Gears Introduction

A connecting 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.[1] The connecting rod is required to transmit the compressive and tensile
forces from the piston. In its most common form, in an internal combustion engine, it allows pivoting
on the piston end and rotation on the shaft end.
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.[2]
The most common usage of connecting rods is in internal combustion engines or on 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.[3]

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.[3]
In Renaissance Italy, the earliest evidence of a − albeit mechanically misunderstood − compound
crank and connecting-rod is found in the sketch books of Taccola.[4] 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.[4]
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
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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.[5]

Connecting rod in a Caterpillar engine

An early documentation of the design occurred sometime between 1174 and 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.[6][7]

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.[8] 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.[9]
 Gears Introduction
In a steam locomotive, the cranks are usually mounted directly on the driving wheels. The
connecting rod is used between the crank pin on the wheel and the crosshead (where it connects to
the piston rod).[10] 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,[11] 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' (or
'little 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)

The materials used for connecting rods widely vary, including carbon steel, iron base sintered metal,
micro-alloyed steel, spheroidized graphite cast iron.[12] In mass-produced automotive engines, the
 Gears Introduction
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.[13] These forces are
proportional to the engine speed (RPM) squared.
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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.[14] 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.[15][16][17][18]

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