Crankshafts

Bending results in tensile, compressive and shear stresses in the material of the crank web.
Twisting results in shear stresses.
Crankshafts are subject to a complex form of loading which varies with time. In addition
shrink fits, oil holes and fillet radii add to the complexity. ure stress analysis and rules governing
crankshaft dimensions are based upon a combination of theory and experience.
The three main loading stresses are;
Gas loads on the crankpin which produces alternating tangential bending of the webs
alternating bending of the crankpin and on elements of shearing of the crankpin at the inner
web faces
Torsional vibrations producing alternating twisting of the crankshaft, the journal of which is in
any event torsionally loaded by the gas loads via the web
Axial vibrations in conjunction with the alternating lengthening and shortening of the shaft and
in conjunction with local bending. rankshafts may, in addition be subject to misalignment
due to bearing wear or poor chocking. This produces and alternating bending of the
crankshaft
!ll the above alternating stress patterns produce fatigue and so the material must have a built
in resistance to it" this is of e#ual importance to its $.T.%. &$ltimate Tensile %tress'. (ild steel is usually
the material used but in some cases alloying the steel with a small percentage of nickel, Chromium,
)anadium may take place.
Crankshafts fail usually because of cracks propagating from a stress concentration point.
Vibration
!ll components vibrate e.g. a weight on a spring, rotating components such as crankshafts can vibrate in
a torsional manner. The systems will differ but the principals are the same. The operating fre#uency
caused by the operating speed is known as the forcing fre#uency. !ll systems have natural fre#uencies
were the vibration amplitude is excessive &consider out of balanced wheels on a car'. *esonance occurs
when the forcing fre#uency and natural fre#uency coincide and the result is excessive vibration. If it is
re#uired to keep the vibration amplitude below a certain value in order to limit stress to prevent fatigue,
then speeds coinciding to the natural fre#uency orders of it must be avoided. These speeds are referred to
as the barred speeds &or critical speed ranges'.
If the barred speed is located where it is re#uired to operate the engine, say at half ahead, it will be
necessary to fit a detuner or vibration damper. These lower the vibration peak and move it slightly higher
in the range. The barred speed is either removed or moved away from the area in which the engine is
operated. ! vibration damper consists essentially of an additional rotating mass driven by the crankshaft
and connected to it by a spring or a hydraulic fluid. The energy of vibration is used up in distorting the
spring or shearing the fluid.
+ith constant speed engines employing a C propeller, vibration dampers are sometimes
re#uired because natural fre#uencies of the engine and shaft system changes with load due to the pitch of
the propeller. In some cases there may even be a barred pitch.
Methods of forming a crankshaft
The ideal arrangement is that of the solid forged structure because there is continuity of material grain
flow which allows for smooth transmission of stress.
$nfortunately, such crankshafts are limited to the smaller engines because there is a limit to
the si,e of forging e#uipment and the si,e of steel bar which can be produced.
Built up crankshafts with shrink fits or welded sections allow very large units to be produced,
but they tend to be heavier and less rigid than an e#uivalent solid forged.
The grain flow method allows solid forged crankshafts to be produced with minimum energy
and minimum need for post machining. ! heated section of bar is held by three clamps which can be
moved hydraulically. The three stages for forming the crank throws are shown. +hen one throw has been
formed the next section of bar is heated, the shaft is held in the clamps again and the next throw formed.
Semi-built up
-o dowels are fitted as these can act as stress raisers.
Welded crankshaft
! form of crankshaft construction recently developed is that of welding. Cast web crank pin
and half journal units are connected at the half journals by welding. These welds are stress relieved and
the pins ground to give the correct finish. This form of construction is suitable for large direct drive
engines and it provides strength close to that of the solid forged crankshaft. !ny number of units may be
connected
The usual form of construction for direct drive engine crankshafts is the semi"built up type.
This makes use of shrink fits between the journals and webs. Careful design is re#uired to ensure the
shrink fit is strong enough but does not impose excessive shrinkage stress.
