Tension and Compression in

Connecting Rods
A Failure Analysis


Luke Schreier
EM 325H
April 26, 1999
INTRODUCTION
In order to understand the true impact the automobile has had on our society, we
would have to go back in time over one hundred years. A time without the
simplicity of hopping into a vehicle to take us anywhere we want to go is almost
unfathomable to many Americans. But for the early automotive engineers, the
tremendous advancements in automotive technology would be even more
surprising.
In the last 50 years, cars have learned to think, adjust, and even protect. But this
is just the tip of the iceberg. High performance is now the catch phrase. The vast
majority of people want a vehicle that will get them from point A to point B as
easily as possible, but also put a little smile on their faces. Often times, the smile
is created by a quick punch of the accelerator and accompanied by a feeling of
immense power and control. The auto manufacturers are well aware of this, and
to achieve it, they design faster, lighter, and more efficient engines to do the job.
But exactly what happens inside an engine, and what are the risks involved in
designing the strongest engine on the block?
In this project, one component of an engine in particular, the connecting rod, will
be analyzed. Being one of the most integral parts in an engines design, the
connecting rod must be able to withstand tremendous loads and transmit a great
deal of power. It is no surprise that a failure in a connecting rod can be one of the
most costly and damaging failures in an engine. But simply saying that isnt
enough to fully understand the dynamics of the situation.
Throughout the course of this project, an idealized model of a connecting rod,
piston, and flywheel will be modeled and analyzed. It will become apparent
exactly why these parts are so important to the operation of an automobile, and
furthermore how prone to failure they can be. However, before too much more is
said on the engineering details, a little background information is necessary.
FUNDAMENTALS
Below is a picture of the
fundamental parts of an engine. Surface "L" is where combustion occurs, air
enters through "M", and "H" is the shaft through which power is accumulated
and delivered out of the engine. The combustion occurs against the top surface of
the piston (F) and pushes the connecting rod (G) downward, causing the shaft to
move in a circular motion. So, it is easy to see that the connecting rod harnesses
all of the power produced in combustion and converts it into something useful, in
this case a spinning shaft.
ASSUMPTIONS AND FREE-BODY DIAGRAMS
Now that we are all on the same page, the assumptions for this project can be
discussed. First of all, it is necessary to point out that the actual dynamics of such
a system are tremendous, and to model all of them in one project would be quite
a task. So, to simplify, this project will neglect momentum and gravity. Only one
connecting rod-piston assembly will be considered. The crankshaft, while in
actuality having a very functional mass distribution, will be considered simply a
circle (or if it is easier to visualize, a flywheel). In effect, many of the same
calculations could be performed on a more sophisticated system, but this will
suffice for the time being.
Here is what we start with:

From an understanding of statics, we can represent the connecting rod of length
"l" by a two-force member (this requires a few more assumptions, but for
purposes of this project, it is acceptable). Given this, we can split this system into
two free-body diagrams:

EQUATIONS
From these free-body diagrams, we can apply Newtons Second Law (F=ma) to
write some equations. In particular, we are interested in summing forces in the
"x" direction (horizontal), and summing the moments about the center of the
flywheel. Doing so, we acquire these equations:
M
o
= -F
AB
cos ( ) * rsin ( ) F
AB
sin ( ) * rcos( ) = I * d
2
/dt
2
(CCW
positive)
F
x
= -F
AB
cos ( ) P = m * d
2
x/dt
2
( positive)
We can simplify the moment equation, employing the use of the double-angle
trigonometric formula:
sin ( + ) = cos ( ) * sin ( ) + sin ( ) * cos ( )
Therefore,
-F
AB
* r sin ( + ) = I * d
2
/dt
2

Now, if we solve the force equation for F
AB
,
-F
AB
= (m * d
2
x/dt
2
+ P)/(cos ( ))
We can substitute this equation into our moment equation, giving us:
(m * d
2
x/dt
2
+ P)/cos ( ) * r sin ( + ) = I * d
2
/dt
2

This will be our main equation of rotation.
At this point, we are working our way towards acquiring a representation of ,
in order to eventually find F
AB
. But looking at these equations, we can see that
there are many different variables to work with, including a few derivatives. In
order to help simplify them a little more, it is important to notice a few relations.
For instance, we can apply the law of sines to this triangle, found between the
flywheel and piston:

sin ( )/l = sin ( )/r

This takes care of the two angles. Next, we must find an equation for x, the
distance from the center of the flywheel to the bottom of the piston. This can be
found using trigonometry:

x = l cos ( ) + r cos ( )

