Title: Design of a truck cab torsion bar

Authors: Luigi Solazzi

Addresses: Dipartimento di Ingegneria Meccanica e Industriale, Università di Brescia, Via Branze 38, 25123 Brescia, Italy

Abstract: This work describes the study developed and the design of a specific component called torsion bar, installed on commercial vehicles for the cab suspension, to both increase driver comfort and allow the cab to be rotated for maintenance work on the engine. Currently, the component is made from conventional structural steel: the central element is a single unit of considerable size, a significant factor especially in terms of the space required during shipping. The aim of this research is to design a structure using materials with greatly superior mechanical performance in order to reduce its weight and incorporate a number of design features to make it easier to ship, reducing its overall size and thus the costs involved. The solution developed achieves this aim, with a 25% weight reduction and easy dismantling and shipping. The technical features designed into the solution have reduced the sensitivity of the assembly procedure to operator-related variability.

Keywords: finite-element method; cab suspension; torsion bar; truck; high-strength steels.

DOI: 10.1504/IJHVS.2019.101887

International Journal of Heavy Vehicle Systems, 2019 Vol.26 No.5, pp.692 - 706

Received: 23 Sep 2016
Accepted: 12 Mar 2017

Published online: 30 Aug 2019 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article