Beyond the Balancer
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Beyond the Balancer Traditional machine shop crank balancing techniques are surprisingly elementary, but compensating for the dozens of variables that affect engine balance requires serious research and experimentation. BY JUDSON MASSINGILL, SCHOOL OF AUTOMOTIVE MACHINISTS In the 1860s, Charles T. Porter and John F. Allen realized they could increase the efficiency of their steam engine if they increased the RPM. To make the engine live they applied the first “scientific balance” to reduce the effects of the rotating inertia and steam forces on the bearing. From that beginning we are still attempting to understand the dynamics of balancing a reciprocating engine. For decades, machinists and engine builders have been taught that when balancing a crankshaft, its counterweights should equal 100 percent of the rotating mass and 50 percent of the reciprocating mass. Machinists have used this formula to calculate bobweight for decades. While this technique works extremely well for the vast majority of both street and race 90-degree V-8 engines, the truth of the matter is that it’s nearly impossible to perfectly balance a crankshaft. That’s because the balancer cannot account for variables such as cylinder pressure, ring Crankshaft spinning in balancer. drag, rod length, counterweight phasing, engine rpm, stroke length, bearing crankshafts become less effective. The free-up some horsepower in extreme, friction, shaft twist, secondary vibrations, big challenge for engine builders is high-rpm race applications. rocking couples, and static mass. figuring out how to work around these All of these factors play a dramatic limitations to balance a crankshaft role in overall engine balance, yet the Basics of Balancing traditional mathematical formula used as precisely as possible based on the Properly balancing the rotating assembly for calculating bobweight completely demands of each particular engine in any engine build is paramount to ignores all of them. Instead, calculating combination. This explains why many maximizing performance and longevity. bobweight is based strictly on measuring engine builders have experimented with The typical hot rodder will walk into rotating weight and reciprocating weight, techniques such as over/under balancing, an engine shop and say they want their which is a gross oversimplification of and why they are often topics of intense rotating assembly balanced to one or the actual dynamic forces at play inside debate. two grams. What they think they want an engine that affect balancing. In Crankshaft balancing will always be you to do is to make sure all the pistons other words, the traditional method of a compromise, but to get a better handle and rods weigh within a couple of balancing a crank is, at best, an imperfect on how to more effectively balance an grams of each other, but most quality science. It’s simply a technique based engine, we will first outline basics of the aftermarket manufacturers already on some science and a lot of trial and balancing process. Next, we will briefly do that at the factory. Along with this error that happens to work well in most explain the shortcomings of traditional component balancing, the machinist 90-degree, cross-plane V-8s. balancing techniques before finally must confirm that the crankshaft Not surprisingly, as engine rpm exploring some of the advanced solutions counterweights offset the rotating and and horsepower output increases, the top race teams have experimented with reciprocating forces created by pistons traditional methods used to balance to prolong engine durability and possibly and rods. With today’s lightweight 38 OCT-DEC 2015 engine professional Students from the School of Automotive Machinists (SAM) balancing. Weighing connecting rod ends. pistons and rods, accomplishing this Mass and Distance distance from the crankshaft centerline usually involves removing mass from Crank balancing equipment measures to the edge of the counterweights, and in the crank counterweights. Lightweight the imbalance that exists in a rotating most domestic V-8 engines, this figure is cranks with shorter counterweights, assembly in grams, but that’s just half roughly three inches. When a shop orders or rotating assemblies with very heavy the story. Simply stating that a crank is up balancing equipment, a salesman pistons and connecting rods, may require 60 grams out of balance isn’t sufficient. sets up the machine using a three-inch tungsten metal slugs installed into the You have to specify both the mass of correction radius and trains the customer counterweights to increase mass. the imbalance and the location of that to add or remove material from the crank The mass of the crankshaft imbalance. In this case, the location of counterweights until the machine reads counterweights should equal 100 percent the