EXPERIMENTAL-ANALYSIS OF A COMPOSITE AUTOMOTIVE SUSPENSION ARM

In applications where weight saving and parts integration can be achie ved, the Rover Group has been investigating the design and manufacture of components from composite materials. The methods used in the diffe rent steps in the design-to-manufacture cycle in the high volume autom otive industry are relatively well known for a steel component, but ar e not so well established for a composite component. A design methodol ogy for composites has been emerging in which a principal procedure is design analysis. One of the most established methods of analysis is t hat using the finite element technique, and this is being supplemented with experimental tests on prototypes using photoelastic analysis and stress pattern analysis by thermal emission, coupled with conventiona l strain gauge monitoring. Little work has been undertaken to correlat e the results obtained from these different test methods and to compar e the results with measurements made on an actual component. This pape r presents some of the work undertaken concerning the analysis and tes ting of a composite automotive suspension arm. The results obtained fr om the three different analysis techniques are compared with experimen tal test results, and their accuracy is discussed.