Balancing Of Reciprocating

Masses
 The resultant of all the forces acting on the body of the engine due to inertia forces
only is known as unbalanced force or shaking force.

Consider a horizontal reciprocating engine mechanism as shown in Fig

Let
FR = Force required to accelerate the
reciprocating parts,

FI = Inertia force due to reciprocating

parts,

FN = Force on the sides of the cylinder walls or normal force acting on the cross-head
guides, and
FB = Force acting on the crankshaft bearing or main bearing.

 FR and FI are equal in magnitude but opposite in direction, therefore they balance
each other.
 The horizontal component of FB (i.e. FBH) acting along the line of reciprocation is also
equal and opposite to FI.
 This force FBH = FU is an unbalanced
force or shaking force and required to
be properly balanced.

 The force on the sides of the cylinder walls (FN) and the vertical component of FB
(i.e. FBV) are equal and opposite and thus form a shaking couple of magnitude FN × x or
FBV × x.
 The reciprocating parts is to produce a shaking force and a shaking couple.

 The purpose of balancing the reciprocating masses is to eliminate the shaking force
and a shaking couple.

 The shaking force and a shaking couple can be reduced by adding appropriate
balancing mass, but it is usually not practical to eliminate them completely.

 Thus we can say reciprocating masses are only partially balanced.

 Primary and Secondary Unbalanced Forces of Reciprocating Masses

m = Mass of the reciprocating parts,

l = Length of the connecting rod PC,
r = Radius of the crank OC,
θ = Angle of inclination of the crank with the
line of stroke PO,
ω = Angular speed of the crank,
n = Ratio of length of the connecting rod to
the crank radius = l / r.

 The acceleration of the reciprocating parts is approximately given by the expression

 Inertia force due to reciprocating parts or force required to accelerate the reciprocating
Parts.
FI = FR = Mass × acceleration
 Primary and Secondary Unbalanced Forces of Reciprocating Masses

Since FBH is equal and opposite to

inertia force (FI)

Unbalanced force denoted by FU

Primary unbalanced force Fp =

Secondary unbalanced force Fs =

Partial Balancing of Unbalanced Primary Force in a Reciprocating Engine

The primary unbalanced force (m⋅ω2 ⋅r cosθ) may be considered as the component
of the centrifugal force produced by a rotating mass m placed at the crank radius r,
as shown in Fig.
Partial Balancing of Unbalanced Primary Force in a Reciprocating Engine

The centrifugal force due to mass B

horizontal component of this force acting in opposite direction of primary force

The primary force is balanced, if

Let a fraction ‘c’ of the reciprocating masses is balanced, such that

c.m.r = B.b
Partial Balancing of Locomotives

The locomotives, usually, have two cylinders with cranks placed at right angles to each
other in order to have uniformity in turning moment diagram. The two cylinder
locomotives may be classified as :
1. Inside cylinder locomotives ; and 2. Outside cylinder locomotives.
In the inside cylinder locomotives, the two cylinders are placed in between the planes
of two driving wheels as shown in Fig. (a) whereas in the outside cylinder locomotives,
the two cylinders are placed outside the driving wheels, one on each side of the driving
wheel, as shown in Fig.(b)
Effect of Partial Balancing of Reciprocating Parts of Two Cylinder Locomotives
 Since reciprocating parts are only partially balanced.
 Due to this, there is an unbalanced primary force along the line of stroke and also
an unbalanced primary force perpendicular to the line of stroke.
 The effect of an unbalanced primary force along the line of stroke is to produce;
1. Variation in tractive force along the line of stroke ; 2. Swaying couple

1. Tractive Force
The resultant unbalanced force due to the two cylinders, along the line of stroke, is
known as tractive force.

Maximum and minimum value of the tractive force or the variation in tractive force
2. Swaying couple
 The unbalanced forces along the line of stroke for the two cylinders constitute a
couple about the centre line YY between the cylinders as shown in Fig.
 This couple has swaying effect about a vertical axis, and tends to sway the engine
alternately in clockwise and anticlockwise directions. Hence the couple is known as
swaying couple.

Maximum and minimum value of the swaying couple

Hammer Blow
 The maximum magnitude of the unbalanced force along the perpendicular to
the line of stroke is known as hammer blow.
 The vertical component perpendicular to the line of stroke
 This force is maximum when θ is 90° and 270°
Hammer blow =
 The effect of hammer blow is to cause the variation in pressure between the
wheel and the rail.
 Let P be the downward pressure on the rails
 Therefore the limiting condition in order that the wheel does not lift from the
rails is given by
An inside cylinder locomotive has its cylinder centre lines 0.7 m apart and has a
stroke of 0.6 m. The rotating masses per cylinder are equivalent to 150 kg at the
crank pin, and the reciprocating masses per cylinder to 180 kg. The wheel centre lines
are 1.5 m apart. The cranks are at right angles. The whole of the rotating and 2/3 of
the reciprocating masses are to be balanced by masses placed at a radius of 0.6 m.
Find the magnitude and direction of the balancing masses.
Find the fluctuation in rail pressure under one wheel, variation of tractive effort and
the magnitude of swaying couple at a crank speed of 300 r.p.m.
Θ d= 250; Θ a= 200
Ma=md=105 kg
Multi-cylinder In-line Engines line diagram

