Abstract
Accurate implementation of weight reduction for the development of innovative safety-relevant components, such as suspension assemblies, requires a careful evaluation of the structural resistance. The validation of these critical parts usually employs Finite Element Analysis (FEA) during the design phase and laboratory tests on prototypes during later stages. However, the results of these established methods have rarely been numerically compared. The present paper introduces a method for comparing FEA and testing, based on the elaboration of micro-strains acquired with strain gauges positioned in specific regions. The model was applied to the real case study of an innovative lightweight cross beam. FEA simulations and bench tests under different conditions that were representative of the operating environments were carried out. Two different relevant configurations of fatigue bench tests were considered. Then, the data obtained from testing were numerically elaborated in order to compare them with the analytical results. Real data from in-field measurements were used. The cross beam endured at the elevate mission loads reproduced at the bench test. The FEA and testing results were aligned. The correlation method was proven to be reliable, since it made it possible not only to numerically evaluate the testing output, but also to validate the calculation tools, and it could be extended to similar applications in future.
Highlights
The weight reduction of automotive components, as is well-known, is one of the most feasible measures for reducing vehicle emissions [1,2,3,4,5]
It can be noted that the numerical and experimental stress outputs were very similar, with an average difference of about 6 MPa. This discrepancy is lower than in the road simulator case, due to both the equivalence of the loads used as the input for testing and simulation and to the simpler features of the system tested
This test bench was composed of the cross beam and the hydraulic steering system, while the road simulator test bench comprised the entire suspension assembly, the complexity of which could contribute to generating some additional dissimilarities
Summary
The weight reduction of automotive components, as is well-known, is one of the most feasible measures for reducing vehicle emissions [1,2,3,4,5]. The preservation of the safety and performance levels required by automotive standards is a very important aspect [8,9] that needs to be carefully evaluated when reducing component weights This is true for safety-critical parts such as the suspension cross beam, control arms, and brakes, failures in which result immediately in the loss of vehicle orientation [10]. Starting from this definition, it is clear that the structural resistance of these products is a very relevant and challenging task. Their development and validation process comprises different forms of analysis, considering the several factors affecting the mechanical behaviour (i.e., the design, material, production technology, process parameters, etc.), the results of which lead to the final determination of the Metals 2019, 9, 949; doi:10.3390/met9090949 www.mdpi.com/journal/metals
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