Design and Structural Analysis of a Stub Axle Front Suspension 2012-36-0277

This paper describes the design and the analysis of a stub axle front suspension developed to a rear-wheel drive of an automotive prototype. The automotive prototype is a vehicle developed for use on public roads with motor and transmission located at the rear and four-wheel independent suspension, with capacity for two occupants. By means of a finite element software, they were analyzed the efforts that acted on the steering and suspension components that interacted with the sleeve axis The stub axle is subjected to various loads in various ways, due to several conditions imposed by the motion that occur due to movement of the vehicle. They were analyzed three situations during the simulations: straight due to the movement of the vehicle, making a turn and during a braking situation. The analysis of the structure in those three situations allowed obtaining some characteristics, such as their strengths and critic regions where those efforts were higher.

Based on the results obtained during the simulations, it was possible to improve the geometry of the stub axle, in order to have a resulting structure with appropriated stress levels distributed on the material in a suitable way and a mass reduction in some places, avoiding an overestimation. The mass reduction is important in the stub axle because it is a component of the unsprung mass of the vehicle. The smaller the unsprung mass of the vehicle, the faster it back to its initial position, which is of extreme importance in a good suspension.