Investigation on distribution of stresses in steel and aluminium alloy arms of a car suspension system

• Published in: Mechanika (Kaunas, Lithuania : 1995) Vol. 19; no. 6; pp. 632 - 640
• Main Authors: Melaika, M., Nagurnas, S., Pečeliūnas, R., Višniakov, N., Garbinčius, G.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 01.01.2013
• Subjects: Aluminum base alloys; Automobiles; Automotive engineering; Computer simulation; Crashworthiness; Fuel consumption; Suspension systems (vehicles); Weight reduction
• ISSN: 1392-1207; 2029-6983
• DOI: 10.5755/j01.mech.19.6.5987

Elements of a car suspension system more and more often are made of light and firm aluminium alloys. The lightweight suspension enables reducing the total weight of the car and the fuel consumption; in addition, it enables improving controllability and stability of the car on a road. In the Paper, transverse arms that are the principal elements of the front axle "McPherson" suspension system are discussed upon. The external forces that impact the suspension arms on driving a car upon different modes are analyzed. In course of analysis of prototypes of the front suspension arms in cars PEUGEOT 406 and BMW 3, the causes of dangerous stresses in certain points of the arm's structure and the opportunities of optimization of suspension arms were analyzed. The external forces that impact the car suspension were established; on the base of the above-mentioned guiding elements (arms) of a car suspension, computer models were developed upon applying the computer-aided simulation package "SolidWorks 2009". Striving to get to know the real marks of the alloys and to bring the simulation more in line with the real conditions, chemical analysis of metals and tests on metal hardness were carried out. Simulation of loads of L-shaped steel and aluminium alloy arms of various profiles was performed as well. On the base of the results, the most dangerous points in arm structure were detected. The recommendations and proposals for improving the structure of aluminium alloy arms in order to make them able to withstand large external forces were provided.Original Abstract: Lengvojo automobilio pakabos elementai vis dazniau gaminami is lengvu, bet stipriu aliuminio lydiniu. Lengvesne pakaba leidzia sumazinti bendra automobilio svori, degalu sanaudas ir pagerinti valdomuma ir stabiluma kelyje. Siame straipsnyje isnagrineti lengvuju automobiliu priekiniu tiltu pagrindiniai "McPherson" pakabos elementai - skersines svirtys. Isanalizuotos isorines jegos, veikiancios pakabos svirtis automobiliui vaziuojant skirtingais rezimais. Nagrinejant automobiliu PEUGEOT 406 ir BMW 3 priekines pakabos svirciu prototipus, atskleistos pavojingu itempiu tam tikruose svirties konstrukciniuose taskuose priezastys, pakabos svirciu optimizavimo galimybes,. Nustatytos isorines jegos, veikiancios automobilio pakaba apskritai, ir, naudojant kompiuterinio modeliavimo paketa "SolidWorks 2009", minetu automobiliu pakabos kreipiamuju elementu (svirciu) pagrindu sudaryti kompiuteriniai modeliai, Norint suzinoti tikrasias lydiniu markes bei priartinti modeliavima prie realiu salygu, atlikta metalu chemine analize ir metalu kietumo bandymai. Atliktas ivairiu L formos profiliu tiek plieniniu, tiek aliuminio lydinio svirciu apkrovu modeliavimas. Remiantis tyrimu rezultatais aptikti pavojingiausi svirciu konstrukcijos taskai. Pateikta rekomendaciju ir pasiulymu, kaip tobulinti aliuminio lydinio svirciu konstrukcijas, kad atlaikytu dideles isorines jegas.