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The suspension system in a vehicle isolates the frame and body from road shocks and vibrations which would otherwise be transferred to the passengers and goods. Heavier goods vehicles use tandem axles at the rear for load carrying. Both the axles should be inter-connected to eliminate overloading of any one axle when this goes over a bump or a ditch. One of the inter-connecting mechanism used is leaf spring with tie rod, bell crank & linkages, when the first rear axle moves over a bump, the linkages equalize the loading on the second rear axle. This paper details about the failure analysis methodology to simulate the tie rod field failure using a six poster road simulator and to identify the root cause of the failure and further corrective actions.

The durability of the components in a vehicle plays one of the major roles in its life cycle cost. The powertrain mount is one such component since its rubber characteristics have significant impact on the vehicle's NVH and fatigue life. This paper presents the enhanced durability benefits obtained by changing the polymer composition, manufacturing methods and design optimization of a powertrain mount for an off-road commercial vehicle. The methodology involved characterization[2] of the existing mount, arriving a new compound formulation, making of prototypes, experimental validation for durability[3] and repeatability in the laboratory combined with rigorous on field vehicle trials. NVH measurements were also carried out on the improved mounts. The above exhaustive exercise resulted in the development of a comprehensively far better mount than an existing mount with improved durability without compromise on NVH properties.

Automotive sheet metal components involve complex geometry and large surface areas. In addition to complex geometry, thrust for reduction of the new product development cycle demands for virtual simulation before prototyping. However in order to validate the simulation parameters, the numerical model needs to be experimentally verified. Conventional strain measurement techniques like Mylar tape, Traveling microscope are tedious and error prone for sheet metal forming analysis. Recently, optical strain measurement techniques are being used in sheet metal forming industry. Through this, strain measurement is more accurate, less time consuming and repeatable. This paper discusses a case study in which the analysis results of an automotive sheet metal component are experimentally validated by circular grid analysis using an optical strain measurement method. The circular grids are marked in the sheet metal blanks by screen-printing.