Abstract
The objective of this study is to identify the behavior of the car suspension components subjected to road surface contours. Strain signals were measured by installing a strain gauge at the critical area of the coil spring and lower arm. The car was driven on a flat and rough road surface with speeds of 30–40 km/h and 10–20 km/h, respectively. According to the fatigue life assessments based on the strain-life approach, it was found that when the car was driven on the rough road, the components received higher stresses, contributing to a shorter fatigue life. The fatigue life of the coil spring when being driven on the rough road was 1,248 cycles to failure, which was more than 14 times shorter when being driven on the flat road, with 19,060 cycles to failure. Meanwhile the fatigue life of the lower arm being driven on the rough surface was 3,580 cycles to failure, which was almost 3,328 times shorter when being driven on the flat road, with 11,914,000 cycles to failure. The useful life of the coil spring was more than 625 times lower than the lower arm when driven on the flat road, whereas when driven on the rough road, the useful life of the coil spring was almost 3 times lower than the lower arm. In conclusion, the coil spring will fail more than 2 times faster than the lower arm. This is because the contour of the road surfaces provide a vertical load, directly working the coil spring which reduces the load vertically, while the lower arm functions to hold the load when turning.
Highlights
Dynamic friction between the car tire and road surface produces vibrations which increase when an uneven road surface is paased at high speeds
It was noted that carbon increased the strength and hardness of the components, silicon stabilized the microstructures during the tempering and the functioning operations for improving the steel's corrosion resistance, and manganese increased the ductility, wear-resistance and the components' hardness
This study aims to identify the effect of road surface contour on coil spring and lower arm fatigue life
Summary
Dynamic friction between the car tire and road surface produces vibrations which increase when an uneven road surface is paased at high speeds. A repeated vibration causes significant fatigue damage to all components. A fatigue failure refers to the formation and propagation of cracks in engineering structures. It is responsible for approximately 90% of the overall mechanical components' failures [1]. The damage risk caused by repeated load, and the life cycle of any mechanical component that has to receive or bear the load are estimated. This helps in decreasing the damage risk to ensure the component satisfies the design targets
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