imbalances is simply the distance ¼ ounce-inch out of balance. This out of of the rotating mass and 50 percent of of the imbalance from the crankshaft balance is at three inches. the reciprocating mass. Determining centerline. This is where the trouble The problem with this approach is how much mass to add or remove starts. that the proper measurement should from the crank counterweights requires To put the importance of this location be one inch from the center, not the measuring all of the components in the into perspective, imagine swinging a rock roughly three inches of the counterweight rotating assembly individually on a tied to a string, then doubling the length correction distance. The crank measured precision scale. The pistons, rings, wrist of string and swinging it again. The rock at one inch will have three times less pins, pin locks, and the small end of the would pull on your hand twice as hard imbalance than the one balanced at three connecting rods move up and down the even though its mass hasn’t changed. The inches if the out of balance grams are the bores, and comprise the reciprocating same applies to a crankshaft, because same amount. mass of a rotating assembly. An extra the farther away a given unit of mass five to ten grams is typically added to is from the crankshaft centerline, the How Good is Good Enough? the reciprocating mass to account for the greater effect it will have on the balance A rotating assembly can be balanced weight of the motor oil. (Ever wonder of the crank. For example, a crank that’s to varying degrees of precision, and a about a long stroke wet sump versus a 20 grams out of balance three inches moderate-rpm street motor can get away short stroke dry sump different effect on from the crank centerline is the same as a with far more imbalance than a high-rpm oil agitation and weight on the parts?) crank that’s 60 grams out of balance one race motor. So how close is close enough? The big end of the rods and the rod inch from the crankshaft centerline. This The standard unit of measurement for bearings rotate around the crankshaft is why the correct unit for measuring crankshaft balancing is an ounce-inch. centerline, and therefore represent the crankshaft balance is ounce inches, not There are 28.34 grams in one ounce, so rotating mass. just ounces or grams. balancing to ½ ounce-inch means that a During the balancing process, Consequently, the distance any crank has roughly 14 grams of imbalance bobweights are bolted to each rod given unit of imbalance is located from one inch from its centerline. A factory journal to simulate the mass of a pair of the crankshaft centerline is just as 350 small-block Chevy is balanced to pistons and rods. This is because each important as the amount of imbalance around two ounce-inches while a 7,000- rod journal supports two sets of pistons itself. Interestingly, however, many rpm street/strip performance engine and rods. engine shops don’t pay any attention to is usually balanced to ¾ ounce-inch. After bolting the bobweights to this critical detail. In fact, it’s possible A very high-end race motor is usually the crankshaft, the balancer spins the for machinists to balance crankshafts balanced to ¼ ounce-inch, which is assembly. Once the rotating assembly for decades without even realizing the seen as the holy grail of balancing by comes to a rest, the LCD display on importance of specifying the distance engine builders. Even at ¼ ounce-inch, the balancer indicates the amount and of imbalance. The obvious question is, the rotating assembly is still 7 grams out location of weight that needs to be added how can this be the case? The answer is of balance an inch from the crankshaft or removed. quite simple. The correction radius is the centerline. That might seem like a lot, but www.engineprofessional.com 39 BEYOND THE BALANCER BY JUDSON MASSINGILL a 10,000-rpm NHRA Comp Eliminator motor will run all season long with Measuring correction radius. rebuilds when balanced to ¼ ounce-inch. Nevertheless, with NHRA Pro Stock motors approaching 12,000 rpm, and NASCAR Sprint Cup motors turning 9,000-plus rpm for 500 mile race distances, the ¼ ounce-inch standard becomes less effective in extreme racing engines. At these levels 1/10 ounce-inch is a common amount. It must be noted at these small target numbers extra thick concrete foundations along with grouted and anchored machines become necessary for repeatable results. The effect of rpm on an engine’s internal loads cannot be underestimated. As engine rpm increases, the tensile loads experienced by the connecting rods increase exponentially. In other words, the tensile loads are four times greater at 5,000 rpm than at 2,500 rpm, and on the other bank of cylinders. Since that the center two cylinders do not 16 times greater at 10,000 rpm than at each bank of cylinders are phased 180 have any counterweights beneath 2,500 rpm.