Fatigue life evaluation of an Automobile front axle

Abstract

An axle is a central shaft for rotating wheel or gear. It is the important part of the vehicle. The axle maybe fixed to the wheels, rotating with them or fixed to its surrounding, with the wheels rotating around the axle. Basically there are two types of axles, front and rear. Frontal axle is important and critical part of the vehicle as it carries steering load, impact load, engine load and most of the vehicle curb weigh (60%). Hence it is important to study the design and structural integrity of front axle and how it will impact on the engine life and driver. The present work is to focus on structural analysis of front axle using FEA approach blended with the classical approach for preliminary design considerations and loading conditions. The approach of the problem is divided into two parts, primarily the design considerations of fatigue load condition and preliminary design of frontal axle. Secondly, finite element analysis and simulation of frontal axle is carried out to verify the preliminary design considerations at essential stage using FEA software.