UndersizingCrankshafts

Yourcustomersneedclarityintermsoftheold10/10"myth.
Smallerdoesnotmeanweaker.
Unlikesubjectssuchasenginedisplacement,garagespace,swimmingpoolsandcomputerhard
drivecapacity,sizedoesn'tmatterwhenconsideringcrankshaftjournaldiameters.Chancesare,some
(ormany)ofyourcustomersgetabitsqueamishiftheirexistingcrankneedstobegroundmorethan
0.010"ontherodsandmains.Bythesametoken,theymaynotwanttobuyaremancrankifit'sbeen
groundfurtherthan0.010".Theirreasonstypicallyincludeconcernaboutthesafetyofthecrank(the
smallerjournalsmakethecranktooweak)orsurfacehardness(gee,ifit'sgroundthatfar,I'lllosethe
hardnessandmycrankwillbreak).
Inanutshell,that'ssheerbaloney.Foronething,bothcastandforgedcrankshaftsareextremelyover
engineeredfromastrengthstandpoint.TheOEMsdesignallcrankshaftswithawidemarginoferror,
simplytoensureagainstanypotentialforcrankshaftbreakage.Yes,cranksdobreakfromtimeto
time,butnotbecausetheywereundersized.Ifremovingaslittleas,say.040"ofmaterialfromthe
diameterofamainorrodjournalmakesthecranksoweakthatitwillbreak,thenthecrankhadsome
seriousflawstobeginwith,andtheundersizingwasnotacontributingfactor.
Intheolddays(backinthe1930sandearly1940sorso),ifacrankwasgroundtoanundersize,
bearingmakerscompensatedfortheadditionalclearancebymakingbearingswiththesamethickness
ofsteelbackingastheirstandardbearings,butsimplyaddedtothethicknessoftheliner(Babbitt)to
takeuptheadditionalclearanceandtomaintainthespecifiedoilclearance.Ifthecrankwasabiton
theunbalancedordistortedside,theeccentricmovementofthecranktendedtobeatoutthethicker
softBabbittlining,whichcreatedexcessiveclearance,whichdroppedoilfilmpressure,whichtook
outthebearingsandmaybethecrankitself.Unfortunately,thisoldwive'stalehasperpetuatedover
theyears,andforabsolutelynogoodreason.Today,anundersizedbearingemploysastandard
thicknessliner,withathickersteelbacking,sothere'snoexcessivelythick,soft,mushylinertobeat
out.Besides,withtoday'sbimetalandtrimetalbearingconstruction,liningthicknessbecomesmuch
lessofasignificantissueintermsoffatigueresistanceissues.

HARDENINGLOSS?
Asfarashardeningisconcerned,castcranksareusuallynotsurfacehardenedinthefirstplace
(somethingyourcustomersprobablydon'trealize).Inpracticalterms,theonlyrealadvantageofa
concentratedhardeninglayerisforbearingfailureservice.Ifyouwipeoutabearing(duetoanon
crankrelatedcause),it'seasiertoscrapethebearingmaterialoffofthejournalduringtherepairand
cleanup.that'sit.Inaddition,ifthehardeningofthecrankissomuchofaconcern,considerthis:if
thecrankisplacedinasituationwherethebarejournalcontactstherodormainbore,youhavea
drasticproblemtobeginwiththatisinnowayadimensionalissue.Inshort,surfacehardeningis
simplynotanissueintermsofgrindingacranktoamoderatetosevereundersize.

HOWFARISTOOFAR?
Let'sputitthisway:ifanestablishedbearingsuppliermakesabearinginaspecificundersize,it'ssafe
togrindthecrankaccordingly.Theleadersinthebearingfieldarenotabouttoofferabearingforan
applicationwhereitisn'tdesignedtoendureandperform.IfXYZBearingCompanyoffersa0.040"
rodandmainbearingset,theyknowitwillworkproperly,sothere'snoreasonforalarm.Theysimply
wouldnotofferundersizesiftheythoughtaproblemexistedintheiruse.

