Correlation between CAE and Experimental Fatigue Bench Tests for Automotive Crankshafts

Sergio Gradella Villalva; Elcio Geraldo Ferracini Junior

doi:10.4271/2010-36-0255

The scope of this paper is the study of the crankshaft fatigue strength under bench tests loads. When a crankshaft is running inside the engine, it is subjected to radial forces and torsional moments. These radial forces come from the fuel combustion and are responsible for the crankshaft bending. The moments occur mainly due to the torsional vibration phenomenon and are responsible for twisting the component.

Once there are these two main loads which can damage the component, both must be considered in the design phase. Moreover, the crankshafts must be tested under these conditions to guarantee that they will not fail during engine operation.

The finite element method is used to simulate the bending and torsional experimental tests before the crankshafts manufacturing. Fatigue calculations are performed using simulation results to predict how the crankshafts will fail on the experimental bench tests.

After the crankshafts have already been approved by the simulations and prototypes have already been manufactured, the bending and torsional tests are performed. Hence, the tests results are correlated with simulations results comparing stress distributions and stress measurements using strain gauges, which are applied on the crankshaft surface at specific interested regions, as well as the predicted position of the failure.

Similar results were obtained from simulations and bench tests, what indicates a precise correlation once determined rightly the boundary conditions. In this direction a reduced test can be applied to validate a new design, saving money and time.

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Correlation between CAE and Experimental Fatigue Bench Tests for Automotive Crankshafts 2010-36-0255

SAE MOBILUS