GMSARN International Conference on Sustainable Development: Issues and Prospects for the GMS 12-14 Nov.

2008

Design and Kinematics Analysis of Piston

Mi Mi San

Abstract— This paper illustrates design and kinematics analysis of piston in research locomotive engine. Kinematics deals
with the way things move. Formally defined, it is the study of the geometry of motion. Kinematics analysis involves
determination of position, displacement, rotation, speed, velocity and acceleration. Automatic assembly machines have
crank-slider mechanism linkages that provide motion to tooling. In order to design a good tooling mechanism linkage, the
dynamic behavior of the components must be considered; this includes both the gross kinematics motion and self-induced
vibration motion. Analytical equations for piston kinematics may be described by the MathCAD software.

Keywords –Design, Kinematics, MathCAD, Piston.

The crankshaft converts the linear motion of the piston
1. INTRODUCTION into rotational motion. To translate linear motion into
rotational motion the crankshaft has an offset rotation.
Pistons are among most mechanical and thermal loaded The diameter of offset is equal to the stroke of the piston.
components of internal combustion engines. The piston
reciprocates vertically within the cylinder. The two 2. ENGINE SPECIFICATIONS
extremes of this motion are referred to as Top Dead The specification of the locomotive dielel engine [5] are
Center (TDC) and Bottom Dead Center (BDC), referred tabulated in Table 1 as follows:
to Figure1. Top Dead Center is the position of the piston
that creates the smallest volume in the cylinder, which is Table 1. Specification of Locomotive Engine
defined as the clearance volume, Vc. This is where
combustion takes place in the engine and is also known as PARAMETER SPECIFICATION
the combustion chamber. Bottom Dead Center is when
the piston creates the largest volume in the cylinder. The Maximum output power, BP 1492 kW (2000 HP)
distance between TDC and BDC is referred to as the
stroke and the volume which the piston displaces during Engine speed, N 1500 rpm
this moment is called the displacement volume, Vd. The
piston diameter is referred to as the bore. Mean effective pressure, pb 17.4 bar

Intake Exhaust
Number of cylinders, n 12
Valve Valve
Compression ratio, rv 13.5

TDC TDC Cooling system Water cooling

Bore
Fuel consumption, m1 177.2 g/hp.hr
Stroke
Reciprocating mass, mr 29.5 kg
BDC
BDC
Type Four stroke,V-Type

3. PISTON DESIGN
(a)Displacement (b)Clearance (c)Nomenclature The elements of a piston are shown in Figure 2. On the
Volume Volume basis of first consideration of straining action, the
thickness of the piston head is determined by treating it as
a flat circular plate of uniform thickness, fixed at the
Fig.1. Cross Section of a Reciprocating Engine outer edges and subjected to a uniformly distributed load
The piston is connected to the crankshaft via the due to the gas pressure over the entire cross-section. The
connecting rod which allows rotation at both connections. thickness of the piston head ( t H ), according to
Grashoff’s formula, is given by:

