The Connecting Rod for a Typical Passenger Car Engine - Term Paper Example

TITLE: The connecting rod for a typical passenger car engine; Dated: March 12, 2009 INTRODUCTION A typical car is an automobile which is a self propelled vehicle and is primarily used on public roads for the transportation of human beings and goods from one part to another with the help of its engine. The automobiles have changed the world during twentieth century of the modern world in the developed world including the United States of America and other industrialised nations of the world with the provision of easy and accessible mode of transportation in the form of automobile cars. The introduction of these types of vehicles has also changed the landscape in the shape of network of roads for their mobility. The automobiles that are the cars are delivering their works through the functioning of their engines with the help of fuels, lubricants and water for their normal functioning. The engines are consisting of a number of sections and all these sections are functioning in a coordinated and systematic pattern so as to deliver a collective delivery in the shape of mobility of the vehicle along with the personals and the goods as per their capacity to do so. The engine is divided into different sections on the basis of their functions and positions in the overall structure of the engine (1). The upper part of the engine is the cylinder head of the automobiles engine which is bolted to the top of the block which seals the tops of the cylinders during their normal functioning. The pistons of the engine compress fuel and air against the cylinder head prior to the process of ignition within the engine for completing its cyclic functioning. The top of the pistons forms the floor of the combustion chamber of the engine. A rod connects the bottom of the piston to the crankshaft of the engine for providing a space and position for their functioning. Both ends of the connected rod are provided with the lubricated rods enabling the rod to pivot and are assisting in the transfer of piston's vertical motion into the crankshaft's rotational force or the torque(2). Torque is the turning effect of a force produced in a body about an axis which is equal to the product of the force and the perpendicular distance from its line of action of force from that point. The magnitude of the torque depends upon a number of factors like the magnitude of the force applied, direction of the force applied and the point of application of the force relative to origin that is the position vector relative to the point about which the turning effect is measured. The torque determines the angular acceleration. Hence, torque is the counter part of force for rotational motion. The connecting rod is functioning in the engines of the automobiles as on the fundamental laws of physics including First and Second Laws of Thermodynamics and Newton's Laws of Motion with the use of fuels and other related inputs for the functioning of the overall engines of the vehicles(3). The understanding of all the parts including the connecting rod of the engine is essential for the normal function and maintenance of the engines along with relevant principles of physics and their structural composition. Each part of the engine is specifically designed and positioned so as to assist the overall functioning of the engine as per designed objectives of the automobiles. The connecting rod in the automobile plays a pivoted role for the normal working of the overall body of the engine and without a connecting rod; the normal functioning of the automobiles could not be imagined. The pistons motion rotates the crankshaft at a specific speed ranging from about six hundred to thousands revolution per minute which is also called as rpm, depending on how much fuel is delivered to the cylinders of the engine of the automobiles(4). The structure of a typical automobile is given below; the same will illustrate the position of different parts of the engine and their functioning and through the structure the functioning of the connecting rod in the automobile cars would be understood properly(5). The understanding of the structure of the engine is necessary for the study of the working of the engine as a collective functioning and final output. All the individual parts are function in a coordinated fashion and their working is dependant on the normal working of all the parts of the engine. The study of the automobile's engine will help in understanding the role of the connecting rod in the engines. The manufacturing of the engines, their sales, servicing and marketing are the key areas which are taken into account while considering their overall structures including the connecting rods. These factors are of paramount importance while considering the industrial economies of the automobiles. The understanding of the basic pattern of the engines, their mode of functioning and structures are the major components which need special attention for examining the role of the connecting rod in the automobile engines. The pattern of the functioning of the connecting rod is regulated by the application of the Principle of Physics with the specific role to each part of the engine. The understanding of the connecting rod on the automobile engine will help to comprehend the overall functioning of automobile in its present shape .The study is divided into a number of sections and subsections and all these are revolving the connecting rod of the automobile engines. The automobiles will continue to shape our lives with all their impacts on human culture and economy. The following diagram will illustrates the structure of an engine and its various components with their position in the overall engine of the automobile (6). The classifications of automobiles. The automobiles are classified on the basis of their styles, number of doors and the intended use of the vehicles. The