Designers from St. Petersburg, Pavel Vorobyov and Maxim Veselov, proposed modifying the crankshaft of a piston engine by using an unusual fillet shape. The transitions between the journals and the webs were made with an indentation into the web body.
In a traditional design, protrusions on the webs reduce the working length of the journals. The developers propose eliminating them, which increases the contact area between the journal and the bearing and reduces specific pressure.
Another task is to reduce stress concentration in the most loaded area of the crankshaft. For this purpose, it is proposed to choose the fillet radius within 0.1–0.2 of the journal diameter.
Too small a radius increases the risk of fatigue cracks, while too large a radius weakens the web itself.
According to the engineers' concept, the new geometry should increase the bearing capacity, equalize its wear, and enhance the fatigue durability of the crankshaft.