What is the crankshaft and what is its role in the car engine?

Car crankshaft is a rotating shaft that converts the linear movements of the piston into rotational movements. The crankshaft is an important part of the process of transferring power to the wheels and is located inside the engine block. This important part, in cooperation with the connecting rod, transmits the production power of the engine. As mentioned, the crankshaft will convert the linear motion of the piston into rotary motion. This rotational movement passes through the flywheel and finally causes the wheels of the car to move.

Crankshaft consists of several parts to make the car move. To better understand the performance of this part, it is better to examine the role of the crankshaft in a four-stroke engine. In the first step, the piston moves from top dead center to bottom dead center. At the time of lowering, the piston inside the cylinder is connected to the crankshaft through the connecting rod, and therefore we see the transformation of linear motion into rotary motion. Also, the crankshaft transfers this rotational movement to the camshaft. The rotational motion received from the crankshaft will facilitate the opening of the inlet valve and therefore the fuel-air mixture will enter the combustion chamber.

When this mixture is filled in the combustion chamber, the piston moves up from the bottom dead center and causes the fuel and air mixture to condense. Also, with the upward movement of the piston, we see the closing of the intake and smoke valves by the crank, which completes the compression process. This process also completes the first revolution of the crankshaft. In the next stage, we see a spark that causes combustion and the resulting heat causes the piston to move downwards. As the piston moves down, its linear motion turns into rotary motion. The rotational movement is also transferred to the flywheel and finally the wheels of the car move.