University of Kirkuk

College of engineering
Mech. Dept. – third stage

A presentation on
connecting-rod

:Presented by
mohammed jabbar 2-bnar omer 3-tara nafih -1
:Outline 1. Introduction
2. History
3. Function
4. Construction
5. Manufacturing
6. Lubrication
7. analysis
Introduction
Connecting rod or also “conrod” is the part of a piston engine which
connects the piston to the cranckshaft. Together with the cranck, the
connecting rod converts the reciprocating motion of the piston into
the rotary motion of the cranckshaft
history
• Evidence of using connecting rods appeared in the late third century in where
is now known as “turkey”. It also appeared in two locations in sixth century, it
appeared in (modern turkey) and (roman Syria), the connecting rod mechanism
was used in watermills, it converted the rotary motion of the waterwheel into
linear movement of the saw blades.

• Today the connecting rod is best known for it’s use in internal combustion
piston powered engines such as automobile engines, the design of modern
connecting rod differs distinctly from earlier forms of connecting rods that
were used in steam engines and steam locomotives
Difference between old and modern
connecting rod

Old design used in watermills Modern design used in engines

function
the connecting rod has two principal tasks to fulfil, it connects the piston to the
cranckshaft. Since it’s lower big end is attached to an offset cranckpin on the
cranckshaft it converts linear movement of the piston into rotary motion of
cranckshaft, by doing so it converts linear force of the piston in rotary force
“torque”
function
The connecting rod is exposed to very severe loads, such as combustion gas
pressure acting downward on the piston exerts very large force along the
connecting rod, since the piston’s speed is continously varying, the forces
generated from acceleration and deceleration forces may be withstood in the
form of tensile and compressional load.
Also the rotation of crank produces powerful bending moment into the rod, and
because the rod if fairly long it will be subjected to buckling stresses.
Construction
1- rod:
The rod has a cross section of a circle or an oval for
low and medium speed engines, and an I shape cross
section for high speed engines.
There is a drilled hole along the rod to feed lubricant
to the bearings and bushes and also to reduce weight.

2- small end:
The small end of the rod connects to the piston pin and
it is usually forged in one piece, the top of the small
end is also drilled to feed lubricant and reduce weight.
construction
3- big end :
The big end connects to the cranckshaft, In low
speed engines the big end of the conrod normally
has separate construction and fastened together
with bolts, the big end includes upper and lower
parts.
Between the upper and lower parts and the
cranckshaft there is a slim bearing that provides
smooth rotation and allows lubrication, thickness
of the oil film and bearing may be adjusted to
desired stroke length.
Bearing shells
• Bearing shell of the small end is made
either in one piece or two separate
halves, they are pressed into their place
and fixed to prevent it from rotating and
moving
• Bearing shells of the big end are the
same in design with small end bearings
but they get pressed by the two parts of
the big end and crank pin bolt.
Final piston-crank assembly
manufacturing
• Materials used in connecting rods can be made from various grades of
steel, aluminium and titanium. Steel rods are most widely produced,
their applications such as daily driver cars and racing cars due to it’s
high strength and longevity, only downside of using steel is that it’s
very heavy so it consumes more power and add’s more stress on the
rotating assembly

• Methods of manufacturing connecting rods:

1. Casting
2. Forging
3. Powder metallurgy
Casting method
• Sand mold is used in casting
• Small seam on both sides of the
parting line of the mold due to
casting excess molten metal
• Used in speed motor
• Cap in pin-end is fastened with bolts
only
• Maximum working speed is 6500
R.P.M
forging method
• Thick seam on both sides
• Used in speed motors
• Bolt-nut assembley
• Used in engines in working speeds
from 5500-7000 R.P.M
Forged billet method
• Machined from a solid piece of steel
• No seam at parting line
• Bolts are screwed to hold the cap on
• This method produces strongest types of
conrods which can withstand 1200 hp
Sintering method
• Metal in the form of powder gets
pressed together and then put into an
oven where it undergoes a process
that’s called “sintering” that means the
grains of the metal are melted together
which produces a fairly strong conrod.
• Used in working speeds up to 7000
R.P.M
Lubrication
• The connecting rod connects the crankshaft to the piston, it will encounter high dynamical loads
generated from reciprocating motion of the piston, oil is used as main lubricant in modern
engines, first oil gets pumped into main journal bearing, then oil flows into dedicated oil holes
on the crankshaft then oil reaches the crankpin where it reaches the bearings of the big end of the
connecting rod, and flows to the piston pin and finaly to piston rings and cylinder walls.

Main journal bearing Piston rings

Analysis
Like all other engine parts the conrod os directly related to the combustion process, the conrod is highly
stressed mainly by the following:
1- acceleration force, from the combustion process.
2- mass force, from the piston and piston pin
3- bending force, caused by the conrod angle.
The big end bearing is one of the most difficult parts to design because during combustion it undergoes
asymmetric forces, this leads to dynamic bending stresses that must be handled by exact fastening
torque of the big end bolt.
The ovality and diameter of the big end must be checked regularly because of asymmetric bending
stresses that act more on one side of the bearing.
Thanks for watching