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Experimental durability assessment and life prediction of vehicle suspension components: A case study of steering knuckles
M Zoroufi and A Fatemi Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part D: Journal of Automobile Engineering 2006 220: 1565 DOI: 10.1243/09544070JAUTO310 The online version of this article can be found at: http://pid.sagepub.com/content/220/11/1565

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Experimental durability assessment and life prediction of vehicle suspension components: a case study of steering knuckles
M Zorou1 and A Fatemi2* 1Department of Mechanical Engineering, Iran University of Science and Technology, Tehran, Iran 2Department of Mechanical, Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering, University of Toledo, Toledo, Ohio, USA The manuscript was received on 13 March 2006 and was accepted after revision for publication on 20 July 2006. DOI: 10.1243/09544070JAUTO310

Abstract: The recent emphasis on more reliable life predictions for fatigue-critical parts in ground vehicles would result in a reduction in costly and time-consuming traditional component testing practices. This paper aims at implementing experimental and predictive durability approaches to vehicle suspension components. Forged steel and cast aluminium steering knuckles were chosen as typical components. The fatigue behaviours of components were investigated via constant-amplitude load-controlled fatigue tests. Finite element models of the knuckles were analysed using linear and non-linear methods. Nominal stress, local stress, and local strain life prediction approaches were employed and compared with experimental results to evaluate the accuracy and validity of these approaches. The strengths and shortcomings of the applied models and the alternative analysis techniques are discussed. It is shown that among the contemporary life prediction procedures used in the automotive industry, the local strain approach in conjunction with the plasticity-corrected simple elastic analysis procedure yields reasonable life predictions that are typical of more complex and much more time-consuming non-linear analysis. A number of complexities such as material property variability, variable-amplitude and multiaxial loadings, manufacturing parameters, and environmental eects on durability assessment are also discussed. Keywords: steering knuckle, nominal stress approach, local stress approach, local strain approach, fatigue life prediction, suspension component

1 INTRODUCTION More emphasis on cost reduction and optimization for fuel eciency in the automotive industry has resulted in more intense eorts in fatigue life prediction technologies in recent years. Durability evaluation of components based on experimental assessments is time-consuming and expensive, so life prediction approaches that include a limited number of component verication tests have gained more attention. Life predictions could be obtained using four dierent approaches: the nominal stress life approach, the local strainlife approach, the fatigue crack growth approach, or a combination of
* Corresponding author: Department of Mechanical, Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering, University of Toledo, 2801 W. Bancroft St, Toledo, Ohio 43606, USA. email: afatemi@ eng.utoledo.edu

