Reliability-Based Design Optimization for Durability of Ground Vehicle Suspension System Components

Abstract

The effect of materials processing-and component manufacturing-induced uncertainties in material properties and component shape and size on the reliability of component performance is investigated. Specifically, reliability of a suspension system component from a high-mobility multipurpose wheeled vehicle which typically can fail under low-cycle strain-based fatigue conditions is analyzed. Toward that end, the most advanced reliability-based design optimization methods available in the literature were combined with the present understanding of low-cycle fatigue durability and applied to the component in question. This entailed intricate integration of several computational tools such as multibody vehicle dynamics, finite-element simulations, and fatigue strain-life assessment/prediction techniques. The results obtained clearly revealed the importance of consideration of material property uncertainties in attaining vehicle performance of critical structural components in complex systems (e.g., a vehicle).

Multiobjective robust design optimization of fatigue life for a truck cab

“…4 and Table 2 present three thickness design variables and their dimensional ranges to be optimized in this study. With regard to uncertainties, Grujicic et al [60] pointed out the importance of considering variations in material properties to predict the fatigue performance of vehicle components. Thus, we would like to restrict our attention on uncertainties induced by the material properties in this RDO problem.…”

Axial-Compressive Behavior, Including Kink-Band Formation and Propagation, of Singlep-Phenylene Terephthalamide (PPTA) Fibers

“…This finding suggests that the present computational procedure can reasonably well account for the experimental observations regarding the PPTA fiber longitudinal-tensile strength. The cumulative distribution displayed in Figure 8(b) defines the probability that the PPTA fiber longitudinal-tensile strength is not lower than a given (lower bound) value, and this type of function is often used in probabilistic/reliability-based design analyses [27]. In such analyses, functional constraints cannot be met with absolute certainty but rather with an acceptably low level of failure.…”

Fatigue Reliability Assessment of an Automobile Coil Spring under Random Strain Loads Using Probabilistic Technique

“…Kang et al [9] estimated the fatigue life reliability of a steel structure based on a probabilistic distribution to predict residual fatigue life and the number of cycles to failure by using a fatigue stress-life model. The reliability of automobile suspension systems has advanced in terms of design optimization techniques based on low-cycle strain-fatigue life models [10]. Similarly, Song et al [11] proposed a design optimization model for a vehicle-steering knuckle undergoing loading conditions of bump and brake components by using the least squares method.…”