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DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT OF CAR SUSPENSION LOWER ARM

Article · December 2015

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 DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT OF CAR SUSPENSION LOWER ARM

Muhamad Fahrurrazi bin Jubri

Student
Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Universiti Malaysia Pahang (UMP), 26600 Pekan, Pahang,
Malaysia
Email: [email protected]

ABSTRACT

In the automotive world, the function of suspension system is to absorb vibrations due to rough
terrains or road disturbances and to provide stability under circumstances like accelerating, cornering,
uneven road, braking, loading and unloading etc. Control arm is one of the most important parts of the
suspension system, as it joins the steering knuckle to the vehicle frame. Also suspension arm is
responsible for up and down movement of wheels when hitting bumps. It is also designed to
maximize the friction between tire contacts, patch the road surface to provide vehicle stability under
any circumstances. It can be seen in many types of the suspensions like wishbone or double wishbone
suspensions. Many times it is also called as A-type control arm. In this study CAD model was
prepared using CATIA v5 software and finite element analysis was done using ANSYS 14.5 software
by importing the parasolid file to ANSYS. The model is subjected to loading and boundary conditions
and then analysed using the FEA techniques. The static structural analysis was done to find out the
stress, deformation and safety factor of component. The model was meshed using 10-noded
tetrahedral elements. Result obtained from the analysis was studied to check whether the design is
safe or not. In some cases the stresses becomes more than safe limit. In that case optimization
approach is carried out to increase the structural strength of the component. In this case maximum
von-misses stress is 211 MPa which is below the yield strength of the material.

INTRODUCTION

In the automotive industry, the aluminium (Al) alloy has limited usage due to their higher cost and
less developed manufacturing process compared to steels. However, Al alloy has the advantage of
lower weight and, therefore, has been used increasingly in the car industry for the last 30 years,
mainly as the engine block, engine parts, brake components, steering components and suspension
arms where significant weight can be achieved [1, 2]. The increasing use of Al is due to the safety,
environmental and performance benefits that aluminium offers, as well as the improved fuel
consumption because of light weight [3, 4]. Suspension components, along with wheel rims and brake
components are unsprung masses, which make weight reduction important for ride quality and
response as well as for reducing the total vehicle weight [1, 5-7]. The manufacturing process for a
lower arm consists of tube bending, preforming, and final hydroforming [8-10]. The suspension arm
gets more attention by many types of research like study dynamic analyses of the motor vehicle
suspension system using the point-joint coordinate’s formulation. The mechanical system is replaced
by an equivalent constrained system of particles and then the laws of particle dynamics are used to
derive the equations of motion [11]. Modelling and simulation are indispensable when dealing with
complex engineering systems. It can do essential assessment before systems are developed. It also can
provide support in all stages of a project from conceptual design, through commissioning and
operation[12, 13]. The most effective way to improve product quality and reliability is to integrate
them in the design and manufacturing process. Suspension arm is one of the main components in the
suspension systems. It can be seen in various types of the suspensions like wishbone or double
wishbone suspensions. Uneven tyre wear, suspension noise or misalignment, steering wheel shimmy
or vibrations are the main causes of the failure of the lower suspension arm. Most of the cases the
failures are catastrophic in nature [11]. So the structural integrity of the suspension arm is crucial from
a design point of view both in static and dynamic conditions. As the Finite Element Method (FEM)
gives a better visualization of this kind of the failures so FEM analysis of the stress distributions
around typical failure initiations sites is essential [14]. Therefore in this dissertation work it is
proposed to carry out the structural analysis of lower suspension arm of light commercial vehicle
using FEM

Fig 1: Front suspension lower arm

The vehicle suspension system is responsible for driving comfort and safety as the suspension carries
the vehicle-body and transmits all forces between body and road. The control arm suspension
normally consists of upper and lower arms [15-17]. The upper and lower control arms have different
structures based on the model and purpose of the vehicle. By many accounts, the lower control arm is
the better shock absorber than the upper arm because of its position and load bearing capacities In the
automotive industry, the riding comfort and handling qualities of an automobile are greatly affected
by the suspension system, in which the suspended portion of the vehicle is attached to the wheels by
elastic members in order to cushion the impact of road irregularities [11, 12, 18].