the third approach with either the rst or the second approach. Since these approaches use material data, a problem that arises at the fatigue design stage of such components is the transferability of data from smooth specimens to the component. The component geometry, loading, and manufacturing process parameters such as surface conditions often deviate from those of the specimen investigated. In addition, neither a nominal stress nor a notch factor can be dened for complex geometries. An advantage of component testing is that the eects of material, manufacturing process parameters, and geometry are inherently accounted for, albeit synergistically. While the nominal stress approach may fall short owing to complexity of geometry and loading in many cases, the local stress or strain approach has been commonly used in the automotive industry. In addition, cyclic ductility should be considered when
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designing components subjected to occasional overloads, particularly for notched components, where cyclic plastic deformation can be signicant. This is typical of suspension components, such as the steering knuckle, which are considered as fatigue-critical parts and are usually designed on the basis of the safe-life criterion. A procedure practised in durability analysis was described by Conle and Chu [1]. This procedure uses strainlife material fatigue data, a three-dimensional stressstrain constitutive model, and a multiaxial fatigue damage model based on the critical plane approach. In the critical plane approach, fatigue damage is evaluated on all material planes and the plane with the highest damage is identied as the failure or critical plane. After the complex load history was reduced to a uniaxial (elastic) stress history for each critical element, they used a Neuber plasticity correction method to correct for plastic behaviour. Sonsino et al. [2] performed constant- and variableamplitude fatigue tests on induction-hardened steel automatic transmission shafts in order to evaluate safety reserves of the shafts and to apply and compare several selected methods to assess fatigue life. They concluded that the data and criteria required to make a reliable prediction of fatigue life include the SN curve of the component, on the basis of local stresses/strains, and the inuences of geometry, material, surface condition, and residual stresses on fatigue behaviour. In addition, at the critical areas (i.e. potential failure locations) the material condition (i.e. hardened or not), the mean stress modication model used, the cyclic stressstrain curves for the particular material condition, and local (equivalent) strains or stresses all aect fatigue life and predictions. Blarasin and Farsetti [3] adopted a model that utilizes the fatigue properties of the material from specimen testing, the nominal load history, and notch factors to predict fatigue life of similar steering knuckles made from quenched and tempered and microalloyed steels. They assumed that the fatigue behaviour of the component is equivalent to that of the smooth specimen with respect to material properties, metallurgical structure, and surface conditions, subject to a stress history corresponding to that acting in the critical zone of the component. The local behaviour of the material was described by utilizing the cyclic stressstrain curve. The damage parameter utilized was the SmithWatsonTopper (SWT) parameter. Component bench tests were performed by subjecting the component to a time history of the primary load. The results showed
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that predictions overestimate fatigue life for the quenched and tempered steel knuckle while they underestimate fatigue life for the micro-alloyed steel knuckle. They attributed the discrepancy to an underestimate of the stress concentration factor value as well as to dierences between the microstructures of the components and the specimens. Complexity of loading, plastic deformation due to overloads, and the inuence of manufacturing process parameters in fatigue assessment of the steering knuckle were emphasized by Diboine [4]. It was indicated that the loading condition in service is non-proportional, multiaxial, variable amplitude, and much more complex than for engine components. In Diboines work, the loading was simplied to two block loadings called normal and accidental, the levels of which were dened such that the same damage values from the track load recordings with respect to the loading conditions were obtained. The accidental block was found to represent only a few percent of the total number of cycles, but it is important to fatigue analysis as it is usually very close to plastic loading. The commercial software evaluated for this component gave less accurate predictions when the loading was a mixture of elastoplastic and fully elastic deformation cycles. Modelling the residual stresses under variable-amplitude loading, the surface eects, the manufacturing process, and formulating fatigue criteria for both intermediate and innite lives with provision for overloads were cited as a number of problems not fully solved. In an application of the local strain approach, Lee et al. [5] developed a methodology quantitatively to assess the fatigue lives of automotive structures and to identify critical and non-damaging areas for design enhancement and weight reduction. An MS-3760A cast iron steering knuckle was the example component in their study. The methodology used combined the loadtime history le with results from elastic nite element analysis (FEA) to estimate fatigue lives. The dierences between observed and predicted lives in the inelastic range for fore/aft and lateral loading tests were found to be factors of 3.9 and 1.4 of the fatigue life respectively. Simple and practical, yet accurate and reliable, fatigue life prediction has been a very desirable but challenging task in the automotive industry. The overall goal has been to replace the common practice of extensive component testing used as a design development tool with much more limited and selective component testing used as a design and analysis verication tool. A reliable and robust life prediction methodology also facilitates component
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optimization with regard to geometry, material, and manufacturing process, without resorting to extensive prototype testing. This is particularly important considering the current emphasis on cost reduction and optimization for fuel eciency. The objective of the present study was therefore to assess contemporary durability analysis procedures used in the ground vehicle industry and evaluate their predictive capability by comparing against experimentally obtained component fatigue test results. Steering knuckles with very dierent geometries, materials, and manufacturing processes, consisting of forged steel (SAE grade 11V37) and cast aluminium (ASTM A356-T6), were chosen as typical vehicle suspension components. However, the methodologies used for the analyses performed and the component tests conducted can be implemented for other similar components. In this paper, rstly the experimental programme, already discussed in detail in reference [6], is briey reviewed. Then details of the FEA are explained, followed by description and implementation of the fatigue life prediction approaches used. Fatigue lives based on the life prediction models are compared with the results of component fatigue tests, and the strengths and weaknesses of the applied methodologies are discussed.

