TECHNO INDIA

EM 4/1, SECTOR 5, SALT LAKE, KOLKATA-91

DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

A REPORT ON:
[DESIGNING OF IC ENGINE PARTS:
CYLINDER AND PISTON]

PAPER: DESIGN OF A MECHANICAL SYSTEM

PAPER CODE: ME 881
[GROUP: 7]

[BATCH: 2015-2019]

SUBMITTED BY: Under the guidance of:

MRINAL DUTTA (13000715050) Prof. Argha Bose
CHANDRA SHEKHAR SINGH (13000715024) (Department of Mechanical Engineering
ADITYA ARYA (13000715003) Techno India, Salt Lake)
OMKAR KUMAR (13000715057)
NAROTTAM KUMAR (13000715054)
ASHUTOSH KUMAR (13000715021)
ASHISH KUMAR CHOURASIA (13000715020)
Department of Mechanical Engineering
Techno India, Salt Lake
CONTENTS
1. Introduction
2. Principal parts of an engine
3. Design of IC engine parts
3.1. Design of a cylinder
3.1.1. Thickness of the cylinder wall
3.1.2. Bore and length of the cylinder
3.1.3. Cylinder flange and studs
3.1.4. Cylinder head
3.2. Design of a piston
3.2.1. Piston head or crown
3.2.2. Piston rings
3.2.3. Piston barrel
3.2.4. Piston skirt
3.2.5. Piston pin
4. Detailed design procedure of IC engine’s parts (problem)
4.1. Design of a cylinder
4.2. Design of a piston
5. Conclusion

Department of Mechanical Engineering

Techno India, Salt Lake
 1. INTRODUCTION
The internal combustion engines(IC engines) are those engines in which the combustion of fuel takes place inside the engine
cylinder. The IC engines use either petrol or diesel as their fuel. In petrol engines(SI engines), the correct proportion of fuel
and air is mixed in the carburettor and fed to engine cylinder where it is ignited by means of a spark produced at the spark
plug. In diesel engines (CI engines), only air is supplied to the engine cylinder during suction stroke and it is compressed to a
very high pressure, thereby raising its temperature from 600 0C to 10000C. The desired quantity of fuel is now injected into the
engine cylinder in the form of very fine spray and gets ignited when comes in contact with the hot air.

The operating cycle of an IC engine can be completed either by the two strokes or four strokes of the piston. Thus, an engine
which requires two stokes of the piston or one complete revolution of the crankshaft to complete the cycle, is known as two
stroke engine. An engine which requires four strokes of the piston or two complete revolutions of the crankshaft to complete
the cycle is known as four stoke engine.

2. PRINCIPAL PARTS OF AN ENGINE

The principal parts of an IC engine, as shown in figure 1 are as follows:

1. Cylinder and cylinder liner,

2. Piston, piston rings, and piston pin or gudgeon pin,
3. Connecting rod with small and big end bearing,
4. Crank, crankshaft, and crank pin and
5. Valve gear mechanism

Figure 1

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Techno India, Salt Lake
 3. DESIGN OF IC ENGINES’ PARTS
3.1. Design of a cylinder
In designing of a cylinder for an IC engine, it is required to determine the following values:

3.1.1.Thickness of the cylinder wall

The cylinder wall is subjected to gas pressure and the piston thrust. The gas pressure produces the following two types of
stress: Longitudinal stress and Circumferential stress.

Since these two stress act at right angles to each other, therefore, the net stress in each direction is reduced.

The piston side thrust tends to bend the cylinder wall, but the stress in the wall due to side thrust is very small and hence it may
be neglected.

Let

The apparent longitudinal stress is given by

And the apparent circumferential stress is given by

… (Where is the length of the cylinder and area is the projected area)

The thickness of the cylinder wall is usually obtained by using a thin cylinder formula, i.e.

Where,

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Techno India, Salt Lake
*Note 1: The value of the permissible circumferential stress ( ) may be taken from 35MPa to 100Mpa depending upon
the size and material of the cylinder.

