The vehicle weight and alternative light materials development like aluminum alloys are hot issues around the world. In order to obtain the goal of the weight reduction of automobiles, the researches about lighter and stronger suspension links have been studies without sacrificing the safety of automotive components. Therefore, in present study, the structure analysis of the torque strut links made by aluminum alloys (A356) was performed by using CAE (computer aided engineering) to investigate the light weight design process from the reference of the rear suspension torque strut link which was made by STKM11A steel and was already proven in the commercial market. Especially, the simulated maximum von Mises stresses after strength analysis were normalized as fatigue limit and these were converted to the WF (weight factor) of the same type as the fatigue safety factor suggested and named like that in present study. From these, it was suggested that the fatigue properties of the torque strut could be simply predicted only from this static CAE simulation.

• 김기주(Department of Mechatronics Engineering, Tongmyung University) | Kee-Joo Kim Corresponding Author