Secondary Development And Its Application Of FEA For 1604 Tractor Front Axle Housing

The paper studies on 1604 Tractor Front Axle Housing, the axle is not only a drive axle, but also a steering axle, which is one of important components in four-wheel-drive tractor, and its performance could affect the total capability of the tractor. So axle housing must have adequate tensity, rigidity and good dynamic characteristics.First, the secondary development is studied based on ANSYS, which uses UIDL and APDL languages. Secondary development can create new menus and dialog boxes to meet user's need quickly, and also can realize special analysis flow for the axle housing.Secondly, based on simplified Pro/E model, the finite element model is established in Hypermesh, that is, meshing, various connections'simulation, materials setting and so on. Next the static analyses of typical work conditions are done in axle finite elemnet analysis software which is obtained after secondary development. Moreover, for knowing the dynamic characteristics of the axle, the modal analysis is also needed, from it, fourteen low-order vibration modes are acquired with their modal frequencies and modal shapes.Finally, vertical bend rigidity experiment and fatigue experiment are done, the results of them verify the correctness of FEA. According to relative axle's standard, the design of the axle is also reasonable.The process of FEA clarifies the combinations among Pro/E, Hypermesh and ANSYS. This paper presents the way how to introduce CAE to CAD, which can shorten design period, increase the reliability of design, and promote product's performance. And the method can also be referred for other parts'analysis. What is more, the secondary development of FEA can decrease many repetitive operations greatly to increase work efficiency. And it also can promote the prevalence of CAE, because ANSYS after secondary development is easily mastered.