*Note 2: The allowance for reboring ( ) depending upon the cylinder bore ( ) for an IC engine is given in the following
table (Table 1):

(mm) 75 100 150 200 250 300 350 400 450 500
(mm) 1.5 2.4 4.0 6.3 8.0 9.5 11.0 12.5 12.5 12.5
(Table 1: relation between C and D)

The thickness of the cylinder wall usually varies from 4.5 mm to 25 mm or more depending upon the size of the cylinder. The
thickness of the cylinder wall (t) may also be obtained from the following empirical relation,

The other empirical relations are as follows:

3.1.2. Bore and length of the cylinder

The bore and length of the cylinder may be determined as discussed below:

Let

*Note 3: n=N, for two stroke engine

n=N/2, for four stroke engine

We know that the power produced inside the engine cylinder, indicated power (IP),

From this expression, we can calculate the bore and the length of the stroke. The length of the stroke is generally takes as
1.25 to 2 .

Since, there is a clearance on both sides of the cylinder; therefore length of the cylinder is taken as 15% greater than the length
of the stroke.

So, length of the cylinder, L=1.15l

Department of Mechanical Engineering

Techno India, Salt Lake
*Note 4: if the power developed at the crankshaft, i.e. brake power (BP) and the mechanical efficiency (ƞ m) of the
engine is known, then

*Note 5: the maximum gas pressure (p) may be taken as 9 to 10 times the mean effective pressure (pm).

3.1.3. Cylinder flange and stud

The cylinders are cast integral with the upper half of the crankcase or they are attached to the crankcase by means of a flange
with studs or bolts and nuts. The cylinder flange is integral with the cylinder and should be made thicker than the the cylinder
wall. The flange thickness should be taken as 1.2t to 1.4t, where t is the thickness of cylinder wall.

The diameter of the studs or bolts may be obtained by equating the gas load due to the maximum pressure in the cylinder to the
resisting force offered by all the studs or bolts. Mathematically,

Where,

The nominal or major diameter of the stud or bolt (d) usually lies between 0.75tf to tf, where tf is the thickness of flange. In no
case, a stud or bolt less than 16mm diameter should be used.

The distance of the flange from the centre of the hole for the stud or bolt should not be less than d+6mm and not more than
1.5d, where d is the nominal diameter of the stud or bolt.

In order to make a leak proof joint, the pitch of the studs or bolts should lie between √ to √ , where d is in mm.

3.1.4. Cylinder head

Usually, a separate cylinder head or cover is provided with most of the engines. It is usually, made of box type section of
considerable depth to accommodate ports for air and gas passages, inlet valve, exhaust valve and spark plug(in case of petrol
engine) or atomiser at the centre of the cover(in case of diesel engine).

The cylinder head may be approximately taken as a flat circular plate whose thickness(th) may be determined from the

following relation: √

Where,

⁄
Department of Mechanical Engineering
Techno India, Salt Lake
 It may be taken as 30 to 50MPa.

The studs or bolts are screwed up tightly along with a metal gasket or asbestos packing to provide a leak proof joint between
the cylinder and the cylinder head. The tightness of the joint also depends upon the pitch of the bolts and studs, which
should lie between √ to √ . The pitch circle diameter (Dp) is usually taken as D+3d.

3.2. Design of a piston

In designing a piston for IC engine, the following considerations must be taken:

i. It should have enormous strength to withstand the high gas pressure and inertia force,
ii. It should have minimum mass to minimise the inertia force,
iii. It should form an effective gas and oil sealing of the cylinder,
iv. It should provide sufficient bearing area to prevent undue wear,
v. It should disperse the heat of combustion quickly to the cylinder walls,
vi. It should have high speed reciprocation without noise,
vii. It should be sufficient rigid construction to withstand thermal and mechanical distortion,
viii. It should have sufficient support for the piston pin.

