Design of a light weight suspension component using CAE

In this paper, a design procedure for the optimized light weight front cross member, which is a sub frame of the car chassis, without sacrificing basic functional requirements is presented. As the first step, optimal structural integrity was calculated and extracted using a CAE technique with the available volume constraint of the package layout. Quantitative design loads for the cross member was achieved by measurement. Dynamic load analysis using ADAMS was also performed to determine the loads. Later, these calculated loads were applied to the FEM stress analysis of the cross member. Furthermore, durability analysis was also performed using load profile database measured from 'Hyundai Motor Co. Proving Ground'. Four constant amplitude durability tests and two static tests were performed on the cross member prototypes to confirm design reliability. Condensation signals that were filtered and edited from measured random signals from actual driving condition made constant amplitude durability test possible. All prototypes satisfied the test requirements. From the results of this optimization process, up to 30% weight reduction was achieved, and the number of parts was reduced from 19 to 9.