Fabrication and analysis of two-wheeler connecting rod for aluminium hybrid composites using finite element method

In this study, the powder metallurgy process is applied for the development of composite material Al/3 wt% Si3N4/4.5 wt% ZrO2 and a 3D model of the connecting rod, as per the engine specifications of TVS Apache 150 motor, is designed using Solidworks software. The model is then imported into ANSYS Workbench for the finite element method to analyse the von-mises stress, elastic strain and deformation on the connecting rod for the particular loading conditions. Moreover, a comparative study is done between the developed connecting rod and the existing Al7068/5 wt% Si3N4 composite results taken from the literature. From the results, it is revealed that the maximum von-mises stress for Al/3 wt% Si3N4/ 4.5 wt% ZrO2 composite reduced by 53.54% for big end loading conditions and 71.24% for small end loading conditions. The weight of the connecting rod was found to be 0.2412 kg.

Automated summary

This study developed a composite material Al/3 wt% Si3N4/4.5 wt% ZrO2 using powder metallurgy process and designed a connecting rod for TVS Apache 150 motor engine specifications using Solidworks software. The finite element method analysis in ANSYS Workbench showed a significant reduction in von-Mises stress for the developed composite material compared to existing composite materials.