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In an effort to optmize the connecting rod of an internal combustion engine for both mass and reliability, an all-new forged steel design has been developed that is 37% lighter than the lightweight production design. The connecting rod has been optimized using 3D Modeling, FEA, advanced numerical simulation such as PIMO3D, and a variety of mechanical testing and lessons learned. The four critical areas of the connecting rod are defined and discussed in detail, and an optimization solution for each area is presented. Finally, the optimized connecting rod incorportating all of the knowledge and information from the previous sections is presented.

As automobile manufacturers continue to strive toward delivering vehicles with the highest possible blend of fuel efficiency, reliability, performance and cost, new engine designs need to be as optimized as possible. A significant barrier to engine efficiency is unnecessary reciprocating and rotating mass in the internal combustion engine, which has driven the advancement of computer modeling and finite element analysis in order to optimize these components. As a consequence of this drive to reduce mass and cost, the safety factor of a component is made as low as possible. When a component is considered optimized for its environment and has a very low safety factor, any unforeseen stresses or strains may cause the part to fail or perform unexpectedly. Such stresses can be caused from engine misalignment, crank throw bending or abnormal combustion phenomenon.

Rising gas prices at the fuel station, stronger emission requirements at the tail pipe have required more and more fine-tuning of the internal motor components. To support the customers in this difficult task, MAHLE has developed a Power Cell Unit (PCU). The newly introduced lightweight PCU with the MAHLE patented ECOFORM® piston, an optimized pin and high strength material connecting rod offers the customer a complete system that is focused on less reciprocating masses, lower friction and better NVH. The PCU as a unit has been developed for each and every component as well as the interaction of all these components to additionally benefit the customer with less program management, organization, logistic and reduction of development time because all parts are made in-house by MAHLE. An example using a conventional PCU in production versus a weight optimized version is provided for comparative purposes.