FINITE ELEMENT ANALYSIS OF PRIME COMPONENTS OF AN INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE(STRUCTURAL,THERMAL , AND FLUID ASPECTS )

Abstract

Internal combustion engines have been, and will remain for the foreseeable future, a vital and active area of engineering education and research. It has been one of the active areas of research for many academic researches since the inception of internal combustion engine. Most of the researches in internal combustion engines are of operating performance and fuel performance oriented. Almost all of the components in an internal combustion engine are subjected to heat loads. Every mechanical component has been designed for a particular structural and heat strength. Piston seizure and cylinder block melting are typical problems when heat and structural loads on the components exceeds the design strengths. In the current study attempt has been made to simulate the physical working conditions of components of an internal combustion engine. The analysis is virtual simulation (because it was carried out with the help of a digital computer and a Software tool-ANSYS). The currant study emphasis on stress, strain, temperature, heat flux, thermal gradient distributions in the component materials. The study was carried out using the Finite Element Methods Approach. CATIA and ANSYS soft wares have been used to carry out this finite element study. CATIA was used for the solid modeling of engine components and ANSYS was used for the analysis. The study was carried out on prime components of an internal combustion engine such as Piston, Engine block, Connecting rod, Exhaust manifold and Exhaust Muffler. Piston and Engine clock are subjected to both structural and thermal loads and connecting rod is subjected to compressive gas loads, Exhaust manifold and exhaust muffler are subjected heat and fluid flow loads. The type of study is peak moment simulation which means that only the conditions prevailing at the point of combustion are simulated. Peak stress, deformation and temperature profiles are matter of concern when analysis was carried out in piston, engine block, and connecting rod. Velocity, temperature, and pressure distributions are matter of concern when analysis was carried out on exhaust manifold and exhaust muffler. Study was carried out for different loading conditions, different components materials properties. Peak stresses were compared with the strength of the corresponding materials and finally attempts have been made to optimize the component geometry.