Actuator of a connecting-rod fracture splitting apparatus includes: a piston rod having one end portion extending through a lid of the cylinder and connected to a wedge; and a free piston slidably mounted on the piston rod and abuttable against the upper surface of the piston. By pressure fluid being supplied to act on the upper surface of the piston, the free piston imparts a preload to a hole of a big end section of the connecting rod. By pressure fluid being supplied to act on a region upward of the free piston, the free piston is driven downward to collide against the upper surface of the piston, so that divided mandrel members are moved apart from each other, via the piston rod and the wedge, to fracture a large end section of the connecting rod.

A split double row spherical roller bearing comprising an outer ring including an outer race, an inner ring within the outer ring including an inner race, a cage mounted between the inner and outer races, the cage mounting rollers which engage the inner and outer races, the inner ring, inner race, outer ring, outer race, and cage each comprising two generally semicircular parts engageable together to form a circular component via respective radially extending contact surfaces, and characterized in that the contact surfaces of at least the outer ring comprise a saw-tooth arrangement in which the angle of each saw tooth joint is between 25 and 40 degrees.

A connecting rod comprises a shaft connecting a first end including a first bore with a second end including a second bore. Methods for forming and assembling a connecting rod and crankshaft assembly include fabricating the second end of the connecting rod via additive manufacturing such that the second end comprises a first and second weakened regions on opposing sides of the second bore, and breaking the second end of the connecting rod at the first and second weakened regions to form a connecting rod assembly comprising a second end base and a second end cap, wherein the base comprises a first fracture face and a second fracture face which each respectively correspond to a first fracture face and a second fracture face of the cap. The methods can further include mating the base and the cap such that a crankpin of a crankshaft is disposed within the second bore.

A split double row spherical roller bearing comprising an outer ring including an outer race, an inner ring within the outer ring including an inner race, a cage mounted between the inner and outer races, the cage mounting rollers which engage the inner and outer races, the inner ring, inner race, outer ring, outer race, and cage each comprising two generally semicircular parts engageable together to form a circular component via respective radially extending contact surfaces, and characterized in that the contact surfaces of at least the outer ring comprise a saw-tooth arrangement in which the angle of each saw tooth joint is between 25 and 40 degrees.

A connecting rod comprises a shaft connecting a first end including a first bore with a second end including a second bore. Methods for forming and assembling a connecting rod and crankshaft assembly include fabricating the second end of the connecting rod via additive manufacturing such that the second end comprises a first and second weakened regions on opposing sides of the second bore, and breaking the second end of the connecting rod at the first and second weakened regions to form a connecting rod assembly comprising a second end base and a second end cap, wherein the base comprises a first fracture face and a second fracture face which each respectively correspond to a first fracture face and a second fracture face of the cap. The methods can further include mating the base and the cap such that a crankpin of a crankshaft is disposed within the second bore.

According to a method for production of a fracture-split connecting rod, a connecting rod having one large and one small connecting-rod eye is introduced into a holding jig and therein the connecting rod is fracture-split in the region of the large connecting-rod eye, so that the connecting rod is subdivided into a rod part and a cap part, and then the rod part and the cap part are removed from the holding jig once again, wherein the rod part and the cap part are clamped together with a clamping element, especially before they are removed as a whole from the holding jig.

A connecting rod manufacturing method includes: forming, in an inner circumferential surface of a through-hole formed at an end of the connecting rod, a plurality of first holes as fracture start portions such that the first holes are arrayed in an axial direction of the through-hole and extend in a first direction; forming a plurality of second holes as the fracture start portions, each between adjacent ones of the first holes, such that the second holes are arrayed in the axial direction and extend in a second direction different from the first direction relative to the first holes; and fracture-splitting the end of the connecting rod into a rod part and a cap part using the fracture start portions as start points.

A connecting rod manufacturing method includes: forming, in an inner circumferential surface of a through-hole formed at an end of the connecting rod, a plurality of first holes as fracture start portions such that the first holes are arrayed in an axial direction of the through-hole and extend in a first direction; forming a plurality of second holes as the fracture start portions, each between adjacent ones of the first holes, such that the second holes are arrayed in the axial direction and extend in a second direction different from the first direction relative to the first holes; and fracture-splitting the end of the connecting rod into a rod part and a cap part using the fracture start portions as start points.