Unfortunately, we are not actually dealing with x in this problem, but rather
d
2
x/dt
2
. Therefore, we will have to take two derivatives of x:
dx/dt = -l sin ( ) * d /dt r sin ( ) * d /dt
d
2
x/dt
2
= -l cos ( )*(d /dt)
2
l sin ( )*(d
2
/dt
2
) r cos ( )*(d /dt)
2

r sin ( )* d
2
/dt
2

With this value for d
2
x/dt
2
, we can substitute back into our main equation.
However, once again we have introduced a few more items into this scenario, in
particular the first and second derivatives or and . Given these terms, we will
once again have to find equations that relate them to things we already know or
can find.
Because this is a long process, I will explain what is happening beforehand and
then simply show the equations. We have our equation relating and that was
derived from the law of sines. From this, we can take a few more derivatives to
find equations for d /dt and d
2
/dt
2
. It is not necessary to find the relation of the
derivatives of because they will be shown in the final integrations.
= sin
-1
((r sin ( ))/l)
d /dt = r sin ( ) * d /dt
l cos ( )
d
2
/dt
2
= -r cos ( ) * (d /dt)
2
+ r sin ( ) * d
2
/dt
2
+ sin ( ) * (d /dt)
2

l cos ( ) l cos ( ) cos ( )

PRESSURE IN A FOUR-STROKE ENGINE
Up to this point, the variable P has gone unmentioned. The pressure in the
cylinder (P) is not an easy thing to model for a situation like this, yet it is one of
the most important factors in the final analysis. To be able to explain how P
fluctuates, it is once again necessary to give a little background on a four-stroke
engine.
A four-stroke engine is the most common type used in automobiles. The four
strokes are intake, compression, power, and exhaust. Each stroke requires
approximately 180 degrees of crankshaft (or flywheel) rotation, so the complete
cycle would take 720 degrees. Each stroke plays a very important role in the
combustion process, and each has a different pressure surrounding it.
In the intake cycle, as the picture shows, the piston
is moving downward while one of the valves is open. This creates a vacuum, and
an air-fuel mixture is sucked into the chamber. This would be cause for very little
pressure on the piston, so P is small.
Moving on to compression, we can see that both
valves are closed, and the piston is moving upward. This creates a much larger
amount of pressure on the piston, so we would have a different representation of
P in our equation for this stroke.
The next stroke is the big one: power. This is where
the compressed air-fuel mixture is ignited with a spark, causing a tremendous
jump in pressure as the fuel burns. The pressure seems to "spike", so the most
cause for concern occurs here. (This is also the area in which the dangers of
engine knock or pre-detonation can occur, causing an even larger spike.)
Finally, we have the exhaust stroke. In this stroke, the
exhaust valve is open, once again creating a chamber of low pressure. So, as the
piston moves back upwards, it forces all the air out of the chamber. The pressure
in this region is therefore considered very low.
So, given the understanding of how a four-stroke engine works, we must now
model the variable pressure for all 720 degrees (or 12.57 radians). Creating a
piecewise-defined function does this. However, we still need to find some basic
values for the pressure, and for the purposes of this project, a particular graphical
representation was chosen:

In order to make this graph work, we assume all points are linearly connected. In
other words, three pressures were selected (5, 10, and 30 atm), and it was
assumed that the pressure increased linearly between them. With this assumption,
the piecewise-defined function became (angles in radians):

P = 10 +200* 0 .1
30 .1 .35
30 + (20-57.14* ) .35 .7
10 + (5-7.14* ) .7 1.4
5 1.4 11.87
5 + 7.14* 11.87 12.57
INTEGRATION AND DATA ANALYSIS
Now that we have everything represented in one way or another, it becomes
necessary to focus our attention on finding . Because such a complicated
equation cannot be solved analytically, a numerical method needs to be used. In
this particular case, given its complexity, the Euler method of integration was
chosen.
In order to perform all of the calculations, a program was written in Fortran.
Essentially, it asked for the mass, radius, and length from the user, as well as the
starting values of , d /dt, and d
2
/dt
2
and the time step value, while
producing the values of and the actual force in the connecting rod, F
AB
. In
order to analyze the data over a period of time, the and F
AB
values were sent to
a file, which was read by Microsoft Excel and graphed over time. The two
graphs, vs. time and F
AB
vs. time, are displayed below.

