Piston

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Pistons within a sectioned petrol engine

Animation of a piston system.

A piston is a component of reciprocating engines, reciprocating pumps, gas

compressors and pneumatic cylinders, among other similar mechanisms. It is the moving
component that is contained by a cylinder and is made gas-tight by piston rings. In an engine, its
purpose is to transfer force from expanding gas in the cylinder to the crankshaft via a piston
rod and/or connecting rod. In a pump, the function is reversed and force is transferred from the
crankshaft to the piston for the purpose of compressing or ejecting the fluid in the cylinder. In
some engines, the piston also acts as a valve by covering and uncovering ports in the cylinder.

Contents

• 1Piston engines
 o 1.1Internal combustion engines
▪ 1.1.1Trunk pistons
▪ 1.1.2Crosshead pistons
▪ 1.1.3Slipper pistons
▪ 1.1.4Deflector pistons
▪ 1.1.5Racing Pistons
o 1.2Steam engines
• 2Pumps
o 2.1For liquids
o 2.2For gases
• 3Air cannons
• 4See also
• 5Notes
• 6References
• 7Bibliography
• 8External links

Piston engines[edit]
Main article: Reciprocating engine
Internal combustion engines[edit]

Internal combustion engine piston, sectioned to show the gudgeon pin.

An internal combustion engine is acted upon by the pressure of the expanding combustion gases
in the combustion chamber space at the top of the cylinder. This force then acts downwards
through the connecting rod and onto the crankshaft. The connecting rod is attached to the piston
by a swivelling gudgeon pin (US: wrist pin). This pin is mounted within the piston: unlike the
steam engine, there is no piston rod or crosshead (except big two stroke engines).
The typical piston design is on the picture. This type of piston is widely used in car diesel
engines. According to purpose, supercharging level and working conditions of engines the shape
and proportions can be changed.
High-power diesel engines work in difficult conditions. Maximum pressure in the combustion
chamber can reach 20 MPa and maximum temperature of some piston surfaces can exceed
450°C. It is possible to improve piston cooling by creating special cooling cavity. Injector supplies
this cooling cavity «A» with oil through oil supply channel «B». For better temperature reduction
construction should be carefully calculated and analyzed. Oil flow in cooling cavity should be not
less than 80% from oil flow through the injector.
A – cooling cavity; B – oil supply channel

The pin itself is of hardened steel and is fixed in the piston, but free to move in the connecting
rod. A few designs use a 'fully floating' design that is loose in both components. All pins must be
prevented from moving sideways and the ends of the pin digging into the cylinder wall, usually
by circlips.
Gas sealing is achieved by the use of piston rings. These are a number of narrow iron rings,
fitted loosely into grooves in the piston, just below the crown. The rings are split at a point in the
rim, allowing them to press against the cylinder with a light spring pressure. Two types of ring are
used: the upper rings have solid faces and provide gas sealing; lower rings have narrow edges
and a U-shaped profile, to act as oil scrapers. There are many proprietary and detail design
features associated with piston rings.
Pistons are cast from aluminium alloys. For better strength and fatigue life, some racing
pistons[1] may be forged instead. Billet pistons are also used in racing engines because they do
not rely on the size and architecture of available forgings, allowing for last-minute design
changes. Although not commonly visible to the naked eye, pistons themselves are designed with
a certain level of ovality and profile taper, meaning they are not perfectly round, and their
diameter is larger near the bottom of the skirt than at the crown.[2]
Early pistons were of cast iron, but there were obvious benefits for engine balancing if a lighter
alloy could be used. To produce pistons that could survive engine combustion temperatures, it
was necessary to develop new alloys such as Y alloy and Hiduminium, specifically for use as
pistons.
A few early gas engines[i] had double-acting cylinders, but otherwise effectively all internal
combustion engine pistons are single-acting. During World War II, the US
submarine Pompano[ii] was fitted with a prototype of the infamously unreliable H.O.R. double-
acting two-stroke diesel engine. Although compact, for use in a cramped submarine, this design
of engine was not repeated.
Media related to Internal combustion engine pistons at Wikimedia Commons
Trunk pistons[edit]
Trunk pistons are long relative to their diameter. They act both as a piston and
cylindrical crosshead. As the connecting rod is angled for much of its rotation, there is also a side
force that reacts along the side of the piston against the cylinder wall. A longer piston helps to
support this.
Trunk pistons have been a common design of piston since the early days of the reciprocating
internal combustion engine. They were used for both petrol and diesel engines, although high
speed engines have now adopted the lighter weight slipper piston.
A characteristic of most trunk pistons, particularly for diesel engines, is that they have a groove
for an oil ring below the gudgeon pin, in addition to the rings between the gudgeon pin and
crown.
The name 'trunk piston' derives from the 'trunk engine', an early design of marine steam engine.
To make these more compact, they avoided the steam engine's usual piston rod with separate
crosshead and were instead the first engine design to place the gudgeon pin directly within the
piston. Otherwise these trunk engine pistons bore little resemblance to the trunk piston; they
were extremely large diameter and double-acting. Their 'trunk' was a narrow cylinder mounted in
the centre of the piston.
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Crosshead pistons[edit]
Large slow-speed Diesel engines may require additional support for the side forces on the piston.
These engines typically use crosshead pistons. The main piston has a large piston rod extending
downwards from the piston to what is effectively a second smaller-diameter piston. The main
piston is responsible for gas sealing and carries the piston rings. The smaller piston is purely a
mechanical guide. It runs within a small cylinder as a trunk guide and also carries the gudgeon
pin.
Lubrication of the crosshead has advantages over the trunk piston as its lubricating oil is not
subject to the heat of combustion: the oil is not contaminated by combustion soot particles, it
does not break down owing to the heat and a thinner, less viscous oil may be used. The friction
of both piston and crosshead may be only half of that for a trunk piston.[3]
Because of the additional weight of these pistons, they are not used for high-speed engines.
Media related to Crosshead pistons at Wikimedia Commons
Slipper pistons[edit]

