CRANKSHAFT

A crankshaft is a rotating shaft which (in conjunction with the connecting rods) converts
reciprocating motion of the pistons into rotational motion. Crankshafts are commonly used in
internal combustion engines and consist of a series of cranks and crankpins to which the
connecting rods are attached.

The crankshaft rotates within the engine block through use of main bearings, and the crankpins
rotate within the connecting rods using rod bearings. Crankshafts are usually made from metal,
with most modern crankshafts being constructed using forged steel.

Design
The crankshaft is supported by the engine block, with the engine's main bearings allowing the
crankshaft to rotate within the block. The up-down motion of each piston is transferred to the
crankshaft via connecting rods. A flywheel is often attached to the front end of the crankshaft,
in order to smoothen the power delivery and reduce torsional vibration.

A crankshaft is subjected to enormous stresses, in some cases more than 8.6 tonnes (19,000
pounds) per cylinder.[9] Crankshafts for single-cylinder engines are usually a simpler design than
for engines with multiple cylinders.

Bearings
The crankshaft is able to rotate in the engine block due to the main bearings. Since the
crankshaft is subject to large sideways forces from each cylinder, bearings are located at various
points along the crankshaft, not just one at each end. This was a factor in V8 engines replacing
straight-eight engines in the 1950s. The long crankshafts of the latter suffered from an
unacceptable amount of flex when engine designers began using higher compression ratios and
higher engine speeds (RPM). High performance engines often have more main bearings than
their lower performance cousins for this reason.

Cross-plane vs flat-plane
Most production V8 engines use crank throws spaced 90° apart, which is called a "cross-plane"
configuration (such as the Ford Modular engine and the General Motors LS engine). Several
high-performance V8 engines (such as the Ferrari 355) instead use use a "flat-plane" crankshaft
with throws spaced 180° apart, essentially resulting in two inline-four engines running in a
common crankcase.

Flat-plane engines are usually able to rev higher, however they have more vibration. Flat-plane

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crankshafts were used on several early V8 engines. See the main article on crossplane
crankshafts.

Engine balance
For some engines it is necessary to provide counterweights for the reciprocating mass of each
piston and connecting rod to improve engine balance. These are typically cast as part of the
crankshaft but, occasionally, are bolt-on pieces.

In 1916, the Hudson Motor Car Company began production of the first engines to use balanced
crankshafts, which allowed the engine to run at higher speeds (RPM) than contemporary
engines.

Flying arms
In some engines, the crankshaft contains direct links between adjacent crank pins, without the
usual intermediate main bearing. These links are called flying arms. This arrangement is
sometimes used in V6 and V8 engines, as it enables the engine to be designed with different V
angles than what would otherwise be required to create an even firing interval, while still using
fewer main bearings than would normally be required with a single piston per crankthrow. This
arrangement reduces weight and engine length at the expense of reduced crankshaft rigidity.

Piston stroke
The distance the axis of the crank throws from the axis of the crankshaft determines the stroke
length of the engine.

Most modern car engines are classified as "over square" or short-stroke, wherein the stroke is
less than the diameter of the cylinder bore. A common way to increase the low-RPM torque of
an engine is to increase the stroke, sometimes known as "stroking" the engine. Traditionally,
the trade-off for a long-stroke engine was reduced power and increased vibration at high RPM.

Counterweights
Some high performance crankshafts also use heavy-metal counterweights to make the
crankshaft more compact. The heavy-metal used is most often a tungsten alloy but depleted
uranium has also been used. A cheaper option is to use lead, but compared with tungsten its
density is much lower.

Counter-rotating crankshafts
The conventional design for piston engines is where each connecting rod is attached to one
crankshaft, with the angle of the connecting rod varying as the piston moves through its stroke.

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This variation in angle results in lateral forces on the pistons, pushing the pistons against the
cylinder wall. This lateral force causes additional friction between the piston and cylinder wall
and can cause additional wear on the cylinder wall.

To avoid these lateral forces, each piston can be connected to two crankshafts that are rotating
in opposite directions, which cancels out the lateral forces. This arrangement also reduces the
requirement for counterweights, reducing the mass of the crankshaft. An early example of a
counter-rotating crankshaft arrangement is the 1900-1904 Lanchester Engine Company flat-
twin engines.

Construction
Forging, casting and machinin
The most common construction methods for crankshafts are forging (usually through roll
forging) or casting. Most crankshafts are made in a single piece, however some smaller and
larger engines use crankshafts assembled from multiple pieces.

Recently, forging has become the most common construction method for crankshafts, due to
their lighter weight, more compact dimensions and better inherent damping. With forged
crankshafts, vanadium microalloyed steels are mostly used as these steels can be air cooled
after reaching high strengths without additional heat treatment (aside from the surface
hardening of the bearing journals). The low alloy content also makes the material cheaper than
high alloy steels.

Casting (using cast iron) is today mostly used for crankshafts in cheaper, lower performance
engines.

Crankshafts can also be machined out of a billet of steel. These crankshafts tend to be
expensive due to the large amount of material that must be removed with lathes and milling
machines, the high material cost, and the additional heat treatment required. Since no
expensive tooling is needed, this production method is mostly used for low-volume engines. In
a machined crankshafts, the fibre flow (local inhomogeneities of the material caused by the
casting process) does not follow the shape of the crankshaft, however this is rarely a problem
since machined crankshafts often use higher quality steels than forged crankshafts.

Fatigue strength
To improve the fatigue strength, a radius is often rolled at the ends of each main and crankpin
bearing. The radius itself reduces the stress in these critical areas, but since the radius in most

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cases is rolled, this also leaves some compressive residual stress in the surface, which prevents
cracks from forming.

Microfinishing is a grinding process to produce a smooth finish on the surface of a metallic

object, which is also used to prevent cracks developing from fatigue stress.

Bearing surfaces
Most mass-production crankshafts use induction hardening for the bearing surfaces. Some high
performance crankshafts, billet crankshafts in particular, use nitridization instead. For
crankshafts that operate on roller bearings, the use of carburization tends to be favored due to
the high contact stresses in such situations.