Nowadays, Road Load Simulators are used by automobile companies to reproduce the accurate and multi axial stresses in test parts to simulate the real loading conditions. The road conditions are simulated in lab by measuring the customer usage data by sensors like Wheel Force transducers, accelerometers, displacement sensors and strain gauges on the vehicle body and suspension parts. The acquired data is simulated in lab condition by generating ‘drive file’ using the response of the above mentioned sensors. Due to non- linear nature of the vehicle parts, transmissibility of load is a complex phenomenon.
Due to this complex transmissibility, good simulation at wheel center does not always ensure good correlation at all vehicle locations. The low level of correlation is common at the locations like engine mount, horn bracket and other overhanging brackets which are away from the wheel center. However, during countermeasure evaluation for vehicle development, often it becomes essential to simulate failure at this kind of low correlation zones.
In this paper, an experimental approach was applied for focused failure simulation of engine mount which is one of such low correlation zone with a known failure history. A methodology was established to simulate proving ground loads on engine mount along with the simulation of loads at wheel center using a 4 corner 6 DOF road load simulator. Simulation result was verified by conducting the endurance run on test rig and matching the nature of failure on test rig with the actual failure history. Repeatability of the failure was also ensured using the same simulation model.