Slipper piston

A slipper piston is a piston for a petrol engine that has been reduced in size and weight as
much as possible. In the extreme case, they are reduced to the piston crown, support for the
piston rings, and just enough of the piston skirt remaining to leave two lands so as to stop the
piston rocking in the bore. The sides of the piston skirt around the gudgeon pin are reduced away
from the cylinder wall. The purpose is mostly to reduce the reciprocating mass, thus making it
easier to balance the engine and so permit high speeds.[4] In racing applications, slipper piston
skirts can be configured to yield extremely light weight while maintaining the rigidity and strength
of a full skirt.[5] Reduced inertia also improves mechanical efficiency of the engine: the forces
required to accelerate and decelerate the reciprocating parts cause more piston friction with the
cylinder wall than the fluid pressure on the piston head.[6] A secondary benefit may be some
reduction in friction with the cylinder wall, since the area of the skirt, which slides up and down in
the cylinder is reduced by half. However, most friction is due to the piston rings, which are the
parts which actually fit the tightest in the bore and the bearing surfaces of the wrist pin, and thus
the benefit is reduced.
Media related to Slipper pistons at Wikimedia Commons
Deflector pistons[edit]

Two-stroke deflector piston

Deflector pistons are used in two-stroke engines with crankcase compression, where the gas
flow within the cylinder must be carefully directed in order to provide efficient scavenging.
With cross scavenging, the transfer (inlet to the cylinder) and exhaust ports are on directly facing
sides of the cylinder wall. To prevent the incoming mixture passing straight across from one port
to the other, the piston has a raised rib on its crown. This is intended to deflect the incoming
mixture upwards, around the combustion chamber.[7]
Much effort, and many different designs of piston crown, went into developing improved
scavenging. The crowns developed from a simple rib to a large asymmetric bulge, usually with a
steep face on the inlet side and a gentle curve on the exhaust. Despite this, cross scavenging
was never as effective as hoped. Most engines today use Schnuerle porting instead. This places
a pair of transfer ports in the sides of the cylinder and encourages gas flow to rotate around a
vertical axis, rather than a horizontal axis.[8]
Media related to Deflector pistons at Wikimedia Commons
Racing Pistons[edit]

Cast-iron steam engine piston, with a metal piston ring spring-loaded against the cylinder wall.
Early (c. 1830) piston for a beam engine. The piston seal is made by turns of wrapped rope.

In racing engines, piston strength and stiffness is typically much higher than that of a passenger
car engine, while the weight is much less, to achieve the high engine RPM necessary in racing.[9]
Steam engines[edit]
Steam engines are usually double-acting (i.e. steam pressure acts alternately on each side of the
piston) and the admission and release of steam is controlled by slide valves, piston
valves or poppet valves. Consequently, steam engine pistons are nearly always comparatively
thin discs: their diameter is several times their thickness. (One exception is the trunk
engine piston, shaped more like those in a modern internal-combustion engine.) Another factor is
that since almost all steam engines use crossheads to translate the force to the drive rod, there
are few lateral forces acting to try and "rock" the piston, so a cylinder-shaped piston skirt isn't
necessary.