The pistons of IC engines are usually of trunk type as shown in Figure 1. Such pistons are open at one end and consist of the
following parts:

i. Head or Crown
ii. Piston rings
iii. Skirt
iv. Piston pin

Figure 2

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Techno India, Salt Lake
 3.2.1. Designing of piston head or Crown
Considerations:

i. It should have adequate strength to withstand the straining action due to pressure of explosion inside the engine
cylinder, and
ii. It should dissipate the heat of combustion to the cylinder walls as quickly as possible.

On the basis of first consideration, the thickness of piston head is determined by treating it as a flat circular plate ofn uniform
thickness, fixed at the outer edges and subjected to a uniformly distributed load due to the gas pressure over the entire cross-
section.

The thickness of the piston head (tH), according to Grashoff’s formula is given by:

Where,

It may be taken as 35 to 40 MPa for nickel cast iron and aluminium alloy and 60 to 100 MPa for
forged steel.

On the basis of second consideration, the thickness of the piston head should be such that the heat absorbed by the piston due
to combustion of fuel is quickly transferred to the cylinder walls. Treating the piston head as a flat circular plate, its thickness
is given by

Where,

⁄ ⁄ . Its value is 46.6 W/m/0C for grey cast iron, 51.25 W/m/0C for steel and
0
174.75 W/m/ C for aluminium alloys

The temperature diff. (TC-TE) may be taken as 2200C for cast iron and 750C for aluminium.

The heat following through the piston head (H) may be determined by the following expressions, i.e.,

C= constant representing hat portion of the heat supplied to the engine which is absorbed by the piston. Its value is
usually taken as 0.05.

m=mass of the fuel used in kg per brake power per second,

HCV=higher calorific value of the fuel in kJ/kg. it may be taken as for petrol

BP= brake power of the engine per cylinder

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Techno India, Salt Lake
*Note 6: The thickness of the piston head is calculated by using equations (i) and (ii) and larger of the two values
obtained should be adopted.

*Note 7: When tH is 6mm or less, then no ribs are required to strengthen the piston head against gas load. But, when tH
is greater than 6mm, then a suitable number of ribs at the centre line of the boss extending around the skirt should be
provided to distribute the side thrust from the connecting rod and thus to prevent distortion of the skirt. The thickness
of the ribs may be taken as tH/3 to tH.

*Note 8: For engines having length of stroke to cylinder bore (L/D) ratio up to 1.5, a cup is provided in the top of the
piston head with radius equal to 0.7D. This is done to provide a space for combustion chamber.

3.2.2. Designing of piston rings

The piston rings are of two types:

i. Compression rings or pressure rings: they are inserted in the grooves at the top portion of the piston and may be
three or seven in numbers. These rings also transfer heat from the piston to the cylinder liner and absorb some
part of the piston fluctuations due to the side thrust.
ii. Oil control or oil scraper: they are provided below the compression rings. These rings provide proper lubrication.

The radial thickness (t1) of the ring may be obtained by considering the radial pressure between the cylinder wall and the ring.
From bending stress consideration in the ring, the radial thickness is given by:

Where,

Its value is limited from 0.025N/mm2 to 0.042 N/mm2.

Its value may be taken from 85MPa to 110MPa for cast iron.

The axial thickness (t2) of the ring may be taken as 0.7t1 to t1

The minimum axial thickness may be obtained from the following empirical relation:

Where

The width of the top land is made larger than other ring lands to protect the top ring from high temperature conditions existing
at the top of the pistons,

The width of other ring lands in the piston may be made equal to or slightly less than the axial thickness of the ring

The depth of the ring grooves should be more than the depth of the ring so that the ring does not take any piston side thrust.

The gap between the free ends of the ring is given by 3.5t1 to 4t1. The gap, when the ring is in the cylinder, should be 0.002D to
0.004D.

