Optimization Of Composite Suspension Arm Design

Today, environmental issues are global troubles, running out of oil,fuel coseincreasing.automobile lightweight design is an effective way to save energy.Reducing themass of the suspension arm can effectively reduce the unsprung mass and improve comfort.carbon fiber composite is a new material,it has very low density and highmodulus.Therefore, based on the McPherson front suspension arm, an optimizedcomposite arm is raised. This optimal design is a combination of the initial design, topologyoptimization and ply thickness optimization designIn this paper,the stiffness is appointed as constraints,use composite materials to replacesteel in the arm design. Meeting the objective stiffness, setting the goal as minimizingvolume, optimize the composite arm.First,get the load of the arm under3limit conditions, emergency brakingcondition,cornering condition,road vertical impact condition. Use steel as prototypematerial,do finite element analysis, get the max displacement, in this way,the stiffnessparameters derived. It was already known by the composite design principle, that the0degreedirection ply will resist the tension and compression,and45degree direction ply will resistthe shear. The loads under these three conditions will do different mechanical effect oncomposite.Based on the proportion of the load,the ply angels of0,45and90degreesproportion is got. Use optistruct composite hyperlaminate module, according to the stiffnessand displacement constraints,considering the composite material manufacturing processrequirement,get the initial prototype ply number.Then do structural topology optimization based on the foregoing design data,the bestmass distribution is found. Then reconstruct the geometry,get a new geometry.Based on thenew geometry,set the stiffness of the metal arm as constraints,minimizing the mass as thegoal, the thickness of each layer as design variables,optimize the ply thickness. Finally, compare the mass of the optimized composite arm and metal arm.It shows that theoptimized composite arm is not only lightweight but also of high stiffness. Therefore methodsused for composite arm design and optimize described in this paper, will provide an aid onother composite structure applications.