Steering Knuckle Analysis
Steering Knuckle Analysis
Steering Knuckle Analysis
Research Article
Mechanical Engineering Department, Vishwakarma Institute of Technology, 666, Upper Indira Nagar, Pune-37, India
Accepted 02 March 2016, Available online 15 March 2016, Special Issue-4 (March 2016)
Abstract
In a Formula Student Car or in any car as such, the part that connects the main frame of the body with the wheels
through suspension arms is known as the Wheel Assembly. It is a part of the Final drive as well. While designing and
developing any automobile the designing of the wheel assembly is critical. It is due to the reason that a lot of forces
are acting on the wheel assembly during accelerating, braking, cornering and tilting. Furthermore, the Wheel
Assembly is an important part of an automobile and its failure is hazardous endangering human life. Therefore is
required to design the Wheel Assembly and its components considering all the factors leading to the failure by
developing a safe Design. It must also be noted that, the components must be designed in such a way that they have a
minimum weight at the same time care must be taken that they do not cross a certain limit of stress value. In this
Paper the Complete Design Procedure of the Wheel Assembly for R12 Rims with wet Tires (16560) has been
presented along with optimization of the same components. The weight of the Vehicle is considered to be 300 kg
along with the driver. The paper illustrates the forces acting on the components, the failure criteria and the
optimization of the components. Optimization has been carried out by doing analysis of the components in Hyper
mesh. The paper deals with finding out the dimensions of the individual components and also detecting the probable
regions of stress concentration. The Wheel Assembly designed in the paper is of Team Veloce, VIT, Pune. The design
procedure follows all the rules laid down by FSAE Rule Book for Formula Type Cars.
Keywords: Yield Strength, Factor of safety, Load transfer, stress concentration, mesh, element size, analysis.
always to find the best possible and suitable 99% and above of all the elements generated in the
dimension. This is because optimization does not meshing pass the following parameter.
always mean reducing dimensions it also means
finding out the dimensions which will just enough to 2. Components of Wheel Assembly.
sustain the forces.
As shown in the figure the Wheel Assembly consists of
Here in this case, R12 rims have been used along with
the following Components.
16560 wet tires. The Weight of the vehicle is
considered to be 300 kg along with the driver. All the
1) Spindle-(1)
forces have been found out on the above basis and
according to the above mentioned Wheels. The Wheel 2) Knuckle-(1)
Assembly designed in the paper is of Team Veloce, VIT, 3) Hub-(1)
Pune. The design procedure follows all the rules laid 4) Bearings
down by FSAE Rule Book for Formula Type Cars. a. Taper Roller Bearing- Front-(2)
b. Deep Groove Ball Bearing-Rear-(1)
The analysis is done on Hyper works.
5) Nut-(1)
While generating the mesh proximity and curvature 6) Cotter/Split Pin-(1)
feature is used which is used to generate more amount
of nodes at bends and cavities. Before understanding the procedure it is important to
The above feature is helpful as stress concentration understand how all these components are assembled.
tends to accumulate more in regions of bends and Firstly the spindle is take. The Knuckle is press fitted
cavities.
on the spindle. Then the spacer between the knuckle
Table 1 Parameters of mesh elements and hub is either slide fitted of=r press fitted on the
spindle in order to accommodate the caliper. After
Parameter Size wards the inner race of the bearing is press fitted on
the spindle. The hub is taken and the outer race of the
Minimum Element Size 0.4mm bearing is press fitted in the hub. Then the hub is
Feature Angle 30
positioned on the bearing and then the second
bearings inner race is press fitted on the spindle. Then
Element Size 2mm the nut is tightened on the spindle and a split pin is
inserted into the hole made in spindle for positively
locking the Wheel Assembly.
The mesh generated is a tetra mesh.
2D Type Trias
3D Type Tetras
Aspect >5.00
Warpage >5.00
Skew >60.00
Jacobian <0.7
Fig.2 Wheel Assembly View-2
308| MIT College of Engineering, Pune, India, AMET 2016, INPRESSCO IJCET Special Issue-4 (March 2016)
Joijode Vrushabh Umesh et al. Designing and Optimization of Wheel Assembly of a Formula Student Car
Caster Angle: - 50
Lower A-arm angle: - 3.1930 Fig.7 Effect of King Pin and Caster on Length
309| MIT College of Engineering, Pune, India, AMET 2016, INPRESSCO IJCET Special Issue-4 (March 2016)
Joijode Vrushabh Umesh et al. Designing and Optimization of Wheel Assembly of a Formula Student Car
Force due to weight of the vehicle = 87.5 9.81 = The allowable shear stress = = 109
858.375 N
N/mm2
Let us consider this weight to be 1000 N.