Let'srefertotheracingindustryasanexampleofundersizingsuccess.Manyoftoday'sleading,
cuttingedgecompetitionenginebuildersroutinelygrindtheircranksasmuchas.300"undersizein
ordertoreducemassandtheresultingfrictionalenergy.AspecificexampleinvolvessomeNASCAR
WinstonCupenginebuilderswhoreduceconnectingrodjournalsizeby.210"toachievea1.88"rod
journal,anduseHondadimensionedconnectingrods.Iftheseguysarewhackingoffthatmuchmeat,
andstillrunning8,000orsorpm,thereshouldn'tbeanyconcernabouttakingamere0.020"0.040"
fromthejournalsforanystreetorhighperformancecrankshaftapplication.
AccordingtoJohnHavel,notedindustrybearingexpertatCleviteEngineParts,castironcrankshafts
sometimesexhibitadegreeofshrinkageinthecenterlineofthecrank,butifthisissignificant,it
wasn'tagoodcranktobeginwith.Therearen'tmanyhardenedcranksoutthereanyway.When
grindingacrank,youmightremovethetuftriding(thisappliestoasteelcrankonly)butyoudon't
havetohaveextraordinarycrankhardnesstobeginwith.Intermsofhowundersizebearingsare
made,theliningwillnotnormallyvarytoagreatdegree.Inmostcases,astandardanda.010"
bearingwillutilizethesamesteelbackthickness.A.020"bearinganda.030"bearingwillsharea
thickersteelbacking,anda.040"bearingwilluseanincrementallythickersteelbacking.
Basically,bearingsfallintothreefamiliesintermsofsteelbackingthickness:standardand0.010"
0.020and0.030"and0.040".Thecrankshaftjournalfilletisthemostsignificantelementofthe
crankintermsofthereconditioningprocess.Ifacrankshaftbreaks,itwilloccurinthefilletarea,so
attentiontofilletprofileiscritical.However,thisisn'tbecausethecrankisbeingundersized.
Dimensionhasnothingtodowiththisconcern.Thefilletistheinterruptionareathetransition,if
youwillbetweenthejournalandtherestofthecrank.Naturally,astressareaexistswhereveryou
haveacorneroranedge,sotheshapeofthefilletisallimportant.
Whenacrankisground(regardlessofthedegreeofundersizing),thefilletmustprovideasmooth
transitiontominimizethecreationofafaultinducingstressriser.Ifthefilletisremovedduring
grinding,resultinginasharp90degreecornertransition,thechanceforfailureisincreasedif
subjectedtoenoughflexandtorsionaltwistunderload,again,regardlessofthejournaldiameter.If
thetransitionareafeaturesagroundfillet(wheretheradiushasbeencreatedbytheprofileofastone),
thisneedstobemaintainedorrecreatedinasimilarfashion.Ifthecrankshaftjournalfilletswere
rolledattheOElevel,thisinvolvedanextremecompression(compacting)ofthefilletarea,wherethe
metalwascompressedunderincrediblyhighforce,tocreateanundercutandradiusedrollareathatis
smallerindiameterthantheadjacentjournalbearingsurface.Ifthefilletswereoriginallyrolled,the
ruleofthumbisthatyousimplycannotgrindtoanundersizethatwouldbringthejournalsurface
downtoasmallerdiameterthanthatoftheroll.Ifyoucangrindthejournalundersizeby.040",.060",
oreven.300"withoutdisturbingtherolledfillet,thisisperfectlyacceptable.Again,theconcernisnot
thefinal
diameterofthejournal,buttheconditionofthefillet.ExamplesofOErolledfilletcranksincludethe
Cadillac4100seriesalumblockV8andtheFord3.8LV6.
Theonlyproblemwithgrindingacastironcranktoadrasticundersizeinvolvesnotthedimensionas
itrelatestostrength,butthenatureofcast(nodular)ironitself.Thesurfacefinishisimportant,
especiallyoncastcranks.Sincethisisnodulariron,thegraphiteinthestructureissphericalinform.
Whenyougrind,youhaveatendencytobreakintothisgraphite.Ifthatroughnessisnotremovedby
aproperpolishingjob,youmaycreatemicroscopicburrsthatwillabradethebearing.It'scriticalto
grindtoasmoothfinish,andtopolishtoasmoothfinish.Thebestpracticewouldbetopolishinboth
directionsanytimeyougrindacastcrank(althoughthisisnotdoneonaroutinebasis,it'snonetheless
agoodidea).
Inpracticalterms,becauseofthemetallurgyofcastiron,thepracticallimitforaroutinepassengercar
orlighttruckcastcrankwouldbeanundersizeof.040".Again,thishasnothingtodowithfinal
diameter,andeverythingtodowithsurfacefinish.Manybuildersareabletouse0.060"bearings

(dependingonavailabilityofthatsizeincrementforaspecificmotor)withnoproblemswhatsoever.
Caution:whenacrankshaftisground,somefolksaretemptedtotouchthethrustfaceinordertoclean
itupandprovideanacceptableappearance.However,caremustbeexercised,sincethiscancreatea
wavyfaceifthewheelchatters.Also,ifyougrindwiththesideofthegrindingwheel,acrisscross
patternmayresult,whichisdetrimentaltomaintainingaproperoilfilm.Sincethrustfacesare
difficulttofinalpolishaswell,andsinceitismoredifficulttoachievecorrectoilfilmonaflat
surfaceasopposedtoaradiusedsurface,thebestadviceisthisifthere'snothingwrongwiththethrust
face,leaveitalone.
Inshort,tellyourcustomersthatthereisabsolutelynothingwrongwithundersizingacrankfurther
than0.010".Theyarenotbeingshortchangedbyacceptingacrankthat'sground10/10,10/20,
20/10,20/20,10/30,20/30,10/40,30/30,40/40,etc.Aslongasthegrindingisperformedaccurately
andthefilletsareshapedcorrectly,andthecorrectsizebearingisinstalled,theresultwillbea
perfectlyperformingcrankshaftthatcanbeusedwithconfidence,bothfromastandpointof
performanceanddurability.simplyput,thereisnodisadvantagetoacrankthathasbeenground
furtherthan10/10.Ifanything,theengineshouldrunstronger,sinceundersizingeffectively
reducesfrictionallosses.

byMikeMavrigian
May2000PRECISIONMACHINESHOP