Numerical and experimental stress analysis of an internal combustion engine valve during the closing event

FEDERICO J. CAVALIERI; CÉSAR LUENGO; JOSÉ RISSO; FERNANDO ZENKLUSEN; ALBERTO CARDONA

Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part D: Journal of Automobile Engineering

SAGE

Lugar: En Prensa; Año: 2012 p. 1 - 33

0954-4070

Valve engine manufacturers have to satisfy the market demands that require to increase the strength of their products and to extend the time between servicing. One of the main causes of failure in internal combustion engine valves is related to the high mechanical stresses generated during the valve closing event by loads resulting from a combination of factors like the return spring, the inertia loads of retainer, keeper and stem, the closing velocity, the valve tilt and the thermal loads induced by the combustion. The dynamics of the stress response during the closing event can be simulated numerically with transient dynamics models, by using the finite element method. The objective of this work is to develop models to reproduce the valve closing process, to be able to predict numerically the maximum stress in new valve designs in a shorter time and at lower costs compared to experimental procedures, and to identify the main factors that contribute to valve stresses. The structural dynamics problem of the valve closing event was solved by using both the Newmark time integration algorithm and the generalized alpha method. The valve stem stress response under impact velocity was registered experimentally by using strain gauges and then compared with the finite element method solutions, showing good agreement.