A study on triply periodic minimal surfaces: A case study

Connecting rod is mounted between piston and crankshaft. It converts reciprocating motion of piston into rotary motion of crankshaft and this conversion is inform through the pull and the push from piston pin and crank pin. A shank connects the big and the small end of the connecting rod. The current study involves in exploring the use of minimal surfaces concept to eliminate the solid shank without compromising in the strength that the I-section provides to the connecting rod. In this designing process, a triply periodic minimal surface has been introduced into cavity located at shank. Moreover, a parametric model of connecting rod is modelled through a solid modeling software and later taken to another modeling software where the minimal surface is being modeled. The model is then analyzed for its structural stability by an analysis software. Von-misses stress and total deformation have been estimated and compared with that of the traditional design. It has been observed that through the implementation of minimal surface there has been an appreciable reduction in overall stress and the total deformation.