CASE STUDY

B.SAI KIRAN 316126520004

Ch. RAVI TEJA. 316126520009

G.ROHIT. 316126520018

J.V.R ROHITTH. 316126520022

M.SARATH RAHUL. 316126520036

Mechanical 4-A
Study and Comparison on the force applied on the
piston for different shaped piston heads

Highlights
Modelling of piston heads

Study and Analysis on piston heads during power stroke

Comparison between flat headed and spherical headed pistons

Article Info
Keywords Abstract
Pistons During power stroke, a large amount of force is applied on the piston

Induced stresses which results in the movement of the piston from TDC (Top dead

Designing software centre). Due to the application of force on the piston stresses are

Induced on the piston head. So, in order to reduce the induced

stresses we can opt different shaped piston heads. In this journal we

 study and compare the stresses induced during the power stroke for

two different shaped piston heads i.e. flat and hallow spherical.

Introduction
Piston is a reciprocating link or member in a four bar mechanism. It is the part of the engine which
absorbs pressure energy from the flue gases and converts to reciprocating motion and eventually this
reciprocating motion is converted to rotatory motion with the help of connecting rod and crank shaft. 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 a reciprocating engine, the dead
centre is the position of a piston in which it is either farthest from, or nearest to, the crank shaft. The
former is known as top dead centre (TDC) while the latter is known as bottom dead centre (BDC).
The part of the piston on which comes to the top dead centre for every revolution of the crank shaft
is called piston head. During the power stroke, a large amount of force is applied on the piston head
by the flue gases which are formed in the piston cylinder during combustion of the fuel. Due to the
application of the forces stresses are induced on the piston head. Now in this study our aim is to
minimize the induced stresses by opting different shapes of the piston head. The piston shapes we
consider here are flat plate and a spherical surface. The flat plate is a two-way reinforced concrete
framing system utilizing a slab of uniform thickness, the simplest of structural shapes. Where as
spherical surface is a 3 Dimensional model where the all the point on the surface are equidistant
from a point called centre

Pistons are commonly made of a cast Aluminum alloy for excellent and lightweight thermal
conductivity. Thermal conductivity is the ability of a material to conduct and transfer heat.
Aluminum expands when heated, and proper clearance must be provided to maintain
free piston movement in the cylinder bore.
The grade of the aluminium used for piston is AL2618-T61(SS)
The properties of AL2618-T61(SS) are as follows

Properties Values Units

Elastic Modulus 7.449999682e+010 N/m^2

Poisson's Ratio 0.33 N/A
Shear Modulus 2.699999987e+010 N/m^2
Mass Density 2760 kg/m^3
 Tensile Strength 440999997.7 N/m^2
Yield Strength 371999997 N/m^2
Thermal Expansion Coefficient 2.2e-005 /K
Thermal Conductivity 146 W/(m·K)
Specific Heat 875 J/(kg·K)

Designing and Analysis

Designing Software SolidWorks

SolidWorks is solid modelling computer aided designing (CAD) and computer aided engineering
(CAE) computer program that primarily works on Microsoft Windows.

SolidWorks has developed also various complementary add-ins, including:

• Photo Works : 3D photorealistic rendering engine.

• 3DVIA Composer : Content creation software for documentation, technical illustration, catalogs,
commercial brochures, training documents, maintenance manuals ... from CAD data with
updates of CAD changes.
• 3DEXPERIENCE Marketplace : An add-in allowing users to download 3D parts from an online
catalog on make 3D printed parts on-demand.

SolidWorks is a solid modeler, and utilizes a parametric feature-based approach which was initially
developed by PTC (Creo/Pro-Engineer) to create models and assemblies. The software is written
on Parasolid-kernel.

Parameters refer to constraints whose values determine the shape or geometry of the model or
assembly. Parameters can be either numeric parameters, such as line lengths or circle diameters, or
geometric parameters, such as tangent, parallel, concentric, horizontal or vertical, etc. Numeric
parameters can be associated with each other through the use of relations, which allows them to
capture design intent.

Design intent is how the creator of the part wants it to respond to changes and updates. For
example, you would want the hole at the top of a beverage can to stay at the top surface, regardless
of the height or size of the can. SolidWorks allows the user to specify that the hole is a feature on
the top surface , and will then honor their design intent no matter what height they later assign to the
can.

Features refer to the building blocks of the part. They are the shapes and operations that construct
the part. Shape-based features typically begin with a 2D or 3D sketch of shapes such as bosses,
holes, slots, etc. This shape is then extruded or cut to add or remove material from the part.
Operation-based features are not sketch-based, and include features such as fillets, chamfers,
shells, applying draft to the faces of a part, etc.

Modelling of flat shaped piston head

Step 1: Select the work plane in the front view

Step 2: Using circle command draw a circle of diameter 100mm

Step 3: In features tab, select Extrude bose feature and extrude the circle through a thickness
of 20mm.

Step 4: Now again select the work plane in the front view to construct a hallow cylinder which
acts as base for the flat plate.

Step 5: Draw two concentric circles with diameters 100mm and 80 mm respectively.

Step 6. Using extrude feature ,extrude the concentric circles to form a hallow cylinder.

Step 7: Hence, the flat plate shaped piston is obtained.

Modelling of Spherical shaped piston head
Step 1: Select the work plane in the front view

Step 2: Using circle command draw a circle of diameter 100mm and draw a centre line passing
through the centre of the circle

Step 3: Using Trim command trim half -half of the circle along the centre line.

Step 4: In features tab, select Revolved Extrude bose feature and extrude the semi-circle along
the centre line,

Step 5: Now again select the work plane in the front view to construct a hallow cylinder which
acts as base for the spherical surface.

Step 6: Draw two concentric circles with diameters 100mm and 80 mm respectively.

Step 7. Using extrude feature, extrude the concentric circles to form a hallow cylinder.

Step 8: Hence, the spherical shaped piston is obtained.

Stimulation and Analysis
In stimulation of the models, around 1000psi force is applied on the piston head which is the
practical force applied o the piston during the power stroke. The base of the piston is fixed
rigidly as we consider the power stroke to be happening in a small moment of time.

The induced stresses can be seen in the following stimulated models

In Flat plate headed piston

In spherical shaped headed piston

Conclusion
The following conclusions were made from the analysis
Spherical shaped headed piston is more advantageous when compared to the flat plate headed
piston as the surface area of the spherical head is more than that of the Flat headed piston for
which we know that stresses is directly proportional to the force and inversely proportional to
area. As the force applied for both the models is constant, the stress induced is completely
depends on the surface area for which spherical head has more surface area when compared
to Flat plate one.

Eventhough spherical headed piston increases the lifespan of the piston by inducing less
stresses, it is not used because of the increment in the compression ratio which is not desired
by the decrement in the clearance volume