Thermal and structural improvements of a motorcycle piston using a fully coupled thermo-mechanical FEM simulation

Abstract

This paper aims to conduct thermo-mechanical simulations using the finite element method (FEM) to enhance the design of the piston in a single-cylinder, water-cooled motorcycle engine. The finite element model of the piston was developed to represent its thermo-mechanical behavior under combustion processes and transient heat transfer phenomena. Realistic engine boundary conditions were applied using the non-linear dynamic tool in Solidworks design software. Two different design configurations were investigated concerning the oil jets and the upper face of the piston pins. The results revealed lower piston temperatures by 12.2% as three oil jets targeted the upper region of the piston bosses. Additionally, an optimum radius fillet in the upper face of the piston holes showed potential for minimizing thermo-mechanical stresses. This finding suggests that optimizing the piston design can reduce developed thermo-mechanical stresses while addressing elevated temperatures.