- ve + ve
Cylinder 1 Cylinder 2 Cylinder 3 Cylinder 4

L2 L3

Crankshaft
L1 L4
 Forces & Couples Balancing Condition

Σ = 0

Σ = 0

Primary unbalanced Couple Cp = ×l Σ ×l = 0

Secondary unbalanced Couple Cs = ×l Σ ×l = 0

‘For a multi-cylinder engine, the primary forces may be completely balanced by

suitably arranging the crank angles, provided that the number of cranks are not less
than four’.
Balancing of Secondary Forces of Multi-cylinder In-line Engines

Secondary unbalanced Force Fs =

Multiply & divide by 4 the expression may be written as

Secondary unbalanced Force Fs = 4×

4×

As in case of primary forces, the secondary forces may be considered to be equivalent to the
component, parallel to the line of stroke, of the centrifugal force produced by an equal mass
placed at the imaginary crank of length r / 4n and revolving at twice the speed of the actual crank
(i.e. 2ω) as shown in Fig.

Secondary unbalanced Force Fs

Numerical :-
A four crank engine has the two outer cranks set at 120° to each other, and their
reciprocating masses are each 400 kg. The distance between the planes of rotation of
adjacent cranks are 450 mm, 750 mm and 600 mm. If the engine is to be in complete
primary balance, find the reciprocating mass and the relative angular position for
each of the inner cranks. If the length of each crank is 300 mm, the length of each
connecting rod is 1.2 m and the speed of rotation is 240 r.p.m., what is the maximum
secondary unbalanced force ?

Solution. Given : m1 = m4 = 400 kg ; r = 300 mm = 0.3 m ; l = 1.2 m ;

N = 240 r.p.m. ω = 2π.240/ 60 = 25.14 rad/s
Scale 1cm = 20 kg-m2

1 o

Now by measurement
0.225m3 = 196 kg-m or m3 = 871 kg Ans.
and its angular position with respect to crank 1 in the anticlockwise direction,
θ3 = 326° Ans.
 Scale 1cm = 10 kg-m

Now by measurement, we find that

0.3 m2 = 284 kg-m or m2 = 947 kg Ans.
and its angular position with respect to crank 1 in the anticlockwise direction,
θ2 = 168° Ans.
Maximum secondary unbalanced force
The secondary crank positions obtained by rotating the primary cranks at twice the angle,

Plane Initial Angle Twice the Angle Remark

1 0 0 Horizontal
1-4 120 240 240 deg
1-3 326 652 652-360(1 cycle) =
292 deg.

1-2 168 336 336 deg.

 Here cylinder firing order is not given.
Therefore consider in sequence 1-2-3-4
Scale 1cm = 20 kg-m2

By measurement, we find that the maximum secondary unbalanced force is

proportional to 582 kg-m.
∴ Maximum secondary unbalanced force
Numerical:-
The cranks and connecting rods of a 4-cylinder in-line engine running at 1800
r.p.m. are 60 mm and 240 mm each respectively and the cylinders are spaced 150
mm apart. If the cylinders are numbered 1 to 4 in sequence from one end, the cranks
appear at intervals of 90° in an end view in the order 1-4-2-3. The reciprocating
mass corresponding to each cylinder is 1.5 kg.
Determine : 1. Unbalanced primary and secondary forces, if any, and
2. Unbalanced primary and secondary couples with reference to central plane of the
engine.

Solution. Given : N = 1800 r.p.m. or ω = 2π × 1800/60 = 188.52 rad/s ; r = 60 mm

= 0.6 m ; l = 240 mm = 0.24 m ; m = 1.5 kg
1. Unbalanced primary and secondary forces
Scale 1cm = 0.1 kg-m Scale 1cm = 0.1 kg-m2
 Scale 1cm = 0.1 kg-m Scale 1cm = 0.1 kg-m2

Since the primary force polygon is a closed By measurement, we find the

figure, therefore there are no unbalanced unbalanced primary couple is to 0.19
primary forces. kg-m2
Maximum secondary unbalanced force
The secondary crank positions obtained by rotating the primary cranks at twice the angle,
Taking cylinder 3 (plane 3) as reference
Plane Initial Angle Twice the Angle Remark

3 0 0 Vertical
3-2 90 180 180deg
3-4 180 360 360 deg.

3-1 90 180 180 deg.

2. Unbalanced primary and secondary couples

Scale 1cm = 0.1 kg-m

From the secondary force polygon as shown in Fig. ( f ), we see that it is a

closed figure. Therefore there are no unbalanced secondary forces. Ans.
 2. Unbalanced primary and secondary couples
Scale 1cm = 0.1 kg-m2

The secondary couple polygon is shown in Fig. (g). The unbalanced secondary couple
is shown by dotted line. By measurement, we find that unbalanced secondary couple
is proportional to 0.54 kg-m2.