Pumps[edit]
Piston pumps can be used to move liquids or compress gases.
For liquids[edit]
Main article: Reciprocating pump
For gases[edit]
Main article: Reciprocating compressor

Air cannons[edit]
There are two special type of pistons used in air cannons: close tolerance pistons and double
pistons. In close tolerance pistons O-rings serve as a valve, but O-rings are not used in double
piston types.

See also[edit]
• Air gun
• Fire piston
• Fruit press
• Gas-operated reloading, using a gas piston
• Hydraulic cylinder
• Shock absorber
• Slide whistle
• Steam locomotive components
• Syringe
• Wankel engine, an internal combustion engine design with a
rotor replacing the piston
Notes[edit]
1. ^ 'Gas' here refers to a fuel gas, not gasoline.
2. ^ A handful of submarines in the following class used a similar
engine, with almost equally poor results.

References[edit]
1. ^ Magda, Mike. "What Makes A Racing Piston?". Retrieved 2018-
04-22.
2. ^ Bailey, Kevin. "Full-Round vs. Strutted: Piston Forging Designs
and Skirt Styles Explained". Retrieved 2018-07-15.
3. ^ Ricardo (1922), p. 116.
4. ^ Ricardo (1922), p. 149.
5. ^ Piston with improved side loading resistance, 2009-10-12,
retrieved 2018-04-22
6. ^ Ricardo (1922), pp. 119–120, 122.
7. ^ Irving, Two stroke power units, pp. 13–15.
8. ^ Irving, Two stroke power units, pp. 15–16.
9. ^ "Racing Piston Technology – Piston Weight And Design – Circle
Track Magazine". Hot Rod Network. 2007-05-31. Retrieved 2018-
04-22.

Bibliography[edit]
• Irving, P.E. (1967). Two-Stroke Power Units. Newnes.
• Ricardo, Harry (1922). The Internal Combustion Engine. Vol I:
Slow-Speed Engines (1st ed.). London: Blackie.

External links[edit]
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• Piston Engines Essay

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Gudgeon pin
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to navigationJump to search
Gudgeon pin connection at connecting rod. Gudgeon pin fits into gudgeons inside piston.

In internal combustion engines, the gudgeon pin (UK, wrist pin US) connects the piston to the
connecting rod, and provides a bearing for the connecting rod to pivot upon as the piston
moves.[1] In very early engine designs, including those driven by steam, and many very large
stationary or marine engines, the gudgeon pin is located in a sliding crosshead that connects to
the piston via a rod. A gudgeon is a pivot or journal. The origin of the word gudgeon is the Middle
English word gojoun, which originated from the Middle French word goujon. Its first known use
was in the 15th century.[2]

Overview[edit]
The gudgeon pin is typically a forged short hollow rod made of a steel alloy of high strength
and hardness that may be physically separated from both the connecting rod and piston or
crosshead.[1] The design of the gudgeon pin, especially in the case of small, high-revving
automotive engines is challenging. The gudgeon pin has to operate under some of the highest
temperatures experienced in the engine, with difficulties in lubrication due to its location, while
remaining small and light so as to fit into the piston diameter and not unduly add to
the reciprocating mass. The requirements for lightness and compactness demand a small
diameter rod that is subject to heavy shear and bending loads, with some of the highest pressure
loadings of any bearing in the whole engine. To overcome these problems, the materials used to
make the gudgeon pin and the way it is manufactured are amongst the most highly engineered of
any mechanical component found in internal combustion engines.[citation needed]

Design options[edit]
Gudgeon pins use two broad design configurations: semi-floating and fully floating.[1]
Construction of gudgeon pin

