Fatigue optimization of shock absorber coupling rod bracket based on ARIZ and finite element analysis

Abstract

Coupling rod bracket, which responds for connecting shock absorbers to coupling rods, is one of safety related parts in vehicle suspensions. During vehicle maneuvering, coupling road bracket will suffer the dynamic load caused by uneven roads. Fatigue life bench test shows that the cracks around bracket holes are unacceptable, which is a security risk. Therefore, in this paper, ARIZ (Algorithm for Inventive Problem Solving) algorithm is employed to generate optimization schemes. Further, finite element analysis was applied to compare pre-optimized and optimized solutions, which will give the optimal solution of coupling rod bracket. Finally, fatigue life bench tests were carried out to verify the optimized shock absorber coupling rod bracket. Simulation results show that 39% reduction in stress concentration of the optimized coupling rod bracket can be realized based on the proposed optimization scheme. Experimental results show that the bracket crack is less than 5 mm which can eventually satisfy customer requirements. Research in this paper finally indicates the applicability and reliability of the proposed ARIZ and finite element based method in the actual production process.