Design and Modelling of Single Cylinder 4 Stroke Gasoline Engine Crankshaft

The crankshaft translates the reciprocatory motion of the piston into rotary motion. A flywheel is generally connected to the crankshaft to reduce the vibrating characteristic of four stroke cycle. Counterweights are added for each reciprocating piston to provide engine balance while operating. Gasoline engines have curtailed compression ratio therefore shorter stoke length as a deduction have higher RPM in comparison to diesel counterpart. A crankshaft is subjected to enormous stresses, potentially equivalent of several tones of force. Failure of the crankshaft is predominantly due to violent vibrations, insufficient lubrication, excessively pressurized cylinder. This research aims to examine the stress subjected to acute points on a crankshaft. Three dimension model of 4 stroke single cylinder engine crankshaft is modeled using SolidWorks v18. End conditions were applied taking into consideration the engine mountings of the crankshaft. Stresses were applied to crankpin to replicate the forces of a running engine. Twisting moment causes Shear stresses; bending moment are determinant of the tensile and compressive stresses. This research was conducted for two different materials Stainless steel and Epoxy carbon fiber 230GPa woven Prepeg. Finite element analysis (FEA) was conducted and results for Shear stress and von-misses stresses induced in crankshaft are drawn using ANSYS v18.1 for the two materials. For validation of the model, the theoretical results for von-misses and shear stress are contrasted with the analysis result obtained. The result has been scrutinized to find out the viability of replacing stainless steel with carbon fiber as a manufacturing material for the high-performance automotive crankshaft.