It will become apparent exactly why these parts are so important to the operation of an automobile, and furthermore how prone to failure they can be. Throughout the course of this project, an idealized model of a connecting rod, piston, and flywheel will be modeled and analyzed. But simply saying that isn’t enough to fully understand the dynamics of the situation. It is no surprise that a failure in a connecting rod can be one of the most costly and damaging failures in an engine.
Being one of the most integral parts in an engine’s design, the connecting rod must be able to withstand tremendous loads and transmit a great deal of power. In this project, one component of an engine in particular, the connecting rod, will be analyzed. But exactly what happens inside an engine, and what are the risks involved in designing the strongest engine on the block? The auto manufacturers are well aware of this, and to achieve it, they design faster, lighter, and more efficient engines to do the job. Often times, the smile is created by a quick punch of the accelerator and accompanied by a feeling of immense power and control. The vast majority of people want a vehicle that will get them from point A to point B as easily as possible, but also put a little smile on their faces. High performance is now the catch phrase. In the last 50 years, cars have learned to think, adjust, and even protect.
But for the early automotive engineers, the tremendous advancements in automotive technology would be even more surprising.
A time without the simplicity of hopping into a vehicle to take us anywhere we want to go is almost unfathomable to many Americans. In order to understand the true impact the automobile has had on our society, we would have to go back in time over one hundred years. Tension and Compression in Connecting Rods