Mechanical Design And Laminate Optimization Of A Composite Suspension Control Arm With Experimental Validation

Official URL: https://risc01.sabanciuniv.edu/record=b3205838

In this study, one of the critical (load bearing) components of automobiles, i.e., the suspension control arm made of steel, is fully redesigned for its suitable manufacturing using composite materials. To this end, innovative mechanical simulation methods are developed and coupled to perform the design, analysis, and optimization of the automotive suspension control arm. The main design/optimization criteria are set to reduce the weight of the metal control arm by about 75% and increase its safety by about 60% by using composite materials and a new geometry suitable for mass production. To predict the deformation-stress state of the control arm, a four-node quadrilateral shell element is implemented based on the kinematics of refined zigzag theory (RZT). Once verified numerically, the computer implementation of the RZT is combined with the optimization algorithm to achieve the optimum laminate stacking sequence of the control arm. Accordingly, prototypes of the composite control arms with optimum lamination plans are manufactured and then experimentally tested under the loading and constraint conditions defined at the conceptual design stage. The numerical and full-scale experimental results are compared, and the RZT models are comprehensively validated. Hence, the advantages of the overarching design-analysis-optimization strategy presented herein are revealed for redesigning and manufacturing automobile parts from composite materials. This thesis also focuses on evaluating the structural health monitoring of a composite suspension arm using the inverse finite element method (iFEM), a real-time sensor-based system. Through experimental testing, this study demonstrates the iFEM's applicability to accurately predict structural deformations and damage localization of composite automotive control arms.