Typical construction of gudgeon pin (wrist pin) is shown on the picture. The design depend on
technological and technical effectiveness.
Semi-floating
In the semi-floating configuration, the pin is usually fixed
relative to the piston by an interference fit with the journal in
the piston. (This replaced the earlier set screw method.[3])
The connecting rod small end bearing thus acts as the
bearing alone. In this configuration, only the small end
bearing requires a bearing surface, if any. If needed, this is
provided by either electroplating the small end bearing
journal with a suitable metal, or more usually by inserting
a sleeve bearing or needle bearing into the eye of the small
end, which has an interference fit with the aperture of the
small end. During overhaul, it is usually possible to replace
this bearing sleeve if it is badly worn. The reverse
configuration, fixing the gudgeon pin to the connecting rod
instead of to the piston, is implemented using an interference
fit with the small end eye instead, with the gudgeon pin
journals in the piston functioning as bearings.[4] This
arrangement is usually more difficult to manufacture and
service because two bearing surfaces or inserted sleeves
complicate the design. In addition, the pin must be precisely
set so that the small end eye is central. Because of thermal
expansion considerations, this arrangement was more usual
for single-cylinder engines as opposed to multiple cylinder
engines with long cylinder blocks and crankcases, until
precision manufacturing became more commonplace.
Fully floating
 In the fully floating configuration, a bearing surface is created
both between the small end eye and gudgeon pin and the
journal in the piston. The gudgeon pins are usually secured
with circlips.[4] No interference fit is used in any instance and
the pin 'floats' entirely on bearing surfaces. The average
rubbing speed of each of the three bearings is halved and
the load is shared across a bearing that is usually about
three times the length of the semi-floating design with an
interference fit with the piston.

References[edit]
1. ^ Jump up to:a b c Nunney, Malcolm James (2007) "The
Reciprocating Piston Petrol Engine: Gudgeon pins and
their location" Light and heavy vehicle technology (4th
ed.) Butterworth-Heinemann, Oxford, UK, p.
28, ISBN 978-0-7506-8037-0
2. ^ Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary, G & C
Merriam Company, 1963, p. 370
3. ^ Williamson, W.D. (16 March 1916) "The Sizes of
Motors for Trucks and Outline of British Practice in This
Field: Part Two: Outline of British Truck Motor
Design" The Automobile [Automotive industries] The
Class Journal Company, New York, Vol. XXXIV, pp. 502–
504, p. 502, OCLC 5276931
4. ^ Jump up to:a b Hillier, Victor Albert Walter and Pittuck,
Frank William (1991) "The Petrol Engine: Gudgeon
pins" Fundamentals of Motor Vehicle Technology (4th
ed.) Stanley Thornes Pub., Cheltenham, England, p.
34 ISBN 0-7487-0531-7

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Aircraft piston engine components, systems and terminology

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Piston ring
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(Redirected from Piston rings)

Jump to navigationJump to search

Two piston rings mounted on a two-stroke engine piston. The ring gap for the bottom ring is visible in the
centre of the image.

A piston ring is a metallic split ring that is attached to the outer diameter of a piston in
an internal combustion engine or steam engine.
The main functions of piston rings in engines are:

1. Sealing the combustion chamber so that there is minimal

loss of gases to the crank case.
2. Improving heat transfer from the piston to the cylinder wall.
3. Maintaining the proper quantity of the oil between the piston
and the cylinder wall
4. Regulating engine oil consumption by scraping oil from the
cylinder walls back to the sump.[1]
Most piston rings are made from cast iron or steel.

Contents

• 1Design
o 1.1Number of rings
o 1.2Ring construction
• 2History
• 3Engine wear
• 4See also
• 5References

Design[edit]
Piston ring configurations:
A) Rectangular section
B) Barrel face
C) keystone
D) Torsional twist
E) Taper face
F) Dykes
Which also differ for the type of retainer band:
Y) Behind-band
X) Above or under-band
Or for the ends that work without firm stops:
K) Step
J) Oblique
W) Oblique with step

Piston ring. The piston ring (PR) is a split band pressed against the wall of the cylinder by springs (S)
mounted in the inner "junk ring" (JR). The tongue (T) maintains the seal as the ring expands and splits
apart.
 This section needs
additional citations
for verification. (December
2019) (Learn how and when to
remove this template message)

