Automotive stamped part fatigue design

Abstract

Fatigue design of automotive axle parts is of prior concern because of these are high safety parts and they are expected to drive the overall vehicle mass reduction. In this framework, the stamping process is widely used to form axle parts, before assembling them by welding. Consequently, the mechanical and physical characteristics of the blank sheet are modified, having a strong influence on the fatigue behavior. In this paper, we address the consequences of the stamped process on the fatigue design and how they may be effectively taken into account in the automotive industry. Actually, the coupling between the stamping process and the fatigue design is under development at PSA Peugeot Citroën Company since several years. Such an analysis deals with some major topics: thickness variation, plastic hardening and deformation, and residual stress. All of these ingredients result in fatigue criteria evolutions: it is important to stress that the stamping process can have advantageous or disadvantageous consequences on the fatigue design. This is here highlighted on some examples, dealing with front and rear axles.