Mi Mi San is with the Mandalay Technological University, 3 p.D 2

Mandalay, Myanmar. E-mail: kason72@gmail.com. tH = (1)
16σ t

1
where t H is thickness of the piston head, p is maximum
gas pressure or explosion pressure, D is cylinder bore and
σ t is permissible bending (tensile) stress for the material
of the piston. It may be taken as 50 to 90 MPa for
aluminium alloy [1].
Fig.2. Elements of a Piston
On the basis of second consideration of heat transfer,
the thickness of the piston head should be such that the
heat absorbed by the piston due to the combustion of fuel
is quickly transferred to the cylinder walls. Treating the
piston head as a flat circular plate, its thickness is given
by:
H
tH = (2)
12.56k (TC - TE )
where H is heat flowing through the piston head and k is
heat conductivity factor. The value of heat conductivity
factor is 174.75 W/m/˚C for aluminium alloys. Tc is the
temperature at the centre of the piston head, and TE is the
temperature at the edges of the piston head. The
temperature difference (Tc – TE) may be taken as 75˚C
for aluminium [1].
The heat flowing through the piston head (H) may be
determined by the following expression:
H = C × HCV × m1 × BP (3)
where C is constant representing that portion of the heat
supplied to the engine which is absorbed by the piston. Its
value is usually taken as 0.05. HCV is higher calorific
value of the fuel. It may be taken as 45× 103 kJ/kg.
m1 is mass of the fuel used and BP is brake power of the
engine per cylinder.
The thickness of the piston head ( t H ) is calculated by
using Equations 1 and 2 and larger of the two values
obtained should be adopted.
The radial thickness ( t 1 ) 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:
3p w
t1 = D (4)
σ t1
where D is cylinder bore, p w is pressure of gas on the
cylinder wall (0.025 MPa to 0.042 Mpa), and σ t1 is
allowable bending (tensile) stress (85 MPa to 112 MPa
for cast iron rings). The axial thickness ( t 2 ) of the rings
may be taken as 0.7 t 1 to t 1 .
The minimum axial thickness ( t 2 ) may also be
obtained from the following empirical relation:
D
t2 = (5)
10n R
where n R is number of rings.
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 piston.
So width of top land, b1 = t H to 1.2 t H (6)
The width of other ring lands in the piston may be
made equal to or slightly less than the axial thickness of
the ring ( t 2 ). The lands between the piston rings are
loaded by the forces of the gases, of inertia of the piston
rings, and of friction. Ordinarily the land between the first
and second rings is higher. The height of the first land
reaches 0.065D in diesels. The lands are gradually
reduced in height away from the crown. The height of the
first land, hl is 0.04 D to 0.065 D for diesel engine.
∴ Width of other ring lands,
b 2 = 0.75t 2 to t 2 (7)
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 3.5 t 1 to 4 t 1 . The gap when the ring is in the
cylinder, should be 0.002 D to 0.004 D.
The maximum thickness ( t 3 ) of the piston barrel may
be obtained from the following empirical relation.
t3 = 0.03 D + b + 4.5 (8)
where b is radial depth of piston ring groove.
b = t1 + 0.4 (9)
Thus, the above relation may be written as:
t 3 = 0.03 D + t 1 + 4.9 (10)
The piston wall thickness ( t 4 ) towards the open end is
decreased and should be taken as 0.25 t3 to 0.35 t3[1].The
portion of the piston below the ring section is known as
piston skirt. It acts as a bearing for the side thrust of the
connecting rod. 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 0.5 N/mm2 for high speed
engines. It may be noted that the maximum thrust will be
during the expansion stroke. The side thrust (R) on the
cylinder liner is usually taken as 0.03 to 0.1 times of the
maximum gas load on the piston [3].
The maximum gas load on the piston,
π D2
P = p× (11)
4
∴ Maximum side thrust on the cylinder,
2
 π D2
R = (0.03 to 0.1) p × (12)
4
The side thrust (R) is also given by:
R = p br × D × L ps (13)
where Lps is length of the piston skirt and pbr is the
bearing pressure. In actual practice, the length of the
piston skirt is taken as 0.65 to 0.8 times the cylinder bore.
Now the total length of the piston (Lp) is given by:
Lp = Lps + Length of ring section + Top land (14)
The length of the piston usually varies between 1.16D
and 1.5 D. The material used for the piston pin is usually
case hardened steel alloy containing nickel, chromium,
molybdenum or vanadium having tensile strength from
710 MPa to 910 MPa.
The piston pin should be designed for the maximum
gas load or the inertia force of the piston, whichever is
larger. The bearing area of the piston pin should be about
equally divided between the piston pin bosses and the
connecting rod bushing. Thus, the length of the pin in the
connecting rod bushing will be about 0.45 of the cylinder
bore allowing for the end clearance of the pin etc. The
outside diameter of the piston pin ( d o ) is determined by
equating the load on the piston due to gas pressure (p)
and the load in the piston pin due to bearing pressure
( p b1 ) at the small end of the connecting rod bushing.
Pbearing = Bearing pressure × Bearing area
= p b1 × d o × L1 (15)
where, d o is outside diameter of the piston pin, L1 is
length of the piston pin in the bush of the small end of the
connecting rod (0.3D to 0.45 D), p b1 is bearing pressure
at the small end of the connecting rod bushing. The pin
diameter is selected up to an optimum of about 40 percent
of piston diameter on the basis of a maximum bearing
pressure of 60 MPa in aluminium [2].
The piston pin may be checked in bending by assuming
the gas load to be uniformly distributed over the length
L1 with supports at the centre of the bosses at the two
ends. Therefore, the maximum bending moment at the
centre of the pin,
PD
M= (16)
8 2n
The hollow piston pin is mostly used if d o and d i is
the outside and inside diameters of the piston pin. The
section modulus,
π
4
(d o ) - (d i )
4 sin 2θ
Z= [ ] (17)
32 do
The inside diameter of the piston pin has the limited
range of 0.65d o to 0.75 d o .
The maximum bending moment is,
M = Z σb (18)
where, σ b is allowable bending stress (up to 260 Mpa).
4. CRANK SLIDER MECHANISM
Common to most reciprocating engines is a linkage
known as a crank-slider mechanism. Diagrammed in
Figure 3, this mechanism is one of the several capable of
producing the straight line, backward and forward motion
known as reciprocating. Fundamentally, the crank-slider
converts rotational motion into linear motion, or vice-
versa. With a piston as the slider moving inside a fixed
cylinder, the mechanism provides the vital capability of a
gas engine: the ability to compress and expand a gas. It is
evident that while the crank arm rotates through 180º, the
piston moves from the position known as Top Dead
Center to the other extreme, called Bottom Dead Center.
During this period the piston travels a distance called the
stroke that is twice the length of the crank [4].
For an angular velocity of the crank, ω, the crank pin
has a tangential velocity component, ωr. It is evident that,
at TDC and at BDC, the crank pin velocity component in
the piston direction, and hence the piston velocity, is zero.
At these points, corresponding to crank angle θ = 0º and
180º, the piston reverses direction. Thus as θ varies from
0º to 180º, the piston velocity accelerates from 0 to a
maximum and then returns to 0. A similar behavior exists
between 180º and 360º.
The connecting rod is a two-force member; hence it is
evident that there are both axial and lateral forces on the
piston at crank angles other than 0º and 180º. These
lateral forces are, of course, opposed by the cylinder
walls. The resulting lateral force component normal to the
cylinder wall gives rise to frictional forces between the
piston rings and cylinder. The normal force and the
frictional force alternates from one side of the piston to
the other during each cycle. Thus the piston motion
presents a challenging lubrication problem for the control
and reduction of both wear and energy loss.
Lrod Cylinder
y r
θ Ф
x
L
Fig.3. Notation of Crank Slider Mechanism
The displacement of the piston at crank angle θ is given by [4],
sin 2 θ
x = r[ 1 - cos θ + ] (19)
where r is the crank radius and n is the ratio of the connecting
rod length and crank radius, Lrod/r. Then the velocity of the
piston is given by [4],
v = ωr [ sin θ + ] (20)
2n
And then the acceleration of the piston is determined as,
cos 2θ
a = ω 2 r[ cos θ + ] (21)
n
The inertia force of the reciprocating parts is [4],
3
 cos 2θ acceleration and crank angle is presented in Figure 6.
F = m r r ω 2 [ cos θ + ] (22) Fingure 7 is also presented the variation of inertia force of
n the piston assembly over one complete engine cycle at
5. RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS crankshaft speed of 1500 rpm.
0.25
In the design of piston of 2000 HP locomotive diesel
0.23
engine, structural rigidity combined with lightness must
always be the first consideration. The fundamental 0.2