Department of Mechanical Engineering

Techno India, Salt Lake
 3.2.3. Designing of piston barrel
The maximum thickness (t3) of the piston barrel may be obtained from the following empirical relation:

Where b= radial depth of piston ring groove which is taken as 0.4mm larger than the radial thickness of the piston ring (t1)

b=t1+0.4mm

The piston wall thickness (t4) towards the open end is decreased and should be taken as 0.25t3 to 0.35t3

3.2.4. Designing of piston skirt

The length of the piston skirt should be such that the bearing pressure on the piston barrel due to the side thrust does not
exceed 0.25 N/mm2 of the projected area for low speed engines and 0.5 N/mm2 for high speed engines. The side thrust (R) on
the cylinder liner is usually taken as 1/10 of the maximum gas load on the piston.

We know that maximum gas load on the piston,

Therefore, maximum side thrust on the cylinder,

The side thrust is also given by

From equations (i) & (ii), the length of the piston skirt (l) is determined. In actual practice, the length of piston skirt is taken as
0.65 to 0.8 times the cylinder bore. Now, the total length of the piston (L) is given by:

The length of the piston usually varies between D and 1.5D.

3.2.5. Designing of piston pin

The centre of the piston pin should be 0.02D to 0.04D above the centre of the skirt. The material used for piston pin is usually
case hardened steel alloy containing nickel chromium, molybdenum or vanadium having tensile strength from 710MPa to
910MPa.

Let

Its value is usually taken as 0.45D

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 Its value for the bronze bushing may be taken as 25N/mm2.

We know that load on the piston due to gas pressure or gas load

And load on the piston pin due to bearing pressure or bearing load

From equations (i) & (ii), the outside diameter of the piston pin( may be obtained.

The piston pin may be checked in bending by assuming the gas load to be uniformly distributed over the length with supports
at the centre of the bosses at the two ends. From figure 3, we find that the length between the supports,

Now, maximum bending moment at the centre of the pin,

Or,

Or,

Or, Figure 3

The piston pin is made hollow. Let do & di be the outside and inside diameters of the piston pin. We know that the section
modulus,

We know that maximum bending moment,

Where =allowable bending stress for the material of the piston pin. It is usually taken as 84MPa for case hardened carbon
steel and 140MPa for heat treated alloy steel.

Assuming di=0.6do, the induced bending stress in the piston pin may be checked.

Department of Mechanical Engineering

Techno India, Salt Lake
 4. DETAILED DESIGN PROCEDURE OF IC
ENGINE’S PARTS (PROBLEM)
4.1. Design of a cylinder
Problem: A four stroke diesel engine has the following specifications: BP=5kW; speed=1200 rpm; indicated mean effective
pressure=0.35N/mm2; mechanical efficiency=80%. Determine: bore and length of the cylinder; thickness of the cylinder head;
size of studs for the cylinder head.

Solution:

Given data: BP=5kW=5000 W; N=1200 rpm; n=N/2=600; =0.35N/mm2; ƞm=0.8

Bore and length of cylinder:

Let

(Assume)

We know that the indicated power,

Also,

Or,

Taking clearance on both sides of the cylinder equal to 15% of the stroke, therefore length of the cylinder,

Thickness of the cylinder head:

Since, the maximum pressure ( ) in the engine cylinder is taken as 9 to 10 time the mean effective pressure (

Therefore,

Or,

We know that the thickness of the cylinder head is given by:

Or,

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 √

Or,

… (Taking C=0.1 and =42MPa)

Size of studs for cylinder head:

We know that the force acting on the cylinder head(or on the studs)

The number of studs are usually taken between (=5.15) and (=6.3). Let us take =6

We know that resisting force offered by all the studs

… (taking =65N/mm2)

From equations (i) & (ii),

The pitch circle diameter of the studs (Dp) is taken as D+3d

We know that the pitch of the studs

We know that for a leak proof joint, the pitch of the studs should lie between √ to √ , where d is the nominal diameter
(in mm).

√ √

√ √

Since the pitch of the studs obtained above (i.e. 82.2mm) lies within 71.1 mm and 106.6 mm, therefore, size of the studs (d)
calculated is satisfactory.

