Assessment of Ultimate Safety Factor and Wear Resistance of Connecting Rods Made of Composites Based on Aluminum and Steel

This paper concerns the problem of possibility to use aluminum composites as materials for manufacturing of loaded parts of a pneumatic piston compressor, in particular, of a connecting rod. The CAD system based on a finite-element method helped to obtain the values of stresses initiating in the body of a connecting rod when it is acted upon by a total load (force). The ultimate factor of safety was calculated analytically and by mathematical simulation. The comparative tribotechnical tests of suggested friction pairs were conducted.