Piston rings are designed to seal the gap between the piston and the cylinder wall.[2] If this gap
were too small, thermal expansion of the piston could mean the piston seizes in the cylinder,
causing serious damage to the engine. On the other hand, a large gap would cause insufficient
sealing of the piston rings against the cylinder walls, resulting in excessive blow-by (combustion
gases entering the crankcase) and less pressure on the cylinder, reducing the power output of
the engine.
The sliding motion of the piston ring inside the cylinder wall causes friction losses for the engine.
The friction caused by piston rings is approximately 24% of the total mechanical friction losses
for the engine.[3][4] The design of the piston rings is therefore a compromise between minimising
friction while achieving good sealing and an acceptable lifespan.
Lubrication of piston rings is difficult and has been a driving force to improvements in the quality
of motor oil. The oil must survive high temperatures and harsh conditions with a high-speed
sliding contact. Lubrication is particularly difficult as the rings have an oscillating motion rather
than continuous rotation (such as in a bearing journal). At the limits of piston movement, the ring
stops and reverses direction. This disrupts the normal oil wedge effect of a hydrodynamic
bearing, reducing the effectiveness of the lubrication.
Rings are also sprung to increase the contact force and to maintain a close seal. The spring
force is provided by either the stiffness of the ring itself or by a separate spring behind the seal
ring.
It is important that rings float freely in their grooves within the piston, so that they can stay in
contact with the cylinder.[5] Rings binding in the piston, usually due to a build-up of either
combustion products or a breakdown of the lubricating oil, can cause engine failure and is a
common cause of failure for diesel engines.[citation needed]
Number of rings[edit]
Sealing is often achieved by multiple rings, each with their own function, using a metal-on-metal
sliding contact. Most pistons have at least two piston rings per cylinder.
Automotive piston engines typically have three rings per cylinder.[6] The top two rings— known
as compression rings— are primarily for sealing the combustion chamber. The bottom ring—
known as the oil control ring— is primarily for controlling the supply of oil to the cylinder wall, in
order to lubricate the piston skirt and the oil control rings.[7]
Ring construction[edit]
The compression rings in an automotive engine typically have a rectangular or keystone shaped
cross-section. The upper compression ring typically has a barrell profile for the periphery, while
the lower compression ring typically has a taper napier facing. Some engines also use a taper
facing for the top ring, and simple plain-faced rings were used in the past.
Oil control rings are typically made from either a single piece of cast iron, multiple pieces of steel,
or steel/iron with a helical spring backing to create the tension required for a close seal. Cast iron
oil rings and rings with a helical spring backing have two scraping lands of various detailed form.
On the other hand, multi-piece steel oil control rings usually consist of two thin steel rings
(called rails) with a spacer-expander spring between them to keep the two rails apart and provide
radial pressure.
The gap in the piston ring compresses to a few thousandths of an inch when inside the cylinder
bore. Ring gap shapes include square cut, angle cut, tite joint, step cut, hook step and mitre
step.[8]
History[edit]

Steam engine with 3 piston rings at location D

Spring-loaded piston rings

Early steam engines used a hemp packing to seal the combustion chamber,[9] which caused high
frictional resistance and did not provide a very effective seal.
The modern design of a metallic split-ring was invented by John Ramsbottom in the 1850s.
Ramsbottom's initial design in 1852 was a circular shape, however these wore unevenly and
were not successful. In 1854, a revised design was claimed to have a lifespan of up to 4,000 mi
(6,437 km).[10] This was based on the discovery that a perfectly round (prior to installation) ring
with a split in it does not exert an even pressure on the cylinder walls once installed. The revised
piston ring was manufactured to an out-of-round shape, so that it would exert even pressure
once installed in the cylinder. An 1855 patent documented this change. The switch to metallic
piston rings dramatically reduced the frictional resistance, the leakage of steam, and the mass of
the piston, leading to significant increases in power and efficiency and longer maintenance
intervals.

Engine wear[edit]
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2019) (Learn how and when to
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Piston rings are subject to wear as they move up and down the cylinder bore, due to their own
inherent load and due to the gas load acting on the ring. To minimize this, they are made of
wear-resistant materials, such as cast iron and steel, and are coated or treated to enhance the
wear resistance. Coatings used in modern motorcycle include chromium,[11] nitride,[12] plasma[13] or
a physical vapour deposition (PVD) ceramic coating.[14][15] Most modern diesel engines have top
rings coated with a modified chromium coating (known as CKS or GDC),[11][11] which has
aluminium oxide or diamond particles respectively included in the chrome surface.
In two-stroke engines, the port design is also an important factor for the lifespan of the piston
rings.