Displacement of Piston (m)

concepts and design methods concerned with twelve 0.18
cylinders diesel engine have been studied in this paper. 0.15
Piston design for this engine have also been evaluated. 0.13
The results calculated for piston design are tabulated in
0.1
Table 2.
0.075
Table 2. Results for Piston Design 0.05

0.025
Parameters Results (mm)
0
0 80 160 240 320 400 480 560 640 720 800
Piston length 230
Crank Angle (degree)
Piston diameter 185
Fig. 4. Displacement versus Crank Angle
Piston crown thickness 27
20
Length of piston skirt 152
16

Piston pin outside diameter 70 Velocity of Piston (m/s) 12

8
Piston pin inside diameter 42
4
Piston pin length 150
0

Piston pin thickness 14 4

8
Thickness of piston barrel 17
12
Piston thickness at open end 6
16

When a piston is designed, care should be taken to have 20

0 80 160 240 320 400 480 560 640 720 800
a minimum weight with strength to withstand pressure
and inertia forces, bearing are sufficient to prevent wear, Crank Angle (degree)
gas and oil sealing of the cylinder, high speed
reciprocation without noise, dispersion of the heat of Fig.5. Velocity versus Crank Angle
combustion, resistance to thermal and mechanical
distortion and adequate support for the piston pin. The
4000
piston in this engine is made of aluminium alloy.
Aluminum alloy pistons are costly but have the 3400
advantages of light weight, which reduces the inertia
forces, and they are easier to handle. 2800

Piston rings are made of cast iron because of the

Acceleration of Piston (m/s^2)

2200
comparatively good wearing qualities of this material and
also because the spring characteristics are retained at 1600
temperature attained during engine operation. The rings
1000
are cut cross-sectionally at one point and hammered
internally to make then spring outward so that they bear 400
in the cylinder against the cylinder wall and form a gas
tight joint. The cross-section of the rings is rectangular. 200