2 EXPERIMENTAL PROGRAMME Specimen and component fatigue tests were conducted on the two materials and components respectively. For specimen testing, identical at

plate specimens with square cross-sections and uniform gauge length were machined from the steering knuckles and tested. The eect of geometrical direction was considered where the forged steel knuckle was found to have superior fatigue properties in the primary stressing direction. The specimen tests included monotonic and strain-controlled fatigue tests. Table 1 summarizes the monotonic and cyclic properties of the two materials. These properties are used in life predictions of the knuckles. The bending momentlife behaviour of the components was evaluated in constant-amplitude loadcontrolled fatigue tests. The component test set-up was designed considering the service conditions within the suspension system of the vehicle, the primary loading and restraint conditions, and the critical stressed areas obtained from FEA. Figure 1 shows the simulated models of the components and their test arrangements. The component tests were performed at four bending moment levels with bending moment ratios R (M /M ) near zero. min max Variation in displacement amplitude was monitored and failure initiation was considered to be a marked displacement amplitude increase, while fracture preceded with a sudden displacement amplitude increase. These two instances could not be dierentiated for the forged steel knuckle, which indicates that a short time lag existed between the crack nucleation and fracture. This was not the case for the cast aluminium knuckle, where crack growth life was a signicant portion of its fatigue life. Table 2 presents the component test data. The highest bending moment levels used are typical of overloads in

Table 1 Summary of mechanical properties of the materials investigated [6]

Forged steel 11V37
Monotonic properties Modulus of elasticity, E (GPa) Yield strength (0.2% oset), S (MPa) y Ultimate strength, S (MPa) u Percent elongation, %EL (%) Percent reduction in area, %RA (%) Strength coecient, K (MPa) Strain hardening exponent, n True fracture strength, s (MPa) f True fracture ductility, e (%) f Cyclic and fatigue properties Cyclic modulus of elasticity, E (GPa) Cyclic strength coecient, K (MPa) Cyclic strain hardening exponent, n Cyclic yield strength, S (MPa) y Fatigue strength coecient, s (MPa) f Fatigue strength exponent, b Fatigue ductility coecient, e f Fatigue ductility exponent, c Fatigue strength, S , at 106 cycles (MPa) f 201 556 821 21 37 1347 0.157 496 47 195 1269 0.137 541 1157 0.082 3.032 0.791 352

Cast aluminium A356-T6

78 232 302 5 10 418 0.095 301 10 73 430 0.063 291 666 0.117 0.094 0.61 122

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Fig. 1 Simulated models of the components and test arrangements: (a) forged steel steering knuckle; (b) cast aluminium steering knuckle Table 2 Component test data of forged steel and cast aluminium steering knuckles investigated
N f crack nucleation (cycle)
Forged steel * * * * * * * Cast aluminium 15 000 35 000 292 000 190 000 393 000 278 000

M max (N m)
1515 1515 1240 965 965 965 825 2230 2230 1595 1595 1305 1195

M a (N m)
720 720 585 445 445 445 380 1075 1075 755 755 615 560

R ratio
0.05 0.05 0.06 0.07 0.07 0.07 0.08 0.04 0.04 0.05 0.05 0.06 0.07

N f fracture (cycle)
57 200 48 800 105 100 323 800 1.5106 560 700 1.4106 29 500 58 500 409 000 472 300 831 100 869 900

Test frequency (Hz)

2 2 3 3 3 3 5 1 1 3 3 3 4

*There was no marked dierence between crack nucleation and fracture lives of the forged steel knuckle.

service for such components. Details of the test set-up and experimental procedures are presented in reference [6].