typical automobile is also called as a car, motorcar, auto, and a passenger car, possess four wheels and can carry up to six people in the car, including a driver to drive the vehicle. On the other hand the larger vehicles are termed as vans, minivans, omnibuses and buses depending on their seating capacities and the mode of utilization of the vehicles. The automobiles used for carrying the goods from one place to another are the pickups or trucks depending on their designs and the size. The minivans are built on a passenger car frame and have the capacity to carry up to eight passengers as their carrying capacity. All these vehicles are consisting of two major parts of the vehicle as the engine part and the non-engine part with the principle that the engine part provides necessary power for the mobility of the whole body of the automobile with its functioning through the fundamental and basic concepts of Physics. All these vehicles as mentioned above are having the connecting rod in their engines and these rods are functioning to perform their primary function for ensuring the mobility of the vehicle(7). The functioning of an automobile engine: The automobile is built around an engine in a compound form as both the engine and non-engine parts are located within the body structure of the same vehicle. Different systems are functioning in the engine of the vehicle with a single objective that is to run the vehicle. The systems supply the engine with necessary fuel for running the normal functioning of the engine, to provide cooling during the operations of the vehicle, supply of lubricants as to lubricate its moving parts and finally the removal of exhausted gases from the engine to the outside. The position can illustrated with the help of the following diagram as to explain the functioning of various systems in the automobiles and their proper understanding. The engine through its functioning produces mechanical power that is transmitted to the wheels of the automobile with the help of a drive train which includes the parts like a transmission, one or more driveshafts, a differential type of gear, and finally axles. The Suspension systems of the automobile is consisting of parts like springs and shock absorbers, the cushion for protection of the vehicle from being damaged by the heavy loads ,bumps, and other stresses(8). Wheels and tires provide support the vehicle on the roadway and, when rotated through powered axles, propel the vehicle forward or backward as per given drive to the vehicle. The Steering and braking systems provide control over the direction and the speed of the vehicle. The functioning of the vehicle is started with the help of an electrical system which operates the engine and monitors different aspects of the vehicle’s operation such as headlights and radios through its functions as incorporated in the vehicle. The working of the vehicle can be illustrated with the help of the following figure: The functioning of all the systems of the automobile vehicle depends on the normal working of all the systems of the vehicle with the all the structures and the inputs including the power system of the vehicle (9). The manufacturing Technology for the manufacturing of a connecting rod of a typical car will involve the following steps for the manufacturing a connecting rod of the automobile: a) The design of the connecting rod as used in the cars , b) Machinery and tooling used for its manufacturing as per required specifications, c) The process planning required for the manufacturing of the product, d) Materials required for the output, e) Purchasing of the materials at an appropriate time , f) Manufacturing process as required for the manufacturing the product, g) Production control on the manufacturing process, h) Support services as required for the execution of the process for its completion and assemblage, i) Marketing of the connecting rod of a typical car, j) Sales and the related issues, k) Shipping ,if required and , l) The customer service for the satisfaction of the customers through the provision of after sales services of the product. All the above mentioned segments are essential for the manufacturing ,marketing and after sales services for the connecting rods and elimination of any segment will have adverse impacts on the whole manufacturing process for the connecting rod of a typical car in the market. a). The design of the connecting rod as used in the cars The design of the connecting rod is manufactured by the concurrent engineering wing of the engineering department .The design selection is based on the types of the functions as to be performed by the product that is by the connecting rod in the cars, the shape required as to fit in the over all structure of the engine, the process involved and the material for the manufacturing of the product. The whole process for the designing of the connecting rod can be illustrated with the help of the following diagram: The design of the product depends on a number of factors including the complexity of the connecting rods and the nature of the material used for the manufacturing of the desired product. The completion of the designing process leads the structure to other stages required for the completion of manufacture of the connecting rods in the car engines. b) Machinery and tooling used for its manufacturing as per required specifications, The manufacturing process proceeds through set stages, all these stages are requiring their own peculiar tools and equipment for the completion of the stage. The tools required for the manufacture of the connecting rods for automobile include specific dyes as per specific design of the connecting rods, instruments for the measurement of strength of the material, automated robotic assembly systems and computer aided design systems (10). c) Materials required for the connecting rods The connecting rods are manufactured and installed in the