See also[edit]
• Cylinder (engine)
• Obturator ring

References[edit]
1. ^ "General Principles". www.federalmogul.com. Retrieved 1
December 2019.
2. ^ "Piston Ring Functions and Operation". www.federalmogul.com.
Archived from the original on 21 July 2011.
3. ^ "VCI 2840 - Carbon films - Basic knowledge, film types and
properties". VDI-Fachbereich Produktionstechnik und
Fertigungsverfahren (in German) (June 2012). Retrieved 1
December 2019.
4. ^ "Piston Ring Coating Reduces Gasoline Engine
Friction" (PDF). www.federalmogul.com. Archived from the
original (PDF) on 24 September 2015.
5. ^ "Piston Rings". www.globmaritime.com. Archived from the
original on 2 June 2014.
6. ^ "Factors influencing oil control in a spark ignited gasoline
engine". www.hastingsmfg.com. Archived from the original on 31
March 2008.
7. ^ "Piston & Piston Ring Assembly". www.riken.co.jp. Archived
from the originalon 19 August 2002.
8. ^ "Custom Ring Gaps". www.precisionrings.com. Archived
from the original on 6 July 2017.
9. ^ Weiss, Alex (2008). Bearings (Workshop Practice). Special
Interest Model. ISBN 978-1854862501.
10. ^ "Proceedings Institution of Mechanical Engineers to
1859". www.steamindex.com. Retrieved 4 December 2019.
11. ^ Jump up to:a b c "Wear-Resistant Peripheral
Coatings". www.federalmogul.com. Retrieved 4 July 2010.
12. ^ "Wear-Resistant Peripheral Coatings". www.federalmogul.com.
Retrieved 4 July2010.
13. ^ "Wear-Resistant Peripheral Coatings". www.federalmogul.com.
Retrieved 4 July2010.
14. ^ "Wear-Resistant Peripheral Coatings". www.federalmogul.com.
Retrieved 4 July2010.
15. ^ "Metallic piston rings product
sheet" (PDF). www.grovercorp.com. Retrieved 8 December 2019.

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Connecting rod
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Connecting rod and piston from a car engine

A connecting rod, also called a con rod, is the part of a piston engine which connects
the piston to the crankshaft. Together with the crank, the connecting rod converts
the reciprocating motion of the piston into the rotation of the crankshaft. The connecting rod is
required to transmit the compressive and tensile forces from the piston, and rotate at both ends.
The predecessor to the connecting rod is a mechanic linkage used by water mills to convert
rotating motion of the water wheel into reciprocating motion.[1]
The most common usage of connecting rods is in internal combustion engines and steam
engines.

Contents
 • 1Origins
• 2Steam engines
• 3Internal combustion engines
o 3.1Materials
o 3.2Failure during operation
o 3.3Cylinder wear
o 3.4Master-and-slave rods
o 3.5Fork-and-blade rods
• 4See also
• 5References

Origins[edit]

Scheme of the Roman Hierapolis sawmill, the earliest known machine to combine a connecting rod with
a crank.[2]

The earliest evidence for a connecting rod appears in the late 3rd century AD Roman Hierapolis
sawmill. It also appears in two 6th century Eastern Roman saw mills excavated
at Ephesus respectively Gerasa. The crank and connecting rod mechanism of these Roman
watermills converted the rotary motion of the waterwheel into the linear movement of the saw
blades.[2]
In Renaissance Italy, the earliest evidence of a − albeit mechanically misunderstood − compound
crank and connecting-rod is found in the sketch books of Taccola.[3] A sound understanding of
the motion involved displays the painter Pisanello (d. 1455) who showed a piston-pump driven by
a water-wheel and operated by two simple cranks and two connecting-rods.[3]
By the 16th century, evidence of cranks and connecting rods in the technological treatises and
artwork of Renaissance Europe becomes abundant; Agostino Ramelli's The Diverse and
Artifactitious Machines of 1588 alone depicts eighteen examples, a number which rises in
the Theatrum Machinarum Novum by Georg Andreas Böckler to 45 different machines.[4]
An early documentation of the design occurred sometime between 1174—1206 AD in the Artuqid
State (modern Turkey), when inventor Al-Jazari described a machine which incorporated the
connecting rod with a crankshaft to pump water as part of a water-raising machine.[5][6]

Steam engines[edit]

Beam engine with twin connecting rods (almost vertical) between the horizontal beam and the flywheel
Steam locomotive connecting rod (between the piston and the rear wheel; the largest rod visible)

The 1712 Newcomen atmospheric engine (the first steam engine) used chain drive instead of a
connecting rod, since the piston only produced force in one direction.[7] However, most steam
engines after this are double-acting, therefore the force is produced in both directions, leading to
the use of a connecting rod. The typical arrangement uses a large sliding bearing block called
a crosshead with the hinge between the piston and connecting rod placed outside the cylinder,
requiring a seal around the piston rod.[8]
In a steam locomotive, the cranks are usually mounted directly on the driving wheels. The
connecting connecting rod is used between the between the crank pin on the wheel and the
crosshead (where it connects to the piston rod).[9] The equivalent connecting rods on diesel
locomotives are called 'side rods' or 'coupling rods'. On smaller steam locomotives, the
connecting rods are usually of rectangular cross-section,[10] however marine-type rods of circular
cross-section have occasionally been used.
On paddle steamers, the connecting rods are called 'pitmans' (not to be mistaken for pitman
arms).

