Influence of balancing of internal combustion engines on the operating conditions of hydrodynamic bearings

We studied the influence of balancing internal combustion engines on the performance of hydrodynamic plain bearings. A non-linear approach makes it possible to calculate the forces of pressure generated by the lubricant film. This approach is coupled with a dynamic calculation, which determines the inertia forces of the rod. The counterweight to balance the engine is applied to the heads of rods and not to the crankshaft. We chose three models of connecting rod (rod of an engine in series, rod with partial and rod with complete counterweight). To determine the lubricant pressure field in the bearing, the modified Reynolds equation was solved using the finite difference method, taking into account the boundary conditions of Reynolds. Since the bearing is subjected to a variable load, the mobility method was used to facilitate the resolution of the Reynolds equation. The proposed numerical simulation allowed us to analyze the influence of counterweight applied to the connecting rod head on the variation of the lubricant pressure field, the minimum film thickness, the axial flow and the friction torque in the big end bearing during the operating cycle.