Shape Optimization of a Front Suspension Fork According to the Axiom of Constant Stress

Applying the concept of the biological growth, a shape optimization of a front suspension fork was demonstrated. Through the optimization using a developed program system the weight reduction of the fork was possible without the increasing of its maximal stress. The boundary condition for the optimization of the fork results from the dynamic simulation of a total vehicle model. In the optimization process, the stress distributions in the fork under the given loading conditions are computed from ABAQUS code. Using these results, a growth simulation area can be defined as an input data for the optimization and the growth simulation continues using the developed program system until a predefined condition is satisfied. In the program system, the virtual temperature distribution is computed proportional to the stress distribution, and the growth simulation is carried out by thermal expansion. With the adequate definition of the growth areas and the growth directions the fork was optimized successfully under the given loading condition.