Search

The purpose of this study is to investigate the uncertainty of the design variables of a front suspension lower control arm under fatigue-loading circumstances to estimate a reliable and robust product. This study offers a method for systematic uncertainty quantification (UQ), and the following steps were taken to achieve this: First, a finite element model was built to predict the fatigue life of the control arm under bump-loading conditions. Second, a sensitivity scheme, based on one of the global analyses, was developed to identify the model's most and least significant design input variables. Third, physics-based and data-driven uncertainty quantification schemes were employed to quantify the model's input parameter uncertainties via a Monte Carlo simulation. The simulations were conducted using 10,000 samples of material properties and geometrical uncertainty variables, with the coefficients of variation ranging from 1 to 3%. Finally, the confidence interval results show a deviation of about 21.74% from the mean (the baseline). As a result, by applying systematic UQ, a more reliable and robust automobile suspension control arm can be designed during the early stages of design to produce a more efficient and better approximation of fatigue life under uncertain conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The composite material has been widely used in vehicle interiors, particularly in applications such as the wall-side panels of railways. The sandwich honeycomb composite, which combines two composite skins with a metal honeycomb, is the preferred structure in aerospace and railway applications due to its rigidity at minimal weight. As a functional composite material that provides heat flux to passengers, a multilayer sandwich Nomex honeycomb core composite with heating elements has been developed. In this design, the heating element is inserted into the inner composite material as a heat generation component, producing heat transferred to the other side of the panel. The thermal and structural behaviors of the sandwich composite with heating elements are orthotropic and require careful assessment to understand the material characteristics of the developed composite parts. In this study, conduction heat transfer in the functional honeycomb composite is simulated using the Finite Element Method (FEM) and validated with experimental results. The study proposes three steps to solve the problem: determining the heat-transfer parameters, simplifying the Nomex honeycomb core, and conducting a full-scale heat-transfer simulation. This research aids operating systems in controlling the heat generator input to prevent dangerous conditions. The results indicate that the simulation trends closely align with the experimental results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]