Title: Component restoring force identification for damage identification in vehicle suspension systems

Authors: Muhammad Haroon, Douglas E. Adams

Addresses: School of Mechanical Engineering, Purdue University, Ray W. Herrick Laboratories, 140 S. Intramural Drive, West Lafayette, IN 47907-2031, USA. ' School of Mechanical Engineering, Purdue University, Ray W. Herrick Laboratories, 140 S. Intramural Drive, West Lafayette, IN 47907-2031, USA

Abstract: This paper presents a methodology for detecting and tracking the progress of mechanical damage in vehicle suspension system components. The area entrained by restoring force diagrams is proportional to the magnitude of internal forces acting between two points of a system, and the shape indicates the type of internal force. Mechanical damage causes a change in the internal force distributions of a system and, hence, the area and shape of the restoring forces. Operating acceleration response data are used to generate the restoring force curves. Individual damage mechanisms are identified by their particular effects on the internal loads.

Keywords: load identification; internal loads; restoring forces; damage identification; suspension systems; full-vehicle tests; vehicle sub-system tests; vehicle suspensions; mechanical damage; suspension damage.

DOI: 10.1504/IJVSMT.2008.020617

International Journal of Vehicle Systems Modelling and Testing, 2008 Vol.3 No.1/2, pp.25 - 46

Published online: 03 Oct 2008 *

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