3 FINITE ELEMENT ANALYSIS The objective of the stress analysis is to obtain the complete three-dimensional stress and strain distributions at a potential failure site, facilitating fatigue life predictions. Depending on the method of fatigue life prediction, stress analysis can be linear or non-linear. Although in this study the components underwent a unidirectional loading condition, the state of stress at many locations was found to be multiaxial. In addition, gross yielding occurred for a number of experimental applied bending moment cases. Therefore, both linear FEA, to be used along
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with a stress/strain correction method, and nonlinear FEA for direct estimation of elasticplastic distributions of stress and strain were performed. The IDEAS program was employed for the analysis. Three-dimensional linear tetrahedral solid elements with three translational degrees of freedom were used. Non-linear analysis at the highest bending moment level with parabolic elements showed a negligible dierence in results from those using linear tetrahedral elements. A free local meshing feature was used to increase the number of elements at the vicinity of the critical points. Convergence of stress and strain energy was considered as the criterion to select the mesh size. Too much renement at the critical points would result in extremely lengthy analysis time and was therefore avoided. Figure 2 shows the variation in stress at the critical points of each steering knuckle. Global mesh sizes of 5.1 mm for both components and local mesh sizes of 0.1 and 0.64 mm were applied to the forged steel and cast aluminium knuckles respectively. The critically stressed locations were spindle llets for the forged steel and hub bolt-holes for the cast aluminium knuckle. Owing to higher stress concentration at the spindle llet of the forged steel steering knuckle, a large stress gradient is expected in this area; therefore, a ner mesh size was used. To dene the limit of elastic behaviour in non-linear analysis, von Mises yield criterion was assumed, using an associated ow rule in which the plastic potential function is the same as the yield function and the components of the plastic strain increment are given by a PrandtlReuss-type equation. The ZieglerPrager kinematic hardening rule was selected, for which a bilinear stressstrain curve of the material is assumed. Considering this, the proper material model should be dened to obtain reliable values of stress and strain from non-linear analysis. Thus, the appropriate portion of the material true
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Fig. 2 von Mises equivalent stress versus mesh size at critical locations of (a) a forged steel steering knuckle and (b) a cast aluminium steering knuckle used for the mesh convergence study

stressstrain curve was used to dene material properties for each bending moment level. Figure 3 shows the presentation of such a material model for the two higher bending moment levels. Figure 4 illustrates the actual stressstrain curves at dierent bending moment levels with superimposed values of stress and strain at the critical points of failure at each level obtained from FEA. It was observed that the assumed model provides stress/strain values in the component with a reasonable error of less than 15 per cent with respect to the actual material stressstrain curve. Note that, even at the lower bending moment level, which can be considered as an indication of long-life service of the components, the material undergoes plastic deformation locally.

Therefore, the mere use of linear elastic FEA is not sucient for reliable fatigue life predictions of such components. The boundary conditions and loading were selected to represent component testing similar to the models shown in Fig. 1. A potential source of signicant error in fatigue analysis is inaccuracy of stress and strain predictions. Therefore, validating the FEA model results was critical to this study. To validate the models, values of strains as measured by strain gauges in component testing and as predicted using FEA were compared [6]. The dierences between measured and predicted strains were less than 18 per cent and regarded as reasonable for the complex geometries considered.

Fig. 3 Superimposed cyclic stressstrain curves and the bilinear models used in FEA for the forged steel and cast aluminium materials. The data points are from material cyclic tests
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Fig. 4 Actual material cyclic stressstrain behaviour and the corresponding local von Mises equivalent stress and strain from FEA (shown with plus signs) for (a) forged steel and (b) cast aluminium

FEA results indicated that the states of stress and strain at the failure locations of the two knuckles are multiaxial, although the loading was unidirectional for both steering knuckles. Figure 5 shows contours of von Mises equivalent stress for the highest maximum bending moment levels, where the spindle rst-step llet area for the forged steel and the hub bolt-hole for the cast aluminium knuckle were found to be the high-stress areas. The von Mises equivalent stresses and strains were used for subsequent fatigue life analyses. At the higher bending moment levels, for the forged steel knuckle both gross yielding (in the spindle) and local yielding (at the llet)

occurred, whereas for the cast aluminium knuckle only local yielding occurred at the critical points (hub bolt-holes).

