Page 87 of 105

APPENDIX A: PISTON KINEMATICS

Piston kinematics is the study of the motion of the piston relative to the rotation of the crankshaft.
Understanding and plotting this motion is critical to knowing how an engine operates. The data from this
appendix is used when measuring camshaft timing (Section 6.10), checking PTV clearance (Section 7.1), and
confirming proper rod bolt preload (Appendix B).
The following 3 equations are used to define piston kinematics as a function of time (Ref. 9):
2
) sin(
2
1 ) cos(
2
) (
|
|
.
|

\
|
+ = t
L
stroke
L t
stroke
t d
R
R
e e
Equation 1: Piston Position
|
|
|
|
|
|
.
|

\
|
|
|
.
|

\
|

|
|
.
|

\
|
+ |
.
|

\
|
=
2
) sin(
2
1
) 2 sin(
4
) sin(
2
) (
t
L
stroke
t
L
stroke
t
stroke
t v
R
R
e
e
e e
Equation 2: Piston Velocity

|
.
|

\
|

|
.
|

\
|
=
2
3
2 2
4 2 2 2
2
) sin(
2
2
) ( sin )) ( cos 2 1 (
) cos(
2
) (
t
stroke
L
t stroke t strokeL
t
stroke
t a
R
R
e
e e
e e
Equation 3: Piston Acceleration
where:
d = distance of piston [in].
v = velocity of piston [in/s].
a = acceleration of piston [in/s
2
].
stroke = 4.000-in for this build.
= engine speed [radians / sec], equal to peak RPM x 0.10472.
t = time [sec], range 0 to t
REV
(t
REV
= peak RPM x 1.2244e-6), 0 to 0.085708 seconds for 7000 RPM.
L
R
= rod length [in], 6.125-in for this build.
Equation 1 - Equation 3 are shown plotted below over one revolution of the crankshaft at 7000 RPM. The 383
stroker curves are shown next to the stock LS1 rotating assembly for comparison.
Page 88 of 105
Figure 104: Piston Position
The position shown here is the straight-line
dimension from the centerline of the
crankshaft main bore to the centerline of
the piston pin. This dimension is the lowest
at BDC, or 180-deg on the crankshaft
degree wheel for cylinder number 1.
Figure 105: Piston Velocity
The velocity shown here is of the piston
relative to the block. This value is zero at
BDC and TDC as the piston changes
direction.
Figure 106: Piston Acceleration
The acceleration shown here is of the
piston relative to the block. The largest
magnitude for the acceleration is at TDC.
Page 89 of 105
APPENDIX B: CALCULATING CONNECTING ROD BOLT PRELOAD
The preload in a connecting rod bolt is directly proportional to the bolt stretch. The proper preload is
determined by the engineering design of the connecting rod to be sufficiently greater than the forces exerted
on the connecting rod in a running engine. This section presents a simplified and conservative methodology
to confirm the proper preload of the connecting rod bolts.
The basic assumptions for this analysis are:
- Frictional resistance of piston on cylinder wall is negligible
- The mass of the piston at TDC includes the connecting rod big end. In reality the majority of the
connecting rod big end mass will be subjected to a lesser acceleration magnitude than the piston,
thereby resulting in a smaller mass force exerted on the connecting rods.
The first step is to calculate the max force exerted by the piston on the connecting rod bolts, using Equation 4
below.
ma f =
Equation 4: Force
where:
f = max force exerted on connecting rod bolts [lb]
m = mass of piston and associated components [slug], see Table 30.
a = peak acceleration [ft/s] of piston and associated components at TDC, see Equation 3 in Appendix A.
Note: Equation 3 and Figure 107 show acceleration in [in/s], however if you are using Equation 4 with
imperial units, then acceleration must be converted to [ft/s]. Peak acceleration is found when t = 0.
The mass of the components can be found on the balance sheet (Appendix X). For this 383 build, a summary
is provided in Table 30 below. Values are displayed in imperial and metric units. A factor of 1.1 was included
as a contingency.
Component Mass (slug) Mass (kg)
Piston 0.02928 0.42736
Piston Pin 0.00732 0.10681
Piston Pin Locks
0.00026 0.00380
Piston Rings 0.00232 0.03390
Rod Big End
0.03049 0.44501
Total Mass 0.06968 1.01689
Mass Factor 1.1 1.1
Factored Mass 0.07665 1.11858
Table 30: Mass of Piston Components at TDC
The second step is to calculate the peak acceleration of the piston using Equation 3 from Appendix A and
selecting a RPM that the rod bolts will be designed to withstand. Although the redline of this engine will be set
to 6250 RPM, 7000 RPM was chosen for this calculation as a contingency.
Stock LS1 motor peak piston acceleration at 7000 RPM = 1,264,021 in/s = 105,170 ft/s = 3268 g's
383 stroker motor peak piston acceleration at 7000 RPM = 1,425,610 in/s = 118,801 ft/s = 3691 g's
Page 90 of 105
Now that total mass and peak acceleration are known, the max force on the connecting rod bolts can be
calculated with Equation 4. A summary is shown in Table 31 below.
Item Value Source
Factored Mass 0.07665 slug From Balance Sheet, Table 30
Peak Acceleration 118,801 ft/s Calculated from Equation 3
Max Force 9,106 lb Calculated from Equation 4
Table 31: Max Force Exerted on Connecting Rod Bolts
Now that max force on the connecting rod bolts is known, the next step is to calculate the preload in the
connecting rod bolts. The equations to calculate preload are shown below.