Now,
b. Bump force on the tire
d3 =
d3 = [1]
d = 18.35 mm 20 mm
Ra + Rb =1000-1350
Ra + Rb = - 350 N
Fig.10 FEM Analysis of Spindle
Equating the moments about point A =0
3.4 Design of Knuckle
- (1350 15) (Rb 30) + (1000 55) = 0
Knuckle is that part of the wheel assembly which is
Rb = 1158.33N press fitted on the spindle and the A-arms are also
mounted on the Knuckle. Besides the knuckle also
Ra + 1158.33N = - 350 N
serves the function of providing mounting to the Brake
Ra = -1508.33N Caliper. The Steering Arm which is used to connect the
wheel assembly and the tie rod is also mounted on the
After reconsidering the force diagram comes out be as knuckle. Thus due to all these mountings, there are a
shown in figure lot of forces acting on the knuckle. The Knuckle as such
is subjected to completely reversed types of stress
Now, while turning from one turn to the other and also
during braking and accelerating. Thus a brittle
Moment about D= 0
material is not at suitable for this application. Thus
Moment about B= (1000 25) = 25000 N-mm taking a tensile material called Aluminum 7075 T6. It
has high strength to weight ratio. Thus with much
Moment about C= (1000 40) (1160 15) = 22600 lower weight one can produce strong knuckles. The
N-mm Endurance limit of this material is much more than
that of other aluminum series. The material properties
Moment about A= (1000 550) (1160 30) (1350 are as follows:-
15) = -50 N-mm
Syt = 503 N/mm2 [3]
From above it is clearly seen that the maximum
bending moment is at point B, thus Mb= 25000N-mm Endurance Limit = 160 N/mm2 [3]
311| MIT College of Engineering, Pune, India, AMET 2016, INPRESSCO IJCET Special Issue-4 (March 2016)
Joijode Vrushabh Umesh et al. Designing and Optimization of Wheel Assembly of a Formula Student Car
3.4.1 Determining the forces acting on the Knuckle: Force 2 = 1165.82 sin (8.556) = 173.44 N
The forces acting on the spindle are as follows But the force on steering arm =1165.52 N (v)
Let the mass at the rear side of the vehicle be 0.6 times d. Forces on the caliper mounting points due to
the total weight torque
Mass at the rear side of the vehicle=0.6 300 =180 The radius for the upper and lower caliper mount
kg points are 89.13 mm and 60.233 mm. The maximum
Force = 180 9.81 force will be at minimum radius. Hence consider the
force on the lower arm.
Force = 1765.8 N
Force (lower) = = = 2158.28 N (vi)
Now force on 1 wheel =1765.8/2 =882.9 N
3.4.2 Drawing the Free Body Diagram
Thus Longitudinal Force =882.9 N (ii)
Drawing the Free Body Diagram (FBD) gives an idea
b. Lateral Forces: -
about the forces acting on the component
Lateral forces are because of two reasons centrifugal simultaneously.
force and lateral load transfer from outside to inside
while turning. The centrifugal force is considered as
follows
The bolts are standard parts and have a defined value The force acting on the Steering arm is given by the
of yield strength. All bolts used in the Wheel Assembly result (v)
are made up of a minimum of 8.8 Grade.
Now,
Syt = 580 N/mm2 [3]
Factor of Safety = 2
( )
= 2.37mm Now,
The force acting on the caliper bolt is given by the b= distance between the hole and the end of bracket
result (vi)
Now,
( )
= 4.3533 mm
= /0.8
Shear Stress on the bolts = = Lateral Shear Failure of the Knuckle Bracket
= 145 N/mm2
313| MIT College of Engineering, Pune, India, AMET 2016, INPRESSCO IJCET Special Issue-4 (March 2016)
Joijode Vrushabh Umesh et al. Designing and Optimization of Wheel Assembly of a Formula Student Car
b= width of knuckle
t b = 2.7634
Where,
t b3 = 905.821
t= thickness of one plate of bracket
If t= 16mm b = 3.84 mm
b= distance between the hole and the end of bracket
But here it is also important to understand that the
spindle will be fitting in the knuckle thus for this
reason the width of knuckle is taken as 50mm at the
center and would then decrease to 40 mm till the end.
