Masters Theses

Date of Award

5-2003

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science

Major

Mechanical Engineering

Major Professor

Frank Speckhart

Abstract

The purpose was to improve an existing design of a rocker arm for a high performance engine. The design used as the baseline design was a solid aluminum Jesel rocker arm. This improvement was to be accomplished through two designs, one having lower rotational inertia with the same stiffness and another having the same rotational inertia and higher stiffness. The analysis and design were accomplished by using a numerical integration program, experimentation, and finite element analysis. The numerical integration program was written to model the rocker arm designs. This allowed design changes to be efficiently evaluated. The accuracy of the numerical integration was verified by comparing results for the Jesel rocker arm with data collected through experimentation. A finite element model was made to further analyze the rocker arm designs. Significant improvements to the baseline rocker arm were expected. The actual results obtained were marginal improvements on the baseline design. The higher than expected shear deflection was a limiting factor in making the improvements.

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