ANALYSIS OF MULTICYLINDER IC-ENGINE CRANKSHAFTS WITH HYDRODYNAMIC BEARINGS USING A FINITE ELEMENT - TRANSFER MATRIX APPROACH

The main objective of this study is to describe a new approach for the load-displacement analysis of IC-Engine crankshaft-bearing systems. The analytical model used in this approach incorporates the elastic and inertial properties of the crankshaft, the flexibility of the supports and the hydrodynamic nature of the journal-bearing systems.; The structure of the crankshaft is first macrodiscretized into a number of substructures (crankthrows), which are connected in a chain-like manner. Each substructure is subsequently discretized using a finite element formulation, and the synthesis is made through a new finite element-transfer matrix condensation procedure which eliminates the need to arbitrarily designate the master and slave degrees of freedom typically required in most condensation procedures. The hydrodynamic characteristics of the journal-bearing systems are described using an approximate solution of the governing Reynolds Equation, which is applicable to bearings of finite length.; The method can be generalized to other rotating systems with bearings mounted on flexible supports which can be considered statically indeterminate.; The analysis yields the bearing performance coupled to the crankshaft elastic response for a full load cycle.