A
= c
Equation 5: Strain
where:
= Strain in bolt [in/in]
= Measured stretch of rod bolt [in], see Table 32
= Measured rod bolt free length [in], see Table 32
c o E =
Equation 6: Stress
where:
= Stress in bolt [lb/in
2
]
E = Modulus of Elasticity [lb/in
2
], see Table 32
= Strain in bolt [in/in], see Equation 5
A F o =
Equation 7: Force from Stress
where:
F = Bolt Preload [lb]
= Stress in bolt [lb/in
2
], see Equation 6
A = Cross sectional area of bolt, see Table 32
The remaining inputs for the above equations are presented in Table 32 below.
Item Value Source
Bolt Stretch (Initial Case) 0.0030 in Rod Bolt "B" from Table 7
Bolt Stretch (Final Case) 0.0055 in Rod Bolt "B" from Table 8
Page 91 of 105
Bolt Free Length 1.7985 in Rod Bolt "B" from Table 7
Bolt Cross Sectional Area 0.1099 in * Calculated from Diameter in Figure 28
Elastic Modulus 30 x 10^6 lb/in for 8740 alloy steel, Ref. 13
Table 32: Inputs for Calculating Rod Bolt Preload
*Typically when calculating the stress in a threaded fastener the correct cross sectional
area to be used is the Tensile Stress Area (TSA) of the male threaded section. For these
ARP rod bolts (7/16"-20 thread) the TSA is 0.1187 in
2
(Ref.11) which is larger than the
area of the main body of the bolt. For this reason, the TSA was not used in these
calculations.
Using the above equations and inputs gives the following results.
Item Initial Case (63 lb-ft) Final Case (85 lb-ft) Equation
Strain in Bolt 0.001671 in/in 0.003063 in/in Equation 5
Stress in Bolt 50,125 lb/in 91,896 lb/in Equation 6
Bolt Preload 5,507 lb 10,096 lb Equation 7
Table 33: Installed Preload of Connecting Rod Bolts (Initial Case)
The preload values achieved in the initial case (63 lb-ft) were deemed insufficient because there was virtually
no margin of safety. Each bolt preload was approximately half of the force exerted on the bolts by the piston
at TDC. With the final case (85 lb-ft), each individual bolt had sufficient preload to resist the entire force
exerted on both bolts by the piston at TDC, resulting in an approximate safety factor of 2.0. Also, the stress in
the bolts for the final case is approximately half (or slightly over half) of the yield strength of the 8740 bolt
material
(10)
, which is considered appropriate for this application.