Internal combustion engines[edit]

Typical design of automobile engine connecting rod

A connecting rod for an internal combustion engine consists of the 'big end', 'rod' and 'small end'.
The small end attaches to the gudgeon pin (also called 'piston pin' or 'wrist pin'), which can
swivel in the piston. Typically, the big end connects to the crankpin using a plain bearing to
reduce friction; however some smaller engines may instead use a rolling-element bearing, in
order to avoid the need for a pumped lubrication system.
Typically there is a pinhole bored through the bearing on the big end of the connecting rod so
that lubricating oil squirts out onto the thrust side of the cylinder wall to lubricate the travel of the
pistons and piston rings.
A connecting rod can rotate at both ends, so that the angle between the connecting rod and the
piston can change as the rod moves up and down and rotates around the crankshaft.
Materials[edit]
Aluminium rod with modular head and bushing in the foot (left), aluminium oil drip rod with pats (centre),
steel rod (right)

In mass-produced automotive engines, the connecting rods are most usually made of steel. In
high performance applications, "billet" connecting rods can be used, which are machined out of a
solid billet of metal, rather than being cast or forged.
Other materials include T6-2024 aluminium alloy or T651-7075 aluminium alloy, which are used
for lightness and the ability to absorb high impact at the expense of durability. Titanium is a more
expensive option which reduces the weight. Cast iron can be used for cheaper, lower
performance applications such as motor scooters.
Failure during operation[edit]

Top half of a failed connecting rod

Connecting rod that initially failed through fatigue, then further damaged from impact with the crankshaft

During each rotation of the crankshaft, a connecting rod is often subject to large and repetitive
forces: shear forces due to the angle between the piston and the crankpin, compression
forces as the piston moves downwards, and tensile forces as the piston moves
upwards.[11] These forces are proportional to the engine speed (RPM) squared.
Failure of a connecting rod, often called "throwing a rod", is one of the most common causes of
catastrophic engine failure in cars,[citation needed] frequently driving the broken rod through the side of
the crankcase and thereby rendering the engine irreparable.[12] Common causes of connecting
rod failure are tensile failure from high engine speeds, the impact force when the piston hits a
valve (due to a valvetrain problem), rod bearing failure (usually due to a lubrication problem, or
incorrect installation of the connecting rod.[13][14][15][16]
Cylinder wear[edit]
The sideways force exerted on the piston through the connecting rod by the crankshaft can
cause the cylinders to wear into an oval shape. This significantly reduces engine performance,
since the circular piston rings are unable to properly seal against the oval-shaped cylinder walls.
The amount of sideways force is proportional to the angle of the connecting rod, therefore longer
connecting rods will reduce the amount of sideways force and engine wear. However, the
maximum length of a connecting rod is constrained by the engine block size; the stroke
length plus the connecting rod length must not result in the piston travelling past the top of the
engine block.
Master-and-slave rods[edit]
Operating principle of a radial engine

Master-and-slave rods in the 1916-1918 Renault 8G V8 aircraft engine

Radial engines typically use master-and-slave connecting rods, whereby one piston (the
uppermost piston in the animation), has a master rod with a direct attachment to the crankshaft.
The remaining pistons pin their connecting rods' attachments to rings around the edge of the
master rod.
Multi-bank engines with many cylinders, such as V12 engines, have little space available for
many connecting rod journals on a limited length of crankshaft. The simplest solution, as used in
most road car engines, is for each pair of cylinders to share a crank journal, however this
reduces the size of the rod bearings and means that matching (ie. opposite) cylinders in the
different banks are slightly offset along the crankshaft axis (which creates a rocking couple).
Another solution is to use master-and-slave connecting rods, where the master rod also includes
one or more ring pins. These ring pins are connected to the big ends of slave rods on other
cylinders. A drawback of this is that the stroke of the slave rod is slightly shorter than the master,
which increases vibration in a V engine.
One of the most complicated examples of master-and-slave connecting rods is the 24-
cylinder Junkers Jumo 222 experimental airplane engine developed for World War II. This engine
consisted of six banks of cylinders, each with four cylinders per bank. Each "layer" of six
cylinders used one master connecting rod, with the other five cylinders using slave
rods.[17] Approximately 300 test engines were built, however the engine did not reach production.
Fork-and-blade rods[edit]

