Effect of Variation in Suspension Spring Stiffness on the Fatigue Life of CAR BIW

The primary objective of the suspension is to offer an excellent ride and handling characteristics. At the same time, it also plays important role in deciding the fatigue life of the car body in white (BIW). This study was performed to evaluate the effect of variation in one of the suspension parameter i.e. spring stiffness on the fatigue life of monoquoque car BIW.

One car model with a set of tuned suspension was chosen for this study as a base model. Spring stiffness was varied to have three different combinations including reference spring stiffness value, while keeping other suspension parameters constant.

With each combination of spring stiffness, the road load measurements, data analysis and FEA analysis was carried out to analyze how the fatigue life of the Car BIW varies with respect to the suspension spring stiffness.