2.2mm (141274 elements),
fatigue analysis and estimation of the component. The 2mm (185932 elements), 1.8mm (240093 elements). The
important component factors such as material, cross section deformation was checked for convergence. Figure 2 below
conditions etc can be change. shown is deformation versus element size for checking
Steel and titanium are used as a material for connecting convergence.
rod. The objective of the research is an attempt to design and Thus element size was found out to be 2mm for working
analysis of composite connecting rod, made of strip of in convergence zone. Therefore, a finite element mesh was
Titanium alloys inserted in structural steel connecting rod. generated with a uniform global element length of 2 mm. This
CAD model is prepared in Catia V5. For analysis model is resulted in a mesh with 185932 elements and 285457 nodes.
imported in Ansys workbench. Figure 3 shown below is meshed model of connecting rod.
In this paper finally, the comparison is made between the TABLE 2. DIMENSIONS OF CONNECTING ROD
structural steel and composite made connecting rod in terms
of weight and stress. Dimensions Values (mm)

The structure of paper is as follows: Web thickness t 3

Width of flange B 12
First of all the introduction is presented with relevant Height of I section H 15
literature review and objective of study, followed by
Diameter of pin end 24
simulation methodology, results and discussion, and finally
the conclusions. Length of pin end 32
Diameter of crank end 64
II. SIMULATION METHODOLOGY Length of crank end 34
In light of literature it was felt that simulation is important No of bolts 2
tool, which can be used for failure prediction or improvement Size of bolts M14 X 1.5
in design with aim of reducing weight, cost etc. Simulation
methodology contains design of connecting rod, modelling,
meshing, boundary conditions, stress observation, stress
prediction and optimization of connecting rod.
A. Design of connecting rod
Design of various parts of connecting rod viz: connecting
rod shank, big end, small end, bolts for cap, cap of big end is
done as per standard design procedure [24].

TABLE 1. INPUT PARAMETER FOR CONNECTING ROD

Parameters Dimensions
Diameter of piston 95 mm
Fig. 1 Cad model of connecting rod
Weight of reciprocating parts 1.6 kg
Length of connecting rod ) 200 mm
Stroke 62.5 mm
Speed 1500-2500 rpm
Compression ratio 4:1
Maximum explosion pressure ( ) 2.5MPa

Outputs of the design:

Outputs obtained are the dimensions of connecting rod
required for modeling it on CATIA software. Table 2 shows
the dimension of connecting rod.
B. Modeling
Connecting rod was modeled using CATIA V5 software Fig. 2. Deformation convergence along element size
which is shown in Figure 1. It was then imported to Design
Modeller of ANSYS Workbench

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 Special Issue - 2015 International Journal of Engineering Research & Technology (IJERT)
`
ISSN: 2278-0181
ICNTE-2015 Conference Proceedings

allowable stress to maximum stress. In case of compressive

loading at crank end, due to stress concentration maximum
stress occurred at oil hole as shown in fig 4 and at pin end
maximum stress is occurred on the pin end as shown in Fig 5.
In case of tensile loading at crank end maximum stress is
occurred at oil hole as shown in fig 6 and at pin end stress
distribution shown in fig 7.
G. Stress Prediction
Stress concentration occurs at the regions of sudden
changes in geometry, point of application of loads and point of
Fig 3. Meshed model of connecting rod application of forces.
TABLE 3: BOUNDARY CONDITIONS USED FOR STATIC ANALYSIS
OF CONNECTING ROD

Connecting Rod
Crank End Piston Pin End
End Loading
Pressure of Restrained
Compressive 8.48MPa
Loading Restrained Pressure of
27.45MPa
Pressure of Restrained
9.35MPa
Tensile Loading
Restrained Pressure of
30.27MPa
Fig. 4. Vonmisses steel rod crank end compressive
D. Boundary Conditions
By using the expressions from force analysis of
connecting rod tensile and compressive loads acting on the
connecting rod was obtained.
In the analysis carried out, the axial load was 15976 N in
both tension and compression. For both tensile and
compressive loads FEA was conducted. In this study four
finite element models are analyzed. Finally the comparisons
are done for optimization purpose. The pressure constants for
15976 N are as follows used for applying
Fig. 5 Vonmisses steel rod pin end compressive
• Compressive Loading:
Crank End: Po = 15976/ (32 x 34 x √3) = 8.48 MPa
Piston Pin End: Po = 15976/ (12 x 28 x √3) = 27.45 MPa
• Tensile Loading:
Crank End: Po=15976/ [32x 34x (π/2)] = 9.35 MPa
Piston Pin End: Po=15976/ [12x 28x (π/2)] = 30.27 MPa
Table3 shows boundary conditions used for analysis of
connecting rod for original model as well as optimized
model. Fig. 6 Vonmisses steel rod crank end tensile

E. Nonlinearity of connecting Rod

Contact Nonlinearity was present between connecting rod
and its cap. Bonded contact was defined between them, so
contact elements and target elements were obtained between
surfaces in contact i.e. between cap and connecting rod.
F. Stress Observation
Equivalent stress and deformation in connecting rod were
obtained in both tensile as well as compressive loading
condition using static structural analysis in ANSYS
workbench. Factor of safety was calculated based on ratio of Fig. 7. Vonmisses steel rod pin end tensile

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 Special Issue - 2015 International Journal of Engineering Research & Technology (IJERT)
`
ISSN: 2278-0181
ICNTE-2015 Conference Proceedings

H. Optimization
Objective of the optimization task was to minimize the
mass of the connecting rod under the effect of a load range
comprising the two extreme loads, the peak compressive gas
load to keep the maximum, minimum, and the equivalent
stress amplitude within the limits of the allowable stresses.
a) Optimization Statement:
Objective Function: Minimize mass
Subject to Constraints
[1] Maximum Vonmises stress < Allowable stress Fig. 9. Pin end compressive
[2] Factor of safety > 1.3
[3] Manufacturing Constraints.
b) Optimized Model
The stresses in each loading conditions were studied after
carrying out static structural analysis. As the thickness of web
is 3mm , more than 1mm thickness plate will not fit there as
surrounding steel will become too thin to hold it so a 1mm
thickness titanium plate is added on both side of shank of
connecting rod so that maximum vonmisses stress does not
exceed allowable and factor of safety is kept above 1.3.
As shown in Fig.8 Following a 1mm thickness titanium Fig.10. Pin end compressive along the path
plate is added on both side of shank. Optimized geometry was
modified in Design modeler of ANSYS Workbench.

III. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

The weight of original model was 670.18 gm & of

optimized model is 659.91 gm. The total weight reduced is
10.27 gm.
Maximum vonmises stress and deformation was found out
using static structural analysis in ANSYS workbench. Stress
distribution for compressive loading at pin end, Maximum
stress occurred at pin end as shown in Fig 9 and stress Fig 11. Pin end tensile
obtained by titanium plate along the path shown in fig 10.
Stress distribution for Tensile loading at pin end is shown in
Fig 11 and stress obtained by titanium plate along the path
shown in fig 12. Stress distribution for compressive loading at
crank end is shown in fig 13 in this case due to stress
concentration max stress occurred at oil hole.

Fig. 12. Pin end tensile along the path

1mm thick titanium strip

Fig 8. Optimized connecting rod
Fig. 13. Crank end compressive

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 Special Issue - 2015 International Journal of Engineering Research & Technology (IJERT)
`
ISSN: 2278-0181
ICNTE-2015 Conference Proceedings

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