Numerical Thermo-Mechanical Strength Analysis of an IC Engine Component

Abstract

This research investigates a thermo-mechanical strength of three geometrical shape designs of an internal combustion (IC) engine piston by a finite element analysis (FEA). FEA was performed using Solidworks software for modelling geometrical piston designs, and the models were imported into ANSYS software for thermo-mechanical fatigue simulation. The work focused on predicting high stress intensity and indicated the fatigue critical regions and life of the piston shape design. AL7075-T6 aluminium alloy was used as a piston material and thermo-mechanical fatigue simulation was conducted based on the experimental stress-number of cycles recorded data from literature. Analytical results showed the similarity of the critical failure positions to some real failures in the IC engine piston, and the shape design modification of the piston. Hence, this concept can be used to satisfy the IC engine design needs at low cost.