Figure 4 is presented variation of displacement of the

800
piston assembly over one complete engine cycle at
crankshaft speed at 1500 rpm. The speed of the piston can 1400
be calculated by derivating Equation 19 determining the
distance between the piston and the top dead centre. The 2000
0 80 160 240 320 400 480 560 640 720 800
correlation between piston speed and crank angle is
presented in Figure 5. The piston acceleration influences Crank Angle (degree)
the phenomenon of ring lift. The acceleration of the
piston can be calculated from the equation of the piston Fig.6. Acceleration versus Crank Angle
speed by derivating it. The correlation between piston

4
 nR Number of rings
P Maximum gas load on the piston [N]
1 .10
5
Pbearing Bearing load [N]
8.5 .10
4
p Maximum gas pressure [Mpa]
7 .10
4
pbr Bearing pressure [Mpa]
5.5 .10
4
pb1 Bearing pressure at the small end of the
. 4
connecting rod [Mpa]
Force (N)

4 10
2.5 .10
4
pw Pressure of gas on the cylinder wall [Mpa]
1 .10 r Crank radius [mm]
4

5000 R Side thrust force on connecting rod [N]

2 .10
4 TC Temperature at the centre of the piston head [˚C]
3.5 .10
4 TE Temperature at the edges of the piston head [˚C]
5 .10
4 tH Thickness of the piston head [mm]
0 40 80 120 160 200 240 280 320 360 400 t1 The radial thickness of the piston rings [mm]
t2 The axial thickness of the piston rings [mm]
Crank Angle (degree)
t3 The maximum thickness of the barrel [mm]
t4 Piston wall thickness towards the open end
Fig.7. Force versus Crank Angle [mm]
6. CONCLUSION v Velocity of piston [m/s]
x Displacement of piston [m]
Trunk type (flat) piston is designed in this paper. This is Z Section modulus [mm3]
easier to calculate the design of piston such as bore,
stroke, thickness, etc. Furthermore, this type of piston is σb Allowable bending stress for the material of the
suitable enough for high speed engine. The kinematics piston pin [Mpa]
displacement, velocity, and acceleration are described by σt Permissible bending (tensile) stress for the
the MathCAD software. The mean piston speed is 10.5 material of the piston [Mpa]
m/s. The piston diameter is 185 mm and stroke length is σt1 Allowable bending (tensile) stress [Mpa]
210 mm for the engine. Aluminum alloy material is ω Angular speed of crank [rad/s]
selected to produce the piston casting because this
material is suitable for heavy duty operating conditions θ Angle of inclination of the crank from top dead
with diesel engines and do not suffer from corrosion centre [degree]
attack. REFERENCES
The piston pin is full floating type and has a diameter
[1] Khurmi, R.S. and Gupta, J.K. 2005, A Textbook of
of 70 mm. To reduce the weight of the pin, it is made
Machine Design, 2nd Edition, Eurasia Publishing
hollow with an internal diameter of 42 mm. The piston
House (Pvt.), Ltd, New Delhi.
pin is secured against axial displacement in the piston
[2] Chatten, B. and Baranes, R., 1999, Diesel Engine
boss by means of two circlip. The surface of the piston
References Book, 2nd Edition, Replika Press Pvt.
pin is hardened to provide a long wearing surface. The
Ltd., India.
pin is installed into an aluminum alloy with interference.
[3] Sharma, R.P.C. and Aggarwal, R.D.K, 2004, A Text
The interference disappears when the engine warms up
Book of Machine Design.
after starting.
[4] Myszka, D.H., 2005, Machines and Mechanisms, 3rd
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Edition, New Delhi- 110001.
[5] ALSTHOM, 1987, S.E.M.T. Pielstick, MOTEUR
The author greatfully acknowledges the financial support
PA4 Engine, 12PA4V185VG BURMA Railways
by the Ministry of Science and Technology, Myanmar to
Corporation.
carry out this research. The author would like to express
their special thanks to Dr. Mi Sanda Mon and Daw Thida
Oo of Yangon Technological University, Yangon,
Myanmar.
NOMENCLATURE
a Acceleration of piston [m/s2]
A Cross-sectional area of the piston [mm2]
D Diameter of piston [mm]
di Inside diameter of the piston pin [mm]
do Outside diameter of the piston pin [mm]
H Heat flowing through the piston head [kJ/s ]
HCV Higher calorific value of the fuel [kJ/kg]
Lp Total length of the piston [mm]
Lps Length of the piston skirt [mm]
L1 Length of the piston pin in the bush of the small
end of the connecting rod [mm]
m1 Mass of the fuel used [kg/BP/s]
mr Mass of reciprocating parts [kg]
N Engine speed [rpm]
n Ratio of connecting rod length to crank radius