Abstract
The paper deals with buckling and strength analysis of suspension system rods made of carbon fibre reinforced polymer (CFRP) laminate. The whole suspension system of urban solar vehicle, Eagle Two, designed by Lodz University of Technology students was considered. The calculations and analysis focused on suspension rods, where the traditional metal material was replaced with CFRP laminate. The influence of layer arrangement on rod strength, static, and dynamic buckling were analysed. The research was conducted using numerical simulations employing finite element method software. The static and dynamic load was considered. The obtained results show that the plies’ order in the laminate influences both the strength and stiffness of the considered rod. The best results considering both failure force and longitudinal elasticity modulus were obtained for the stacking sequences with axially oriented (0°) plies on the outside of the rod.
Highlights
Stability of Suspension SystemA suspension system is one of the essential mechanical assemblies in vehicles
The upper control arm consists of two separate rods, which are the main object of investigations
The numerical results obtained for whole front suspension systems and two rods of the upper control arm are presented below
Summary
A suspension system is one of the essential mechanical assemblies in vehicles. It consists of multiple elements linking load-bearing vehicle construction (frame or monocoque) to each wheel. Due to the increasingly growing popularity of fibre-reinforced composite materials in the automotive industry and yet a limited number of scientific articles, the authors considered the topic of a vehicle suspension system. The proposed research investigated the possibility of the application of composite materials in place of steel upper control arm of solar vehicle front suspension and studied the influence of laminate ply orientation on the mechanical behaviour of the proposed construction (including stress–strain state and buckling) under the application of different types of loading: static and dynamic (due to passing an assumed road bump). Considering the available literature, the article covered a far unexplored research topic regarding composite suspension system push-rods (constituting upper control arm) and their axial loading, including buckling analyses. The number of articles concerning the application of composite materials in vehicles’ suspension system components and their optimisation is still limited
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