Static Structural and Fatigue Analysis of Rocker Arm to Estimate Its Life

Rocker Arm is the major component in the IC Engine. The main function of the rocker arm is to open the inlet valve and exhaust valve. It is actuated through the fulcrum pivoted in the middle of the arm. The rocker arm will be actuated due to the forces of cam and valve spring. Due to varying forces at both the ends i.e. cam end and valve end the life of the rocker arm is reducing. Hence it is very important to estimate the life of the rocker arm. In this project the static structural analysis is performed to find the strength of the component and fatigue analysis is performed to estimate the life of the component with different materials like structural steel, grey cast iron and aluminum alloy. The 3D model of rocker arm is create by using industrial CAD tool Catia V5 R20. The static and fatigue analysis is performed using industrial CAE tool Ansys Workbench 15.0. In this project it is estimated that the rocker arm with aluminum alloy is having more number of life cycles and less sensitivity due to increase in the loads compared to other materials. In this thesis it is suggested that the aluminum alloy is best suitable for rocker arm for longer life.