Crankshafts

Bending results in tensile, compressive and shear stresses in the material of the crank
web.
Twisting results in shear stresses.
Crankshafts are subject to a complex form of loading which varies with time. In addition
shrink fits, oil holes and fillet radii add to the complexity. Pure stress analysis and rules
governing crankshaft dimensions are based upon a combination of theory and experience.
The three main loading stresses are;
o Gas loads on the crankpin which produces alternating tangential bending
of the webs alternating bending of the crankpin and on elements of
shearing of the crankpin at the inner web faces

Torsional vibrations producing alternating twisting of the crankshaft, the

journal of which is in any event torsionally loaded by the gas loads via the
web
Axial vibrations in conjunction with the alternating lengthening and
shortening of the shaft and in conjunction with local bending. Crankshafts
may, in addition be subject to misalignment due to bearing wear or poor
chocking. This produces and alternating bending of the crankshaft

All the above alternating stress patterns produce fatigue and so the material must have a
built in resistance to it- this is of equal importance to its U.T.S. (Ultimate Tensile Stress).
Mild steel is usually the material used but in some cases alloying the steel with a small
percentage of nickel, Chromium, Vanadium may take place.
Crankshafts fail usually because of cracks propagating from a stress concentration point.

Vibration
All components vibrate e.g. a weight on a spring, rotating components such as
crankshafts can vibrate in a torsional manner. The systems will differ but the principals
are the same. The operating frequency caused by the operating speed is known as the
forcing frequency. All systems have natural frequencies were the vibration amplitude is
excessive (consider out of balanced wheels on a car). Resonance occurs when the forcing
frequency and natural frequency coincide and the result is excessive vibration. If it is
required to keep the vibration amplitude below a certain value in order to limit stress to
prevent fatigue, then speeds coinciding to the natural frequency orders of it must be
avoided. These speeds are referred to as the barred speeds (or critical speed ranges).

If the barred speed is located where it is required to operate the engine, say at half ahead,
it will be necessary to fit a detuner or vibration damper. These lower the vibration peak

and move it slightly higher in the range. The barred speed is either removed or moved
away from the area in which the engine is operated. A vibration damper consists
essentially of an additional rotating mass driven by the crankshaft and connected to it by
a spring or a hydraulic fluid. The energy of vibration is used up in distorting the spring or
shearing the fluid.
With constant speed engines employing a CPP propeller, vibration dampers are
sometimes required because natural frequencies of the engine and shaft system changes
with load due to the pitch of the propeller. In some cases there may even be a barred
pitch.

Methods of forming a crankshaft

The ideal arrangement is that of the solid forged structure because there is continuity of
material grain flow which allows for smooth transmission of stress.
Unfortunately, such crankshafts are limited to the smaller engines because there is a limit
to the size of forging equipment and the size of steel bar which can be produced.
Built up crankshafts with shrink fits or welded sections allow very large units to be
produced, but they tend to be heavier and less rigid than an equivalent solid forged.
The grain flow method allows solid forged crankshafts to be produced with minimum
energy and minimum need for post machining. A heated section of bar is held by three
clamps which can be moved hydraulically. The three stages for forming the crank throws
are shown. When one throw has been formed the next section of bar is heated, the shaft is
held in the clamps again and the next throw formed.

Semi-built up

No dowels are fitted as these can act as stress raisers.