OBJECTIVE

The aim of the project is to FEM analysis of lower arm. Following are the main objectives of project-
1. Design the lower arm using CATIA model.
2. Making a 3D solid parametric model of suspension link in CATIA software
3. Meshing the model by 10 noded tetrahedral elements in ANSYS
4. Static analysis to find Von-Mises stresses
5. Static analysis deformation plot in ANSYS
6. If fails corrective actions for design improvement of suspension link.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

To design the lower suspension arm we must do the analysis first. We start first manually reverse
engineering the lower suspension arm with the help of special tools like Vernier gauge, radius gauge
and divider etc. All the dimensions which are measured have been recorded on the drawing. Now by
taking the dimensions from the drawing modelling of lower suspension arm is done in CATIA
software. After modelling the lower suspension arm, we have import the IGES file to the ANSYS
which is FEA software by using this software we have to solve the problem. The finite element
analysis (FEA) is a computational technique which is used to obtain approximate solutions of
boundary value problems in engineering. In simple words, a boundary value problem is a
mathematical problem in which one or more dependent variables must satisfy a differential equation
everywhere within a known domain of independent variables and satisfy specific conditions on the
boundary of domain [14, 19]. Further we have to mesh the model by using the 10 noded tetrahedral
elements. Tetra elements give improved results as compared to other type of elements, therefore
tetrahedral elements were used. In further step we have to apply the loads i.e. forces and toques which
are mentioned in the load cases. The material used was mild steel. After the material had applied we
have to apply the boundary conditions according the actual working conditions i.e. where it fixed and
where it is free. After that problem have to be solved by using ANSYS software. In the next step we
have to solve the model in the analysis phase. The results are compared if the results are satisfied then
problem is solved and if not then editing of model is done and again the steps should be followed.

Figure 2: Solid model of lower arm

In following table particular conditions are shown in Table below for the typical component.

Table: Vehicle specification

Wheel Base 2365mm
Overall length 4095mm
Overall width 1575mm
Overall height 1395mm
Ground clearance 170mm
Turning radius 4.8mm
Unladed weight 870kg
Laden weight 1315kg

Table: Assumption made for calculations

Force 2520 N
Material Mild Steel
Density 7870 kg/m3
Young’s modulus 2x1011 Pa
Tensile strength 245 Mpa
Poisson’s ratio 0.29

STATIC ANALYSIS

3D Model of Control Arm

Control arm is first modelled in CATIA software which is outstanding CAD software. CATIA is very
user friendly software which makes modelling so easy.
 Figure 3: Sketching the Front Bushing

Mesh Generation

In this analysis mesh generation is auto generation by the ANSYS software, after that sizing of 5mm
was given to the suspension arm. Tetrahedral 10-noded elements were used to mesh the lower
suspension arm.

Figure 4: Mesh Model

No of Nodes – 9634
No of Elements- 34175
Element Type – Tetrahedral (10 node)

LOADING AND BOUNDARY CONDITIONS

Static Loads on the Vehicle

Weight of vehicle acting at its center of gravity

G= m.g
As we know approximately 0.39% of weight of the whole body or car is carried by front wheels and
0.61% weight carried by rear wheels.
So reaction equations are-
Reaction on front wheels (R1) = 0.39 * G
Reaction on rear wheels (R2) = 0.61 * G
So equation becomes-
R1 S1 = R2 S2
As we know
S = S1 + S2
Loads on front axle and rear axle are found by using the equilibrium equation-
 GFA = G* S2/S
GRA = G* S1/S
Static load on one wheel of the front wheel-
GFAW = GFA/2

Parameters Description
G Weight of vehicle acting at CG
M Mass
G Acceleration due to gravity
R1 Reaction on front wheels
R2 Reaction on rear wheels
S1 Distance between CG and Front
axel
S2 Distance between CG and rear axel
S Wheel Base
GFA Loads on front axel
GRA Loads on rear axel
GFAW Loads on one wheel of front axel

Loads are in form of force values and moments. The boundary conditions applied on the component.

Figure 5: Loading conditions

RESULTS

Many features were analysed like stress and displacement from FEM analysis and results that were
found are given below,

Stress Analysis

In stress analysis of lower suspension arm subjected to high stress shown in figure 10. According to
the methodology to safer the design stress induced in arm should be less than the yield strength of the
material [20]. The stress found from the analysis is 211.06MPa.
 Figure 6: Equivalent Stress

Total Deformation

Total deformation shows that at what stage the component will deflect from its original position. Total
deformation should be within the limits and Total deformation found in the analysis was 0.65515mm.

Figure 7: Total Deformation

Parameter Results
Equivalent Stress 211 MPa
Deformation 0.65515 mm
Safety factor 1.1845

CONCLUSION

In stress analysis, the stresses of material for the given loading condition fall well in within the yield
stress i.e. 211.06 MPa as shown in figure 6.1. The total deformation due to the force applied on the
suspension arm was 0.65515 mm which is maximum was at the ball bearing of the suspension arm
shown in figure 6.2 from the result above, the minimum safety factor was 1.1845 which shows the
component is safe so that we can used the design to develop the suspension lower arm.
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