crankcase

1. REDIRECT

[File:De Dion-Bouton engine (Rankin Kennedy, Modern Engines, Vol III).jpg|thumb|De Dion-Bouton engine from about 1905, in which can clearly be seen a discrete crankcase with upper and lower halves (each a casting), with the bottom half constituting both part of the main bearing support and also an oil sump.]] In an internal combustion engine of the reciprocating type, the crankcase is the housing for the crankshaft. The enclosure forms the largest cavity in the engine and is located below the cylinder(s), which in a multicylinder engine is usually integrated into one or several cylinder blocks. Crankcases have often been discrete parts, but more often they are integral with the cylinder bank(s), forming an engine block. Nevertheless, the area around the crankshaft is still usually called the crankcase. Crankcases and other basic engine structural components (e.g., cylinders, cylinder blocks, cylinder heads, and integrated combinations thereof) are typically made of cast iron or cast aluminium via sand casting. Today the foundry processes are usually highly automated, with a few skilled workers to manage the casting of thousands of parts.

Das Kurbelgehäuse bildet als Lagerung der Kurbelwelle ein wichtiges Teil von Verbrennungsmotoren. Je nach Hersteller unterscheidet sich die Definition des Kurbelgehäuses und wird dort auch mit dem Motorblock gleichgesetzt. Nach dem Maschinenbauer Franz Pischinger ist das Kurbelgehäuse der Verbund aus Zylinder, Kühlmantel und Triebwerksgehäuse.