Abstract
This paper describes the design procedure to enhance the damping properties of a multimaterial lightweight suspension arm for a C-segment vehicle. An innovative viscoelastic material has been used to join carbon fiber with steel that has a function of passive constrained layer damper and adhesive simultaneously. Therefore, the hybrid technology applied has been focused on reducing the LCA mass, diminishing the steel thickness, and adding a CFRP tailored cover without compromising the global mechanical performance. Particular attention has been paid to the investigation of the dynamic response in terms of vibration reduction, especially in the range of structure-borne frequencies of 0–600 Hz. Two different viscoelastic materials have been evaluated in such a way to compare their stiffness, damping, and dynamic properties. The experimental test results have been virtually correlated with a commercial FEM code to create the respective material card and predict the real behavior of the LCAs (original and hybrid). The experimental modal analysis has been performed and compared on both the arms highlighting a very good correlation between virtual and experimental results. In particular, the hybrid LCA allows an interesting improvement of damping ratio, about 3,5 times higher for each eigenmode than in the original solution.
Highlights
The vehicle suspension system has a crucial role in vibration transmission and its excitations are located in the structure-borne transmission path, between the road–tire interaction and the vehicle body [8]
The lower control arm (LCA) is one of the main transfer paths for vibrations coming from the wheels into the chassis. e reduction of these vibrations is considered by carmakers a design objective because they can influence the comfort of passengers, for example when driving through a train crossbeam or running over small obstacles
Is paper is focused exclusively on enhancing the damping properties of a multimaterial lightweight suspension arm made of steel and carbon fiber
Summary
Alessandro Messana ,1 Alessandro Ferraris ,2 Andrea G. Is paper is focused exclusively on enhancing the damping properties of a multimaterial lightweight suspension arm made of steel and carbon fiber For this reason, any kind of vibration reduction effects has been investigated to the global suspension system. Particular attention has been paid to the investigation of the dynamic response in terms of vibration reduction in the range of structureborne frequencies of 0–600 Hz. Intensive testing activities have been conducted to investigate, firstly, damping properties on this innovative viscoelastic material by comparing two different compounds, secondly, the modal response of the original arm ( called baseline) and the multimaterial one ( called hybrid). E proposed solution for the hybrid lower control arm consists in coupling a carbon fiber cover on the reduced thickness metal shape of the original arm, by using the Kraibon material as an interface between steel and CFRP (see Figure 2). A hybrid design solution has been developed to satisfy the requirements of lightweight and vibration damping. e proposed solution for the hybrid lower control arm consists in coupling a carbon fiber cover on the reduced thickness metal shape of the original arm, by using the Kraibon material as an interface between steel and CFRP (see Figure 2). is process allows evaluating the potential and the capabilities of the hybridization without redesigning
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