Title: Design of an automotive short-long arm suspension for misuse impact

Authors: Paola Forte, Andrea Pratesi

Addresses: Dipartimento Ingegneria Meccanica Nucleare e della Produzione, University of Pisa, Via Diotisalvi 2, 56126 Pisa, Italy. Dipartimento Ingegneria Meccanica Nucleare e della Produzione, University of Pisa, Via Diotisalvi 2, 56126 Pisa, Italy.

Abstract: The object of this work is the outline of a procedure for the first stages of design of a short-long arm (SLA) suspension so as to satisfy misuse impact requirements, such as high energy absorption and low load transmission to the rest of the vehicle structure. In particular, some characteristics of the components of the suspension are defined in order to promote the formation of plastic hinges in definite places during impact and have the required energy absorption and wheel displacement before any rupture occurs. The procedure is applied to a particular suspension producing a schematic design of a new structure which satisfies the impact requirements.

Keywords: automotive suspension; impact; design; finite element method; FEM.

DOI: 10.1504/IJVD.2003.003353

International Journal of Vehicle Design, 2003 Vol.31 No.4, pp.392 - 407

Published online: 08 Oct 2003 *

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