Palestine Technical University – Kadoorie

Mechanical Engineering Department

Theory of machines lab.
Exp. # 7: Crank and connecting rod

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Crank and connecting rod

Introduction:

Early examples of mechanisms to convert an up and down motion to rotation were the treadle
drives for a wood turner's lathe or a tinker's grinding wheel on his barrow. With the invention of
the steam engine the need for a well-made connecting rod and crank was evident in order to use
the reciprocating piston to drive rotating shafts for mills and railway engines and other machinery.
Now the most common use is in the internal combustion engine.

To design a crank, connecting rod and cross head it is necessary to determine the velocity and
acceleration of the moving parts. Generally it might be assumed that the crank rotates at a uniform
speed aided by adding a flywheel to the crankshaft. A more accurate analysis can be made by
employing trigonometrical terms to express the relationships, and by taking account of the
fluctuating speed of the flywheel

Objectives:

1. To determine the relationship between the rotation of the crank and the piston stroke, and
to see how this is affected by the crank radius and the length of the connecting rod.
2. To study the link between the angular speed of the crank and the velocity of the piston.

Parts needed:

1. Crank and connecting rod apparatus

2. Engineering drawing paper

About the apparatus

This experimental simulation of a crank uses a circular steel protractor with a central
pivotgraduated in 10° divisions and numbered from 0° at the "outer dead center" in an
anticlockwisesense. The crank is a bar attached to the protractor and with tapped holes at three
radii, 25, 31.25and 50 rnm. There is a bar constrained to slide along a center line in the manner of a
piston with amoveable linear scale alongside. The connecting rod is pinned to the piston at one end
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Palestine Technical University – Kadoorie
Mechanical Engineering Department
.Theory
of machines lab
Exp . # 7: Crank and connecting rod

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and at theother end has three holes for the crank pin, thus providing the different lengths of 200,
225 and 250 rnm. The whole apparatus is mounted on a steel channel base plate with a support that
holdsthe apparatus upright if required for class demonstrations

:Procedure

Part 1:crank and piston displacement

.1 .Setup the mechanism with minimum crank radius and length of connecting rod
.2 (.
= ( Note these values - crank radius (r), con. rod ( ) - and their ratio

.3 With the crank at the outer dead center adjust the piston guide block to putthe
.displacement reading of zero against the piston mark
.4 Turn the crank through 10° and note thedisplacement in table 1

.5 .Repeat this at 10° intervals up to 180°

.6 Repeat the above procedure using a connecting rod of 250 mm with a crank radius of
.and50 mm, recording the readings in table 1 31.25
.7 Plot displacement x against crank angle θ
.8 Check that theratio of the displacements where n is constant (that is n = 8) is 1.25, the
scale between the two setups
2
‫‪Palestine Technical University – Kadoorie‬‬
‫‪Mechanical Engineering Department‬‬
‫‪.Theory‬‬
‫‪of machines lab‬‬
‫‪Exp . # 7: Crank and connecting rod‬‬

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‫‪Table 1‬‬

‫()‬ ‫‪Con. rod‬‬

‫)‪Crank r (mm‬‬

‫‪Ratio n‬‬

‫‪Crank angle‬‬ ‫‪Displacement‬‬

‫(‪)°‬‬ ‫(‪)mm‬‬ ‫(‪)mm‬‬ ‫(‪)mm‬‬

‫‪0‬‬

‫‪10‬‬

‫‪20‬‬

‫‪30‬‬

‫‪40‬‬

‫‪50‬‬

‫‪60‬‬

‫‪70‬‬

‫‪80‬‬

‫‪90‬‬

‫‪100‬‬

‫‪110‬‬

‫‪120‬‬

‫‪130‬‬

‫‪140‬‬

‫‪150‬‬

‫‪160‬‬

‫‪170‬‬

‫‪180‬‬

‫‪3‬‬
Palestine Technical University – Kadoorie
Mechanical Engineering Department
.Theory
of machines lab
Exp . # 7: Crank and connecting rod

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Part 2: crank and piston speeds

.1 Use the third graph from part 1 (crank radius =50 , con. rod length =250) to find the

.piston speed
.2 . Draw a tangent at 30° and find the slope and write its value in table 2
.3 . Repeat step 2 every 30° until 180°
.4 .Draw the crank angle against the piston speed
Table 2

) °( Crank angle θ Piston speed v ( mm/s)

30

60

90

120

150

180

:Questions

.1 ?What is the relation between the crank radius and the piston displacement

.2 ? What is the is the value of the crank angle at midstroke

.3 ?What is the value of the piston speed at max. and min. position

:Conclusion

).Write your conclusion from the experiment(