Main bearing

In a piston engine, the main bearings are the bearings on which the crankshaft rotates, usually plain or journal bearings. The bearings hold the crankshaft in place and prevent the forces created by the piston and transmitted to the crankshaft by the connecting rods from dislodging the crankshaft, instead forcing the crank to convert the reciprocating movement into rotation.

While some small single-cylinder engines have only one main bearing, designed to deal with the bending moment exerted by the crank as a result of the force from the connecting rod, most engines have at least two main bearings, one at each end of the crank shaft and may have as many as one more than the number of crank pins. Increasing the number of bearings in an engine will generally increase the size and cost of the engine, but also provides stability to the crankshaft, which would otherwise have to endure greater bending moments from having the crank pin further from a bearing. The combination of bearing number and crankshaft design can also have an effect on engine balance; a more stable crankshaft will better avoid unbalance from flexing, but increasing the crankshaft length or girth to accommodate an additional bearing increases the rotational inertia of the crankshaft, which can have the opposite effect.

Most modern automotive engines have one main bearing at each end of the crankshaft and another in between each adjacent pair of connecting rod journals, but not all engines conform to this generalization. Notable exceptions include the Ford flathead V-8, which had only three main bearings, and Chevrolet's inline-six cylinder engine, which had in various iterations, three, four or seven main bearings.

When describing a crankshaft design, the number of main bearings is generally quoted, as the number of crank pins is determined by the engine configuration. For example, a crankshaft for an inline six engine will be described as three bearing or four bearing depending on its number of main bearings; The crank pins are not counted in this description. Similarly, when speaking of a crankshaft, the journals are the main bearing journals only. The crank pins are not normally called journals although they form the centre shafts of the big end bearings and are therefore journals in the more general sense.

Automotive engine

Part of the Automobile series

Basic terminology	Bore Compression ratio Crank Cylinder Dead centre Diesel engine Dry sump Engine balance Engine configuration Engine displacement Engine knocking Firing order Hydrolock Petrol engine Power band Redline Spark-ignition engine Stroke Stroke ratio Wet sump

Main components	Connecting rod Crankcase Crankpin Crankshaft Crossflow cylinder head Crossplane Cylinder bank Cylinder block Cylinder head Flywheel Head gasket Hypereutectic piston Main bearing Piston Piston ring Reverse-flow cylinder head Starter ring gear Sump

Valvetrain	Cam Cam follower Camshaft Desmodromic valve Hydraulic tappet Multi-valve Overhead camshaft Overhead valve Pneumatic valve springs Poppet valve Pushrod Rocker arm Sleeve valve Tappet Timing belt Timing mark Valve float Variable valve timing

Aspiration	Air filter Blowoff valve Boost controller Butterfly valve Centrifugal-type supercharger Cold air intake Dump valve Electronic throttle control Forced induction Inlet manifold Intake Intercooler Manifold vacuum Naturally aspirated engine Ram-air intake Scroll-type supercharger Short ram air intake Supercharger Throttle Throttle body Turbocharger Twin-turbo Variable-geometry turbocharger Variable-length intake manifold Warm air intake

Fuel system	Carburetor Common rail Direct injection Fuel filter Fuel injection Fuel pump Fuel tank Gasoline direct injection Indirect injection Injection pump Lean burn Stratified charge engine Turbo fuel stratified injection Unit injector

Ignition	Contact breaker Magneto Distributor Electrical ballast High tension leads Ignition coil Spark plug Wasted spark

Electrics and engine management	Air–fuel ratio meter Alternator Automatic Performance Control Car battery (lead–acid battery) Crankshaft position sensor Dynamo Drive by wire Electronic control unit Engine control unit Engine coolant temperature sensor Glow plug Idle air control actuator MAP sensor Mass flow sensor Oxygen sensor Starter motor Throttle position sensor

Exhaust system	Automobile emissions control Catalytic converter Diesel particulate filter Exhaust manifold Glasspack Muffler

Engine cooling	Air cooling Antifreeze (ethylene glycol) Core plug Electric fan Fan belt Radiator Thermostat Water cooling Viscous fan (fan clutch)

Other components	Balance shaft Block heater Combustion chamber Cylinder head porting Gasket Motor oil Oil filter Oil pump Oil sludge PCV valve Seal Synthetic oil Underdrive pulleys

Portal Category

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 8/19/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.