Fatigue design and testing of automotive stabilizer bars

Abstract

Stabilisers are components of the axle suspension system of cars trucks, trains and other moving road vehicles that connect the movement of the two sides of the suspension (right and left) to keep the vehicle levelled. Stabilizers experience bending and torsion at operation. In particular, their arms experience bending while the main body mainly torsional loading. In both cases, the highly stressed area is the surface, where the maximum tensile and shear stresses are acting. High strength steels and special treatments, thermal and/or mechanical, are used for the stabilisers’ manufacturing. The present study deals with necessary input data for fatigue life assessments based on the FKM guideline [1]. In addition, fatigue tests are conducted to calculate the stress-life curves of two different manufacturing processes.