4 LIFE PREDICTIONS In general, four fatigue life prediction models are commonly used, including the stresslife model, the strainlife model, the fatigue crack growth model, and a combination of fatigue crack growth and either stresslife or strainlife models. The rst two models consider the macrocrack nucleation phase as failure.

Fig. 5 Contours of the von Mises equivalent stress for (a) a forged steel steering knuckle and (b) a cast aluminium steering knuckle for the highest bending moment level (M =1515 N m and 2230 N m respectively). The stress values of the colour bar are in Pa max
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Fig. 6 Durability assessment methodologies pursued in this paper

The stress-based approach is typically used in terms of nominal stresses. Therefore, it does not directly account for the plastic strain at the notch root, which can have a signicant eect on fatigue behaviour. The predictions of this approach for notched members are typically conservative. Local values of stress could also be used in stresslife predictions (here called sN). The strain-based approach is very common in life prediction of notched components. In this case the behaviour of the material at the root of the notch is best described in terms of strain [7]. The crack growth approach based on fracture mechanics and damage tolerance design requires knowledge of defects and cracks, and thus necessitates nondestructive inspection, making this approach cost prohibitive for the ground vehicle industry at present. This model was therefore not pursued in this study. The overall methodology followed for life prediction in this work is shown in Fig. 6. Firstly, the nominal stress approach is implemented, and the nominal values are also employed in the local strain approach to predict fatigue life. Then, local stress life and strainlife approaches using non-linear FEA results and linear FEA results in conjunction with a Neuber-type stress correction are applied. Application of these approaches to the two steering knuckles investigated is now presented.
4.1 Nominal stress approach One of the approaches used for the forged steel knuckle was the nominal stress approach (path 1 in Fig. 6). This method could not be used for the cast aluminium knuckle since the nominal stress at the vicinity of the notch could not be explicitly dened for this component. In the nominal SN approach,
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the nominal value of stress was calculated from analytical mechanics of materials equations. Nominal yielding occurred at higher maximum bending moment levels of 1515 and 1240 N m. Figure 7 shows the distribution of nominal stress on a cross-section remote from the spindle second-step llet for the maximum bending moment level of 1515 N m. As can be seen in this gure, for a spindle radius smaller than 10 mm the material behaviour is elastic, while for larger radii it becomes inelastic. Two mean stress correction methods [7] were used to account for the eect of mean stress, including the Gerber parabola
S 2 S a + m =1 S S Nf u

A B

(1)

Fig. 7

Distribution of stress at the spindle second-step llet and at a section remote from the secondstep llet of the forged steel steering knuckle for a bending moment of 1515 N m. The latter prole was used to obtain the nominal values of stress
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Table 3 Nominal and local stresses and predicted and experimental fatigue lives for the forged steel steering knuckle using the nominal stress and local strain approaches

Experiment fatigue life (cycles)

and the modied Goodman equation

S S a + m =1 (2) S S Nf u The fatigue life was then obtained from a Basquintype equation [7]
S =s (2N )B (3) Nf f f To nd exponent B, the SN line was drawn considering the eect of the notch. The stress concentration factor at the llet, K =2.2, was used along with t Petersons equation K 1 K =1+ t f 1+a/r
to calculate the fatigue notch factor, K =2.1, where f a is a material characteristic length obtained from the empirical relationship a=0.0254(2070/S )1.8 [7]. u Then the fatigue limit (at 106 cycles) was reduced to S /K , and B was found to be 0.133. No surface f f nish eect was considered owing to the highly polished surface of the spindle at the llet. Table 3 lists the nominal stress, the nominal alternating stress for R=1, and predicted and experimental lives. Figure 8(a) shows stress amplitude versus predicted and experimental lives using the nominal SN approach. For the Gerber model, a life dierence of less than a factor of 7 compared with the experimental results could be observed. The modied Goodman predictions are more conservative, with predicted lives shorter by about a factor of 50. 4.2 Local strain approach using nominal stresses The nominal values of stress were also used as input to the local strain approach (path 2 in Fig. 6). To use this method, a notch stress/strain rule such as Neubers rule or the strain energy density rule is required to obtain the local stresses and strains. Neubers rule, which is most commonly used, relates nominal stress and strain to local stress and strain behaviour in such a way that the geometric mean value of the stress and strain concentration factors is equal to the Hookian (theoretical) stress concentration factor [8]. The strain energy density rule is based on the assumption that the strain energy density at the notch root is nearly the same for linear elastic and elasticplastic notch deformation behaviours, as long as the plastic deformation zone at the notch is surrounded by an elastically deformed region [9]. Because of this requirement, and considering the fact that general yielding existed at the two higher bending moment levels, the latter method
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57 280 48 879

