As a part of an automobile suspension structure, fatigue durability performance
of the automotive stabilizer bar linkage is crucial to the safety and
reliability of the suspension system. In this study, the modeling and simulation
analysis methods of the stabilizer bar linkage were described in detail,
especially for the welded positions between the connecting rod and the spherical
shells (or sleeves).
Based on the equivalent structural stress method and the theory of critical
distances, damage values of welded positions in the stabilizer bar linkage were
solved. For the spherical shell end, the simulation reproduced the bench test;
and for the sleeve end, the analysis approach was determined by comparing in
several different modeling ways. Mooney-Rivlin model was adopted to fit the
constitutive relationship of rubber material in the bushing.
The above methods were applied to predict the fatigue durability performance of
the stabilizer bar linkage product, and the effectiveness was proved.