Title: Failure prediction for automotive suspension springs using Gaussian and Monte Carlo method

Authors: F.R.M. Romlay, H. Ouyang, M.K. Nizam

Addresses: Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Universiti Malaysia Pahang, Lebuhraya Tun Razak, 26300 Kuantan Pahang, Malaysia. ' School of Engineering, University of Liverpool, The Quadrangle, Liverpool L69 3GH, UK. ' Sapura Technical Centre, No 11, Jalan P/1, Seksyen 13, Bangi Industrial Zone, 43650 Bandar Baru Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia

Abstract: This research presents the modelling of fatigue crack propagation in order to predict the fatigue life of automotive suspension coil springs. Two types of coil spring are analysed, which have a single pigtail and a double pigtail, respectively. Stress analysis is conducted using the Finite Element Method (FEM) in order to identify the distribution of stress intensity factor, a parameter that depends on the component geometry, the crack size and location, and the load applied. The fracture toughness is set as the failure criterion for the crack to be generated. The crack is initialised and the propagation of the crack is randomly defined by the probabilistic approach of Gaussian-Monte Carlo method. The Gaussian-Monte Carlo results are further used for predicting the life cycle of the coil spring, and this is the major contribution of this research.

Keywords: crack propagation; fatigue; Monte Carlo simulation; Gaussian method; FEM; finite element method; failure prediction; vehicle suspensions; suspension springs; coil springs; automotive suspension; stress analysis; fracture toughness; vehicle design.

DOI: 10.1504/IJVD.2011.038045

International Journal of Vehicle Design, 2011 Vol.55 No.1, pp.23 - 34

Published online: 10 Apr 2015 *

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