The shrink fit must provide sufficient strength to allow necessary tor#ue to be transmitted.
The actual allowance is about ./011"./211 of the diameter. Too large an allowance produces a high stress
which can result in yielding when the working stress is added. Too small an allowance can lead to
slippage.
In order to provide for large tor#ue transmission without high stress the area of contact at the
shrink fit should be increased.
This is usually by means of an increased diameter &over increase length as this increase the
engine length' which allows the fillet radius to be used, as the journal part of the pin does not need to be
of the same large diameter. The fillet allows a smooth transmission and is rolled because this produces a
compressive stress which provides safe guard against fatigue. The fillet is undercut allowing the web to be
positioned against the bearing reducing the engine length and oil loss from the ends of the bearing.
Slippage of shrink fits
%lippage can occur at the shrink fits and this can be noticed by consideration of the reference mark at the
end of the web and pin.
3or %lippage upto about 0
o
retiming of the effected cylinder can take place so long as oil holes
passing through the shrink fit do not become obstructed.
3or slippage above 0
o
there may be problems of loading on the crankshaft due to firing angles
and the relative position of the cranks, this can lead to excessive vibrations and stress. The ideal solution
is the replacement of the effected parts, a temporary repair may be carried out. This consists of cooling
the pin with li#uid nitrogen and heating the web to give a temperature difference of about .41
o
C. The web
may then be jacked back into position. In both cases the slip fit will have been damaged, the contact
faces which originally should be as smooth as possible to give maximum contact area. The engine should
be run at below the max. rating until the parts can be replaced.
(ost slipped fits are caused by starting the engine with water in the cylinder. But any overload
can result in this problem.
Post machining
(odern engines designed for high power and weight should have a well balanced crankshaft
with a minimum of material. ost machining allows the tapering and chamfering of webs and the counter
boring of pins, thereby removing all unnecessary metal. ! modern well balanced engine using higher
strength steels can avoid the use of balance weights.
Crankshaft alignment check
If a main bearing has suffered wear then the journal supported by the bearing will take up a lower
position, if adjacent bearings have not worn to the same degree then the shaft will take on a bent attitude
causing the crankwebs to be subjected to an oscillatory bending action and so fatigue.
It is therefor necessary to check the alignment of crankshafts by the use of special gauges.
The crankweb will often have a light center punch mark to ensure that the gauge is fitted in
the same position at each reading. The trim of the ship, whether loaded or unloaded, whether hogged or
sagged are all important factors which can effect the reliabililty of the readings. Ideally the readings
should be taken when the ship is drydocked.
Medium speed vee-type crankshaft layouts
+ith vee"type engines it is necessary to connect two con rods too each bottom end. Three
basic arrangements are available as shown. The side by side is the simplest with each bottom end being
positioned alongside each neighbour on the crankpin. This re#uires cylinders to be offset across the
engine thus giving a slight increase in length. The fork and blade type allows cylinders to be in line across
the engine but the bottom end arrangement is more complicated. The fork may have two bottom end
shells with the blade positioned between them. !lternately the arrangement as shown may be used. But
in this case the fork shell runs the whole length of the crankpin and the blade shell runs on specially
ground outer face of the fork shell.
The articulated arrangement has cylinders in line across the engine and a single bottom end is
used. 5n con rod is connected rigidly but because of piston motions the other rod is connected by means
of a gudgeon pin arrangement. Both pistons and con rods can be removed without disturbing the bottom
ends.
Modern trends in materials
3or a long period most crankshafts were made out of a material known as C671. This had very good
ability to withstand the damage caused by bearinf failure such as localised hardening and cracking.
$ndersi,ing by grinding was possible.
The modern trend is to move the chrome"molybdenum alloyed steel of high tensile stress. These may be
non"surface hardened & which tend to bend and have localised hardening when reacting to an overheated
bearing' or hardened & tends to loose its hardeness and due to changes in the molecular structure will
crack'. In both these cases grinding is generally nnot an option for repair.
3or modern material cranks subject to normal wear grinding may be carried out.