Mb = 1388.77 0.5 86
Thus for practical reasons the width of bracket in
lateral direction is taken to be 10 mm Mb = 59717.11 N-mm
The thickness of the bracket is taken as 6 mm Now,
Bending Failure of Knuckle By Flexural Equation,
Bending due to Longitudinal Force
314| MIT College of Engineering, Pune, India, AMET 2016, INPRESSCO IJCET Special Issue-4 (March 2016)
Joijode Vrushabh Umesh et al. Designing and Optimization of Wheel Assembly of a Formula Student Car
If t= 16mm b = 0.3478 mm and the knuckle Thus bending moment in such cases is
taken to be
But here it is also important to understand that the
spindle will be fitting in the knuckle thus for this Mb = 1165 50
reason the width of knuckle is taken as 50mm at the
center and would then decrease to 40 mm till the end. Mb = 58250 N-mm
t b = 4.6322
Where, t b3 = 1389.66
Fig.21 Analysis 5
Fig.17 Analysis 1
From the above analysis results, it was concluded that
material must be reduced from the less stress
concentration areas. Thus by step by step reeducation
in material it was made sure that the design was of low
weight with stresses under the permissible limit, thus
creating an optimized Design.
cornering. Thus it becomes important to used taper The Force acting on each hole = =
roller bearing which can sustain radial as well as axial
forces. Furthermore one must use 2 taper roller = 879.86 N (viii)
bearings in order to cancel out the forces. Otherwise
there would be unbalancing of the forces.
c. Force due to Side Impact: -
This is not the case in Rear Wheels. In rear wheels
there are centrifugal forces acting, but the wheels are If the vehicle is banged by other vehicle from side or if
subjected to high speeds and torques. Taper roller
the vehicle has a collision with the fencing from side,
bearing is incapable of sustaining such high speeds
and torques. Deep groove ball bearing can sustain such there are chances that the petals might bend. Hence
high speeds and torques and hence at rear side deep this side impact force must also be considered.
groove ball bearing has been used. Besides, it is not at
all necessary to used 2 deep groove ball bearings, one Here the side Impact force is taken to be 2G = 2 g
is also sufficient. vehicle mass
The type of arrangement used is back-to-back. The
radial forces on the bearings are 700 N and 634 N. Also Impact force = 2 9.81 300 = 5886 N
the radial force acting on the bearing is 1388 N.
According to the calculations done with reference to Impact force on 1 petal = 8829/3 = 1962 N (ix)
the manufacturers catalog [2], it was found that the
bearing 32004X_Q is suitable for the front wheel
assembly, as its value of C is less than 22900 N.
The Specifications of the bearing [2] are d. Loads on Bearing: -
3.6.1 Determining the forces acting on the Hub: - Fig.22 Free Body Diagram
A torque of 130 Nm is acting on the Brake Disk Petal. Selection of Wheel Bolt
317| MIT College of Engineering, Pune, India, AMET 2016, INPRESSCO IJCET Special Issue-4 (March 2016)
Joijode Vrushabh Umesh et al. Designing and Optimization of Wheel Assembly of a Formula Student Car
= 2.99 mm
= /0.8 t b = 3.5
= 2.99/0.8 Where,
Also in the rim there is a provision of M12 Bolt. Hence b= distance between the hole and the end of petal
selecting bolt of M12. If t = 8mm b= 0.475 mm
Selection of Brake Disk Bolt Thus the width of the petal is taken to be 7mm
Shear Stress on the bolts = = The thickness of the petal is taken as 8 mm.
The force acting on the Wheel Bolt is given by the This bending is due to the force of 880 N. The radius of
result (viii) effective bending is 49.25 mm
Mb = 880 49.25
Now,
Mb = 43340 N-mm
( ) Now,
= /0.8
= 2.99/0.8
= = = 251.5 N/mm2
= 3.74mm y= 2b/2
2b=d
Thus selecting the bolt size of M8. I=
b= width of knuckle
Allowable stress in the Hub in shear =
= = 125.75 N/mm2
y= t/2 Where,
I=
t= thickness of Wheel Petal
Where,
b= distance between the hole and the end of petal
t= thickness of petal
If t = 5mm b = 0.35 mm
b= width of petal =27 mm as found from above
Thus the width of the petal is taken to be 5mm.
calculation
The thickness of the petal is taken as 6mm.
Mb = 1962 25.25
Mb = 49540.5 N-mm
Fig.25 Hub Analysis 1
Now,
By Flexural Equation,
Force acting on Petal as obtained from result (vii) is
880 N
Now,
t = 6.61mm
Besides the stress concentration in the optimized carried out in order to obtain actual stresses
design was less. induced in the component.
5) For accurate results of analysis, mesh quality must
Table 3 Checking Parameters be high and failing elements must be less than 3%.
6) As spindle serves as a component on which the
Stress Endurance Factor of
Part assembly is press fitted, its factor of safety is taken
Induced Strength Safety
high.
Knuckle 115 160 1.4
References
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