Finite element analysis of elastomer used in automotive suspension systems

Abstract

Present research endeavours towards the development of a methodology to enhance the life of hyperelastic materials in automotive suspension (leaf spring) system. The durability of the elastomeric (rubber) material in the insert was determined at various loading conditions for better operation. Three different rubber materials were used as the models including the currently used rubber material in the suspension system. The non-linear finite element analysis was carried out for the three different materials with the uniaxial stress–strain data as the input source for the material properties. A suitable hyperelastic model was also used as the input for determining the deformation and the stress concentration in the leaf spring tip insert. The failure of the tip insert was determined in various loading conditions and the best design for limited stress concentration with higher reliability was determined in the three models. The overall results are tabulated and compared for better utilization of rubber as a tip insert in the automotive industry.

Recent advances in the use of Polyamide-based materials for the automotive industry

“…The automotive sector is responsible for 35% of PA consumption, the largest PA consumer [23] . Polyamide 6 and PA66 are also prominent in the manufacture of gears for automotive use [24][25][26][27][28] , while the use of nylon 66 can also be seen in the manufacture of leaf springs [29] .…”

“…[33], [34] Use of PA66 for gears or leaf springs. [24], [25], [29] Use of PA6 and PA66 for under-the hood components, engine encapsulations system and engine bay components. [36], [37], [38] Use of PA6 and PA12 in vehicle fuel system parts and fuel transfer parts.…”

A hyper-viscoelastic constitutive model for elastomers: A case study of hydrogenated nitrile butadiene rubber and polychloroprene rubber

“…Additionally, they soften and are nearly incompressible. 26 Numerous researchers [27][28][29][30][31][32] have studied a variety of hyperelastic constitutive models to describe the nonlinear elastic (time-independent) behavior of the elastomers. While many authors 33,34 have used rheological models like Maxwell model, Kelvin-Voigt model, Generalized Kelvin-Voigt model, and Generalized Maxwell model [35][36][37][38][39] to explain the time-dependent behavior of elastomers.…”

Lightweight Design and Finite Element Analysis of Brake Lever for Motorcycle Application

“…It is a numerical technique discretizing a model into small elements and reconnects the elements at points called nodes. It has also been widely employed to investigate various problems in mechanical engineering (Karthikeyan, Rajkumar, Bensingh, Kader, & Nayak, 2020;Yudianto, Ghafari, Huet, & Wakid, 2019), medical devices (Barkaoui, Ait Oumghar, & Ben Kahla, 2021), biomedical engineering (Lisiak-Myszke et al, 2020), safety engineering (Yudianto, Prasetyono, Adiyasa, Purnomo, & Fauzi, 2020), and civil engineering (Pelekis, McKenna, Madabhushi, & DeJong, 2021;Ren, Fan, Li, & Chen, 2019). The use of finite element analysis has also been firmly validated, leading to the proof that the methodology has been used and applicable for engineering research and acceptable in various cases of engineering (Bola, Simões, & Ramos, 2021;López-Campos et al, 2020).…”