Structural lightweight design of engine connecting rod

Abstract

The connecting rod is one of the key components of an automotive engine; it works under dynamic loads with complex uncertainties. The reliability of a connecting rod is critical for an engine design. For traditional deterministic numerical simulations of connecting rods, which neglect some uncertain factors, the reliability is guaranteed by introducing overly conservative safety factors, and it normally results in a safe but over weighted and suboptimal design. In this paper a framework for the sensitivity analysis and reliability based design optimization of a connecting rod is proposed. The most advanced reliability based design optimization and simulation software integration methods will be employed in this research; it seamlessly integrates a sensitivity and reliability analysis driver, a parameter driven CAD tool, and an advanced nonlinear structural analysis CAE software package. The entire process will be conducted automatically by command scripts. Using the proposed reliability based analysis framework the weight of the connecting rod is reduced by 3.7% without compromising reliability. © Springer-Verlag 2013.