105 197

323 849 1 565 630 560 773 27 500 524

Predicted fatigue life (cycles)

8800

12 900

s e E max a (MPa)

594

e-N

634

455 *The component broke at a location dierent from the predicted failure location, and it was therefore considered as a run-out test. 0.38 185 219 253 200 47 100 278 600 345 225

s m (MPa)

245

235

s a (MPa)

456

440

10 400

17 800

Fatigue life (cycles)

Modied Goodman

Gerber

1000

1900

SN

Gerber

309

288

Nf

(MPa)

Modied Goodman

422

388

S m (MPa)

301

286

S a (MPa)

253

268

Applied bending moment amplitude (kN m)

0.72

0.58

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0.45

219

252

317

242

8700

65 100

397

223

81 800

1 399 370

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Fig. 8 Superimposed experimental life and (a) stresslife prediction using the nominal stress approach, and (b) local strainlife predictions using nominal stresses as input for the forged steel steering knuckle

was not best suited for the case of the forged steel knuckle. Neubers assumption has shown good predictions for plane stress conditions and is usually conservative by overpredicting strain in most other cases [7], even though this is not always the case [10, 11]. In order to investigate the applicability of the notch formula used, the states of stress and strain at the critical sites of this knuckle were investigated. The results of stress analysis for the forged steel knuckle at the transition point between the llet and spindle second step (the highest stressed point of the component) showed that e /e ratio is small (#0.07), 2 1 while s /s #0.42. Therefore, a state of plane strain 2 1 could be considered for the critical location, and Neubers rule was expected to provide conservative results. To deal with nominal yielding at the two higher bending moment levels (1515 and 1240 N m) in the local strain approach, two methods were followed. The rst method is based on considering the fact that Neubers rule in its original form is an approximation method that also applies to the general case of large-scale yielding [8, 10], and the local stresses and strains were obtained from this general form [7]
se=SeK2 (4) t The state of stress at the root of the notch is multiaxial and, to account for this, a method proposed by Homann and Seeger [12] was implemented and the equivalent stress concentration factor, K , was used tq in equation (4) instead of K , where t (5) K =K 1 [(1a )2+(1b )2+(a b )2] e e e e tq t 2 where a and b denote the elastic stress ratios, e e a =s /s and b =s /s . The second method e e2 e1 e e3 e1
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applied is based on a correction for the non-linear cross-section behaviour proposed by Seeger and Heuler [13]. In this method, by dening modied nominal stress and strain incorporating the plastic limit load, Neubers rule is generalized for the case of inelastic net section behaviour. Once the local amplitudes of stress, s , and strain, a e , were calculated, fatigue life was obtained from the a SWT life equation which incorporates the eect of mean stress [7] e E=(s )2(2N )2b+s e E(2N )b+c (6) max a f f f f f When the predicted lives of these two stress estimation approaches (i.e. Neubers rule and Seeger and Heulers modication) were compared, it was found that, for the maximum applied bending moment levels where large-scale yielding existed, the latter approach estimates 14 and 5 per cent higher local stresses and therefore results in 2 and 1.3 times more conservative lives than Neubers rule without modication. In this regard, the predictions by direct application of Neubers rule were more reasonable in this case and were considered as the base in life predictions. Table 3 lists the local alternating and mean stresses and predicted and experimental lives, and Fig. 8(b) illustrates the SWT parameter (s e E) max a versus predicted and experimental lives, where it can be seen that the predictions are conservative by more than a factor of 7. This could be explained by the suggestion that Neubers rule is more applicable to plane stress states.
4.3 Local stress and strain approaches using FEA results
The crack nucleation models could also be applied using local stress and strain values obtained directly