Welded crankshaft

A form of crankshaft construction recently developed is that of welding. Cast web crank
pin and half journal units are connected at the half journals by welding. These welds are
stress relieved and the pins ground to give the correct finish. This form of construction is
suitable for large direct drive engines and it provides strength close to that of the solid
forged crankshaft. Any number of units may be connected
The usual form of construction for direct drive engine crankshafts is the semi-built up
type. This makes use of shrink fits between the journals and webs. Careful design is
required to ensure the shrink fit is strong enough but does not impose excessive shrinkage
stress.
The shrink fit must provide sufficient strength to allow necessary torque to be
transmitted. The actual allowance is about 1/500-1/600 of the diameter. Too large an
allowance produces a high stress which can result in yielding when the working stress is
added. Too small an allowance can lead to slippage.
In order to provide for large torque transmission without high stress the area of contact at
the shrink fit should be increased.
This is usually by means of an increased diameter (over increase length as this increase
the engine length) which allows the fillet radius to be used, as the journal part of the pin
does not need to be of the same large diameter. The fillet allows a smooth transmission
and is rolled because this produces a compressive stress which provides safe guard
against fatigue. The fillet is undercut allowing the web to be positioned against the
bearing reducing the engine length and oil loss from the ends of the bearing.

Slippage of shrink fits

Slippage can occur at the shrink fits and this can be noticed by consideration of the
reference mark at the end of the web and pin.

For Slippage upto about 5o retiming of the effected cylinder can take place so long as oil
holes passing through the shrink fit do not become obstructed.
For slippage above 5o there may be problems of loading on the crankshaft due to firing
angles and the relative position of the cranks, this can lead to excessive vibrations and
stress. The ideal solution is the replacement of the effected parts, a temporary repair may
be carried out. This consists of cooling the pin with liquid nitrogen and heating the web to
give a temperature difference of about 180oC. The web may then be jacked back into
position. In both cases the slip fit will have been damaged, the contact faces which
originally should be as smooth as possible to give maximum contact area. The engine
should be run at below the max. rating until the parts can be replaced.
Most slipped fits are caused by starting the engine with water in the cylinder. But any
overload can result in this problem.

Post machining

Modern engines designed for high power and weight should have a well balanced
crankshaft with a minimum of material. Post machining allows the tapering and

chamfering of webs and the counter boring of pins, thereby removing all unnecessary
metal. A modern well balanced engine using higher strength steels can avoid the use of
balance weights.

Crankshaft alignment check

If a main bearing has suffered wear then the journal supported by the bearing will take up
a lower position, if adjacent bearings have not worn to the same degree then the shaft will
take on a bent attitude causing the crankwebs to be subjected to an oscillatory bending
action and so fatigue.
It is therefor necessary to check the alignment of crankshafts by the use of special gauges.
The crankweb will often have a light center punch mark to ensure that the gauge is fitted
in the same position at each reading. The trim of the ship, whether loaded or unloaded,
whether hogged or sagged are all important factors which can effect the reliabililty of the
readings. Ideally the readings should be taken when the ship is drydocked.

Medium speed vee-type crankshaft layouts

With vee-type engines it is necessary to connect two con rods too each bottom end. Three
basic arrangements are available as shown. The side by side is the simplest with each
bottom end being positioned alongside each neighbour on the crankpin. This requires
cylinders to be offset across the engine thus giving a slight increase in length. The fork
and blade type allows cylinders to be in line across the engine but the bottom end
arrangement is more complicated. The fork may have two bottom end shells with the
blade positioned between them. Alternately the arrangement as shown may be used. But
in this case the fork shell runs the whole length of the crankpin and the blade shell runs
on specially ground outer face of the fork shell.
The articulated arrangement has cylinders in line across the engine and a single bottom
end is used. On con rod is connected rigidly but because of piston motions the other rod
is connected by means of a gudgeon pin arrangement. Both pistons and con rods can be
removed without disturbing the bottom ends.

Modern trends in materials

For a long period most crankshafts were made out of a material known as CK40. This had
very good ability to withstand the damage caused by bearinf failure such as localised
hardening and cracking. Undersizing by grinding was possible.
The modern trend is to move the chrome-molybdenum alloyed steel of high tensile stress.
These may be non-surface hardened ( which tend to bend and have localised hardening
when reacting to an overheated bearing) or hardened ( tends to loose its hardeness and
due to changes in the molecular structure will crack). In both these cases grinding is
generally nnot an option for repair.
For modern material cranks subject to normal wear grinding may be carried out.