So, d=14mm

Department of Mechanical Engineering

Techno India, Salt Lake
 4.2. Design of a piston
Problem: Design a cast iron piston for a single acting four stroke engine for the following data: Cylinder bore=100 mm;
stroke=125mm; maximum gas pressure=5N/mm2; indicated mean effective pressure=0.75N/mm2; mechanical efficiency=80%;
fuel consumption=0.15kg per brake power per hour; higher calorific value of fuel=42x10 3kJ/kg; speed=2000 rpm.

Any other data required for design may be assumed.

Solution: Given data: D=100mm; L=125mm=0.125m; p=5N/mm2; =0.75N/mm2; ƞm=0.8; m=0.15kg/BP/h=41.7x10-

6
kg/BP/s; HCV=42x103kJ/kg; N=2000 rpm.

Piston head or crown:

The thickness of the piston head is determined on the basis of strength as well as on the basis of heat dissipation and the larger
of the two values is adopted.

We know that the thickness of piston head on the basis of strength,

√ √

… (Taking for cast iron=38MPa=38N/mm2)

Since the engine is four stroke engine, therefore, the number of working strokes per minute,

n=N/2=2000/2=1000

And cross sectional area of the cylinder,

We know that indicated power,

So, brake power,

We know that the heat flowing through the piston head,

… (Taking C=0.05)

Therefore, thickness of the piston head on the basis of heat dissipation,

… (For cast iron, k=46.6W/m/oC, and

Taking the larger of the two values, we should adopt:

Since the ratio of L/D is 1.25, therefore a cup in the top of the piston head with radius equal to 0.7D=7mm is required.

Radial ribs:

The radial ribs may be four in number. The thickness of the ribs varies from .

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Therefore, thickness of the ribs,

Let take it as

Piston rings:

Let us assume that there are total four rings ( ) out of which three are compression rings and one is an oil ring.

We know that the radial thickness of the piston rings, √ √

… (Taking , and )

And axial thickness of the piston rings,

Let take it as

We also know that the minimum axial thickness of the piston ring,

Thus, the axial thickness of the piston ring as already calculated ( ) is satisfactory.

The distance from the top of the piston to the first ring groove, i.e., the width of the top land,

And width of the other ring lands,

Let us adopt, b1=18mm and b2=2.5mm

We know that the gap between the free ends of the ring,

And the gap when the ring is in the cylinder,

Let us adopt

Piston barrel:

Since the radial depth of the piston ring grooves (b) is about 0.4mm more than the radial thickness of the piston rings (t1),
therefore,

We know that the maximum thickness of barrel,

And piston wall thickness towards the open end,

Piston skirt:
Let

We know that the maximum side thrust on the cylinder due to gas pressure (p),

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We also know that the side thrust due to bearing pressure (pb) on the piston barrel,

From the above, we find that

Therefore, total length of the piston,

Piston pin:
Let

Its value is usually taken as 0.45D

Its value for the bronze bushing may be taken as 25N/mm2.

We know that load on the pin due to bearing pressure

We also know that maximum load on the piston due to gas pressure or maximum gas load

From the above, we find that,

The inside diameter of the pin(di) is usually taken as 0.6do.

Let the piston pin be made of heat treated alloy steel for which the bending stress may be taken as 140MPa. Now let us
check the induced bending stress in the pin.

We know that maximum bending moment at the centre of the pin,

We also know that maximum bending moment (M),

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Since, the induced bending stress in the pin is less than the permissible value of 140MPa, therefore, the dimensions for the pin
as calculated above is satisfactory.

5. CONCLUSION
By following the above procedures, we were able to design suitable cylinder and piston for an IC engine.

For cylinder design, we calculated the bore and length of cylinder, thickness of the cylinder head and size of studs for the
cylinder head.

For piston design, we calculated the piston head or crown, radial ribs, piston rings, piston barrel, piston skirt and piston pins.

We found all the results satisfactory, considering all the failures in engine parts.

Department of Mechanical Engineering

Techno India, Salt Lake