Application of the Finite Element Method for Analysis of Piston Characteristics

Within this paper an application of modern software for prediction of the piston’s mechanical characteristics in reference to its material is presented. Those predictions were used to optimize the piston design in order to achieve the lowest mass within an acceptable range of the piston load. Using the software for 3D modeling, the base model of the piston was initially created on the basis of data previously defined by thermal calculation of an engine. On the model made in this way, a structural analysis was performed using the finite element method with the aim of obtaining a picture of its stress state. After that, the piston design was optimized in accordance with the stress state, with the aim of creating a piston that is minimally loaded with low material consumption. A stress analysis was performed for three different materials to compare their properties.