automobiles at the world over with the utilization of suitable materials. The connecting rods are manufactured with the application of forging a preformed near – net shape consolidated segment from metal powder and the remaining portion of the rods that is market segments are produced with the use of conventional steal forging or casting manufacturing processes. Most forging grade alloy powders during the process use molybdenum and nickel and small amounts manganese to increase iron harden ability without developing stable oxide formation. In addition, copper is frequently admixed in the case of connecting rods for the automobiles. The materials used in the process increase the strength and hardness the connecting rods, their toughness, stiffness and density are also considered during the selection of the materials for the connecting rods. The materials are selected on the basis of the mechanical behavior and manufacturing properties so as to increase the strengths and stiffness of the connecting rods. Analysis and formulization of the manufacturing process as used for the production of the connecting rods. The connecting rods of the automobile cars are manufactured through the selection of manufacturing process that lead through the process like casting, matching, forming and shaping and finally joining. These rods are produced through the utilization of a suitable manufacturing process for the production of the casting rods through these processes. The process include the metal casting process, metal welding process, composites forming process, ceramics forming process and rapid prototyping and rapid manufacturing process. The selection of the process is based on the concept of the economy and availability of the materials for the purpose. The connecting rods are manufactured through the process of machining which is also called as material removal process (11). The process a family of shaping operation in which extra materials are removed from the raw material so as to receive a desired geometry of the connecting rods with the needed shapes, dimensions and roughness which are suitable for the product. In the machining process, a sharp cutting tool is used to remove the unnecessary material and to achieve the desired shape of the product. The cuttings are made on the thickness of the plates utilized and the angles as to meet the requirements of the product as The machining process is needed to obtain final shape of the product with the utilization of the techniques as applied in the manufacturing process, to ascertain the final dimensions of the connecting rods with accuracy and targeted geometry with suitable quality for the connecting rods of the automobiles with the application of the manufacturing process (12). Mechanics of cutting is selected on the basis of cutting depth and the desired structures with specific rake angle and rake faces. There are three basic stages of manufacturing process as plug manufacture, mould manufacture and the component manufacture. These stages are used during the manufacturing process for achieving the desired product that is the connecting rods of the automobiles. A plug is a representative model used for the manufacturing of the product for which a mould can be utilized. A plug can be made with the help of a suitable material like wood, plastic, metal and foams. These plugs are designed with the considerations of draft angles and stiffness and on the basis of the finished surface as required during the process. One should also like to avoid the associated problems of the plugs like split lines on the moulds must clearly be observed and the plugs should be used on the flat surfaces(13). The moulds are essential requirements for the manufacturing of connecting rods for the automobiles; these moulds are designed with the help of suitable materials withy specific designs for enhancing the stiffness of the tools. The moulds are designed from the same material as that of the connecting rods so as to reduce the possible size variations during the thermal expansion of the material. Necessary planning is required for building moulds so as to manufacture the desired product with the utilization of the designed mould. A special consideration needs to be paid to the number of composite layers required in the connecting rods. To prevent heat built up, three to four layers moulds are designed so as to achieve the objective that is the final product as a result of the manufacturing process. The stiffness of the mould is essential for the manufacturing of the product as the stiffness is directly proportional to the thickness and for the product especially for the large flat shaped moulds (14). The moulds used in the manufacturing of the connecting rods for the automobiles are with return edges, sharp corners, wide flanges, bolt fixing and fillets. There are different types of milling machines tools used for the manufacturing of the connecting rods like Vertical Milling machine, Horizontal milling machine and Bridge type milling machine which are utilized during the manufacturing process. These tools and machines are essential for the achievement of quality output and refine ness with specific requirements as to determine the size of the products. These tools are indicated below in the following order as (a) Milling cutting motions with dog teeths, (b) Bridge type Milling machine, (c) vertical milling machine, and horizontal milling machine, respectively. These machines are essential input for the manufacturing of the connecting rods for the automobile cars. The component manufacturing is the final stage in the manufacturing of the connecting rods with the utilization of the plugs and the moulds. These components are made through the combined efforts of all the tools and moulds as are used during the whole process. The individual components of the milling machines are specifically designed so as to assist in the manufacturing process