Note: For purposes of this project, the following substitutions were made: the
length was set equal to 6.7 in, radius of the flywheel was 4.33 in, the radius of the
piston was 2.31 in, and the mass of the piston was 3 lbs.
DATA IMPLICATIONS
It appears from looking at the graphs that a mistake must have been made. It
would take far less time for a flywheel to rotate than the 10-15 seconds that could
be inferred from the graph of theta. In addition to that, we would also assume
theta to be constantly increasing as opposed to the rapid fluctuations it
experiences here. Unfortunately, it is very difficult to say what is causing this
error. There is always the chance of mathematical errors occurring, but it could
also have been due to the fact that the system started out from rest. In actuality, a
starter would give the flywheel an initial turn or two to get things moving, letting
combustion eventually take over. However, that becomes very difficult to model
in this case.
Generally, we would assume that because our graph of theta is incorrect, the
graph of force is probably as incorrect. However, looking at it, we see that there
are certain areas where the force is much greater. This is definitely expected, but
probably not to the degree that it shows up. But, for the sake of discussion, let us
just assume that the high value of around 550,000 lbs that shows up on our graph
is actually correct. Making that assumption, we can do some calculations and
relate this data to the Mechanics of Materials.
First of all, to find the stress on the connecting rod, we use the formula:
= P/A ( = stress, P = force acting on rod, A = cross-sectional area)
If we assume a connecting rod thickness of approximately .5 in and a width of
1.25 in, we would calculate a cross-sectional area of .625 in
2
. Therefore,
plugging in our values of P=550,000 lbs and A=.625 in
2
, we would get a stress of
880,000 pounds per in
2
.
Now what does this value mean to us? Is this a lot of stress to place on a
material? Well, lets assume that the two most likely materials to be used in a
connecting rods are steel and aluminum. This is actually a pretty good
assumption, since the vast majority of automobiles contain steel or aluminum
rods.
STRESS-STRAIN DIAGRAMS
To understand the strength of each material in a situation like this, we need to
understand a stress-strain diagram (pictured below). Each material behaves in a
similar manner when placed under a load. There is a period of elastic
deformation, in which the material is stretched, but it returns to its original size
when unloaded. The point at which it fails to return to the original specifications
is called the yield stress. Now, in an automobile, we would probably have to
assume that this yield stress would be passed at some point, so most connecting
rods come out of engines a different size than when they were installed.

After the yield stress, another stress point can be reached called the ultimate
stress point. At this point, a material has essentially reached the point of no
return. Failure is imminent, and even a decreased amount of stress can cause
fracture. So, naturally, this is what we concern ourselves with.
For the type of steel that a connecting rod would likely be created with, the
ultimate tensile strength would be about 80 to 180 thousand pounds per in
2
. If
aluminum were used, the ultimate tensile strength would be closer to 70 thousand
pounds per in
2
. So, you can see that our connecting rod, under a stress of 880
thousand psi, would be in serious trouble. Failure would almost definitely occur,
even if incredibly high strength steel were used.

REAL-WORLD RELATION
It is in calculations like these that automotive engineers are able to predict
exactly what materials and specifications can be used in a high-performance
engine. While the data that was produced in this project appeared to be flawed,
data similar to it can be produced for each type of engine produced. Without such
knowledge, there would be a lot of guessing, and with guessing usually comes
catastrophe.
ANOTHER SOURCE ON THE MATTER
In an article appearing in the newsstand magazine "Engines", Jim McFarland
writes a nice article describing the most common types of failure in connecting
rods. Much of what he writes about is similar to the concepts in this project, but
he throws in a few more interesting comments.
For the most part, the type of fracture considered in this project occurred in the
center of the rod. McFarland also touches on failure at the connecting rod bolts.
These bolts attach the rods to the crankshaft journals, and consequently, they are
placed under just as much strain as the rod itself. He states that they are often
made to withstand stresses in excess of 250,000 psi. (Which, by the way, is an
awful long was from 880,000 psi, further showing how inaccurate our data
appears to be.)
As I alluded to earlier, abnormal combustion is also a serious problem for
connecting rods. McFarland notes that under detonation conditions, the pressure
from combustion can be almost double what it normally might be. Understanding
this, we can see just how susceptible a connecting rod could be to using the
wrong gasoline. (Improper octane ratings are often a causing of pinging or
knocking in an engine.)
CONCLUDING NOTES
If anything, this project should have conveyed a sense of just how erratically an
engine can operate, even under normal conditions. It is this lack of continuity that
can create major problems on parts like connecting rods. Hence, designers and
engineers are forced to choose materials that are strong enough to withstand such
powerful forces, while maintaining a low cost and lightweight product.
Despite the fact the data in this project appeared incorrect in the final analysis,
the thought process behind it was very typical of what must be done to analyze a
complicated system. If a more accurate analysis was necessary, factors like
cylinder friction, momentum, and dozens of other variables could have been
taken into account. But, given the assumptions that were made and the data
acquired, this project still provided an interesting look at what happens inside an
engine and what limitations each engine has placed upon it.



REFERENCES
1. Duffy, James E. Modern Automotive Technology. 1994, Goodheart-
Wilcox Company.
2. McFarland, Jim. "Connecting Rod Basics." Engines. March, 1999.
Peterson Publishing Company.
3. Ramos, J.I. Internal Combusion Engine Modeling. 1989, Hemisphere
Publishing.
4. Gere and Timoshenko. Mechanics of Materials: Fourth Edition. 1997,
PWS Publishing Company.
5. Beer and Johnston. Vector Mechanics for Engineers: Dynamics. 1997,
WCB/McGraw-Hill.