Finite Element Analysis And Optimization Of Automotive Front Suspension Cross Member Assembly

With the continuous promotion of national economical level, the automotive customer, at the same time as drivers, are increasingly intense to require automotive to be with high safety reliability, operation stability and comfort ability. Obviously the automotive safety reliability has been considered as the basic requirement for automotive manufacturing and its products. In general, the researcher would pay more attention to how to promote the safety reliability of parts and components for the reason that the automotive safety reliability is limited by automotive parts and components. Thus, this paper developed researches around the design and structure analysis of a modal suspension cross member for ensuring and promoting automotive safety reliability.The suspension cross member, as the important part of chassis system, is with complicated loading condition. For this, it is seriously important to verify the strength and fatigue quality of suspension cross member. To promote the structure performance, length the service life and then guarantee the safety reliability, this paper mainly applies finite element method to cross member design and founds the design idea of evaluating the structure reliability based on structure strength, vibration characteristics and durability through studying the finite element method according to suspension cross member. Then, by researching the theories of finite element, fatigue and fracture and modal analysis, determine to apply shell element to simulate thin-walled parts, VOLVO method to treat the weld area, rigid element to simplify bolt connection position and rubber bushing; adopt the nominal stress method, based on Miner fatigue cumulative damage theory, into durability simulation; and according to the modal analysis theory of multi-DOF structural system, choose block Lanczos method to solve the structure mode. Finally, with the comprehensive of the modal, structural strength and fatigue durability analysis results for the cross member, obtained that the weak position in original design are mainly concentrated around body connection bracket. For this, optimized and improved the structure of weak position above from the angle of structure and processing technology. The simulation results of the optimized design scheme show that the optimization and improvement to body connection positions increase the damage life of cross member durability by2times. And the durability bench test results of original and optimized samples verify the feasibility and validity of the cross member structure optimization.This paper expounds all researches of a modal suspension cross member with the application of finite element method and verified that the finite element method is meaningful to engineering. Meanwhile, the research method adopted in this paper would be reference and foundation for automotive technical personnel to deeply research suspension cross member and any other automotive parts and components in future.