Determination of the Structural Member Life Cycle without Undergoing Complete Testing Using CAE Input for an Improved Design after Failure Correlation

This case study involves the failure analysis of the wheel arch structure for a commercial truck. The wheel arch is an important vehicle trim aggregate from both the regulatory perspective (spray suppression) as well as from the aesthetics of the truck. But, the durability of this part is affected by the vehicle architecture, vehicle load capacity as well as the operating conditions. This is more critical due to the nature of the overhang experienced by the mounting bracket assemblies that hold these wheel arches/mud flaps. This generally consist of tubular and sheet metal welded structures bolted on to the main chassis long members. These failures were observed in a legacy vehicle, where very little details of the complete vehicle digital simulation and testing performance were readily available.

This paper deals with the

• identification of the root cause of the failure
• simulation of the root cause in CAE
• improvement in design
• CAE evaluation of improved design
• Correlation of the failure and improvement in design using physical testing and
• durability and life cycle evaluation of the improved design without undergoing the complete cycle of durability testing within a short time to facilitate implementation of the improved design and arrest the field failure.
• This paper will deal with specific focus on the correlation of the failure as well as improvement of the design in physical testing and conclusion within a very limited period short duration using the CAE and physical evaluation input.