Development of an Experimental Device for Studying Real Connecting-Rod Bearings Functioning in Severe Conditions

Nowdays, automotive designers attempt to limit the pollution and the fuel consumption, in order to answer customer’s environmental demands. To assist designers in this effort, it is important to analyze and to understand engines bearing mechanical behavior. Therefore, many experimental studies have been undertaken in the last 20 years [1–3]. Because of the great complexity of the con-rod bearing real environment, no experimental tests have been realized in realistic and severe conditions. This paper presents an experimental device “MEGAPASCALE” made to analyze the thermoelastohydrodynamic (TEHD) behavior of connecting rod bearings functioning in severe conditions.