for the parts and equipment as required in the automobile manufacturing and maintenance. For example, the Main spindle is used for the fixation of the material during the manufacturing process and Z slide moves for providing platform for whole process to work in a coordinated fashion. The whole manufacturing system is monitored though a system called as a black box system which determines the authenticity of the system on the basis of inputs and outputs as used as tools to determine the normal functioning of the system. The system is called as black box system as we are mainly concerned with the product that is the connecting rods for the automobile cars and having little interest in the whole processing system that leads from the raw inputs in the form of materials, passed through the systems with assistance of the necessary tools and mechanisms that finely produce the product in the form of output (15). The revolving parts are used during the manufacturing of the connecting rods for the automobiles. A set of the tools as used in the manufacturing process is given below: The process can be illustrated with the help of the following hypothetical diagram where the inputs are on the left side of the equation and the product that is the connecting rods on the right hand side of the equation with the black box in the middle of the equation. The inputs are added as the raw material for the product, the systems are applied on the basis of fundamental principles of physical sciences with the involvement of management and organizational tools for the achievement of the final output in the shape of the product. The whole system is called as black box system manufacture of the connecting rods. The system is as under: CAD package and improvement of the product: The process involves the utilization of human and financial inputs for the completion of the tasks that is the use of inputs at the initial stages, processing with the help of moulds and plugs with appropriate conditions and finally the output. The manufacturing tasks are completed with the help of humans, robots and other machines as to achieve the targets. The robots are utilized for the completion of the tasks at the machines where high temperatures and dirty conditions are prevailing at the moulds for the quality output. However, the whole manufacturing process is supervised by the human capital with the assistance of the robots. The quality of the production is ensured through the utilization of specific machines, tools and computer aided designs for the manufacturing of the product. A special consideration is paid to the fact that human should not be jobless as a result of the robots in the system and the introduction of the robots will assist the human capital for the improvement of the connecting rods for the automobiles. A specialized computer called as a Programmable Logic Controller (PLC) is used to control the machines and processes for the manufacturing of the connecting rods for the automobiles which uses a programmable memory to store instructions for their utilization as to execute specific instructions with specific assignments like timings, on/off control, counting and other related assignments in the process. A typical PLC computer its functions are illustrated with the help of the following diagrams: Conclusion: The connecting rods are the central part of the engine of a typical car. The manufacturing and marketing of the component is essential for the running of the automobiles in the changed world with rapid pace of development especially during the twentieth century of the modern world. The needs special attention of all the stakeholders for the designing, manufacturing, and utilisation and after sales services for the product. The automobiles function on the basis of its parts like the connecting rods and the study will provide guidelines for the future generations to study and modify the product as per their emerging requirements. References: 1. Ralph Stein (1967). The Automobile Book. Paul Hamlyn Ltd.  2. Norbye, Jan (1988). Automotive fuel injection Systems. Haynes Publishing. ISBN 0-85429-755-3.  3. Gazeta Mercantil (2008). "ANP estima que consumo de álcool supere gasolina" (in Portuguese). Agropecuária Brasil. http://www.agropecuariabrasil.com.br/anp-estima-que-consumo-de-alcool-supere-gasolina/. Retrieved on 2008-08-09.  4. Inslee, Jay; Bracken Hendricks (2007), Apollo's Fire, Island Press, Washington, D.C., pp. 153-155, 160-161, ISBN 978-1-59726-175-3 . See Chapter 6. Homegrown Energy.  5. John A. Jakle, Keith A. Sculle. (2004). Lots of Parking: Land Use in a Car Culture. ISBN 0813922666.  6. Williams, Tony (2006). 101 Ingenious Kiwis. Reed Publishing (NZ) Ltd. pp. pp.83. 7. Singer, Charles Joseph; Raper, Richard, A History of Technology: The Internal Combustion Engine, edited by Charles Singer ... [et al.], Clarendon Press, 1954-1978. pp.157-176 8. Hardenberg, Horst O., The Middle Ages of the Internal combustion Engine, Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE), 1999 9. John Gloag and Derek Bridgwater, A History of Cast Iron in Architecture, Allen and Unwin, London (1948) 10. Peter R Lewis, Beautiful Railway Bridge of the Silvery Tay: Reinvestigating the Tay Bridge Disaster of 1879, Tempus (2004) ISBN 07524 3160 9 11. Peter R Lewis, Disaster on the Dee: Robert Stephenson's Nemesis of 1847, Tempus (2007) ISBN 0 7524 4266 2 12. Serope Kalpakjian, Steven R. Schmid: Chapter 24 of Manufacturing Engineering and Technology, 5th Edition, Prentice Hall, ISBN 0-13-148965-8 13. Serope Kalpakjian, Steven R. Schmid: Chapter 21 of Manufacturing Engineering and Technology, 5thEdition, Prentice Hall, ISBN 0-13-148965-8 14. George Laird, Richard Gundlach and Klaus Röhrig, Abrasion-Resistant Cast Iron Handbook, ASM International (2000) ISBN 0-87433-224-9 15. yons, William C. and Plisga, Gary J. (eds.) Standard Handbook of Petroleum & Natural Gas Engineering, Elsevier, 2006 Read More