Fork and blade rods

Fork-and-blade rods, also known as "split big-end rods", have been used on V-twin motorcycle
engines and V12 aircraft engines.[18] For each pair of cylinders, a "fork" rod is split in two at the
big end and the "blade" rod from the opposing cylinder is thinned to fit into this gap in the fork.
This arrangement removes the rocking couple that is caused when cylinder pairs are offset along
the crankshaft.
A common arrangement for the big-end bearing is for the fork rod to have a single wide bearing
sleeve that spans the whole width of the rod, including the central gap. The blade rod then runs,
not directly on the crankpin, but on the outside of this sleeve. This causes the two rods to
oscillate back and forth (instead of rotating relative to each other), which reduces the forces on
the bearing and the surface speed. However the bearing movement also becomes reciprocating
rather than continuously rotating, which is a more difficult problem for lubrication.
Notable engines to use fork-and-blade rods include the Rolls-Royce Merlin V12 aircraft engine
and various Harley Davidson V-twin motorcycle engines.

See also[edit]
Wikimedia Commons has
media related to Connecting
rods.

• Steam locomotive components

References[edit]
1. ^ Lyon, Robert L.; Editor. Steam Automobile Vol. 13, No. 3. SACA.
2. ^ Jump up to:a b Ritti, Grewe & Kessener 2007, p. 161:
Because of the findings at Ephesus and Gerasa the invention of
the crank and connecting rod system has had to be redated from
the 13th to the 6th c; now the Hierapolis relief takes it back
another three centuries, which confirms that water-powered stone
saw mills were indeed in use when Ausonius wrote his Mosella.

3. ^ Jump up to:a b White, Jr. 1962, p. 113

4. ^ White, Jr. 1962, p. 172
5. ^ Ahmad Y Hassan. "The Crank-Connecting Rod System in a
Continuously Rotating Machine".
6. ^ Sally Ganchy; Sarah Gancher (2009), Islam and Science,
Medicine, and Technology, The Rosen Publishing Group,
p. 41, ISBN 978-1-4358-5066-8
7. ^ "Steam Locomotive Glossary". www.railway-technical.com.
Archived from the original on 2008-01-28. Retrieved 2016-02-05.
8. ^ Dempsey, G.D.; Clark, D. Kinnear (2015). The Victorian Steam
Locomotive: Its Design & Development 1804-1879. Barnsley,
England: Pen & Sword Transport. pp. 27–28. ISBN 978-1-47382-
323-5 – via Google Books.
9. ^ Ahrons, E.L. (1921). Neale, R.E. (ed.). Steam Locomotive
Construction and Maintenance. Pitman's Technical Primer Series.
London: The Locomotive Publishing Co. Ltd. pp. 74–78 – via
Google Books.
10. ^ White, John H., Jr. (1979). A History of the American
Locomotive: Its Development, 1830-1880. New York: Dover
Publications. p. 185. ISBN 9780486238180 – via Google books.
11. ^ "Causes of Failure With a Connecting Rod". www.itstillruns.com.
Retrieved 21 September 2019.
 12. ^ "What does it mean to "throw a rod"?". Car Talk. April 1990.
Retrieved 2016-02-05.
13. ^ Policy, Privacy (15 March 2017). "Preventing Connecting Rod
Failures". www.enginebuildermag.com. Retrieved 21
September2019.
14. ^ "How to eliminate connecting rod failures". www.hotrod.com.
Retrieved 21 September 2019.
15. ^ "Probable Cause of Most Rod
Failures". www.arcracing.blogspot.com. 1 June 1999. Retrieved 21
September2019.
16. ^ "Emerson Bearing Extreme
Applications". www.emersonbearing.com. Retrieved 2016-02-05.
17. ^ [1]
18. ^ "Drysdale Godzilla V-Twin". thekneeslider.com. Retrieved 26
September 2019.

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Edit links
• This page was last edited on 18 December 2019, at 18:21 (UTC).
• Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License;
additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of
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