Finite Element Modeling and Analysis of Connecting Rods Made of Three Different Types of Materials

A connecting rod (CR) is an important structural part of an internal combustion engine (ICE); therefore, an in-depth study is required for the CR. The goal of this present work is to conduct a finite element analysis (FEA) of the CR to determine stress and factor of safety (FOS) for a reliable design. Considering the complex loading condition of CR, a typical Yamaha YZ450 bike’s CR is used for transient structural analysis. The Yamaha YZ450 bike’s precise dimensions have been used to construct the computer-aided design model. For the modeling of the CR, SOLIDWORKS software has been used, but for finite element analysis, the ANSYS Workbench software has been used. Three different types of materials, i.e., forged steel, Ti-6Al-4 V alloy, and AlSiC composite, have been considered for a comparative study of CR. Equivalent von Mises stresses and FOS of CR at different critical angles have been investigated. It has been found that the CR made of Ti-6Al-4 V alloy can withstand more load than the other two CRs due to its yield strength being much larger than the induced stress at this loading condition. The Ti-6Al-4 V alloy has the highest FOS, and hence it can be used for practical purposes. Overall, it can be concluded that the Ti-6Al-4 V alloy CR shows the highest FOS, as well as it is lighter than the forged steel CR. Therefore, it can be utilized in heavy duty ICE to enhance fuel efficiency.