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from FEA at the failure location (paths 3 and 4 in Fig. 6). The complex geometry of the cast aluminium knuckle is an example for which no notch factor could be dened, and, according to Sonsino et al. [14], for such conditions transferability of material test data could be performed only through local von Mises equivalent stresses or strains in the critical failure areas. Here, the local elasticplastic stresses and strains were obtained from FEA using two approaches: by full-scale elasticplastic FEA of the knuckles (path 3 in Fig. 6), and by a combination of elastic FEA and a Neuber-type stress correction (path 4 in Fig. 6). The stresslife and strainlife methods were then implemented to predict fatigue life. To encounter the multiaxial stress state, the von Mises equivalent stress values were used for both components. Since the maximum principal stress theory is more commonly used for brittle materials such as cast aluminium, life predictions using maximum principal stresses and strains were also examined for the cast aluminium knuckle. Using the non-linear FEA results (path 3 in Fig. 6), the local von Mises equivalent stresses and strains corresponding to the experimental loading conditions were obtained by applying equal bending moments to the simulated nite element models and performing non-linear FEA. In the stresslife approach, the eect of mean stress was encountered using three mean stress models. These include Gerbers equation [equation (1), but for local stresses], the stresslife version of the SWT model s =s2 (2N )2b (7) max a f f and the commonly used modied Goodman equation [equation (2), but for local stress]. The Basquin equation [equation (3), but for local stress] was then used to obtain the fatigue life, where B=b. For the stresslife version of the SWT model, fatigue life was found directly from equation (7). Superimposed local stress amplitude versus predicted and experimental lives for dierent mean stress correction models based on the stresslife approach are presented in Fig. 9. Comparing the predictions with test results for the forged steel knuckle in Fig. 9(a), Gerbers model could be seen to oer close predictions. The modied Goodmans prediction is the most conservative, by an order of magnitude in fatigue life. For the cast aluminium knuckle in Fig. 9(b), Gerbers line is relatively close to the experimental life line by a factor of 5 in shorter lives and a factor of 2 in longer lives and oers relatively conservative predictions. The SWT and modied Goodman predictions are very conservative. This is partly due to the conservative nature
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Fig. 9 Superimposed local stress amplitude versus experimental life and predictions of the stress life model for (a) a forged steel steering knuckle and (b) a cast aluminium steering knuckle using non-linear FEA results

of the stresslife approach for notched members, mentioned earlier. In addition, microcrack growth life, which can constitute a signicant portion of fatigue life in castings, is not accounted for in a crack nucleation type life prediction approach, also contributing to this conservatism. Comparing Figs 8(a) and 9(a), i.e. the nominal and local approaches for the forged steel knuckle, it can be seen that predictions of the local approach are closer to the experimental lives. This is partly due to the fact that the local approach directly accounts for residual stresses generated because of local plasticity, whereas this eect is not considered in the nominal stress approach. The predictions for the cast aluminium knuckle were performed using the maximum principal stress, in addition to von Mises equivalent stress. Predictions based on the maximum principal stress were, however, about twice as conservative as the von Mises predictions. In the strainlife method using the non-linear FEA results, to take the eect of mean stress into account in fatigue life predictions, two models were
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considered: Morrows mean stress model [7] s s m (2N )b+e (2N )c e = f a f f f E

(8)

and the strainlife version of the SWT model [equation (6)]. Superimposed local strain amplitude versus predicted and experimental lives for dierent mean stress correction models based on the strain life approach is presented in Fig. 10. Morrows mean stress correction model provides the closest prediction, within a factor of 2 in life for the forged steel, and within a factor of 3 in life for the cast aluminium knuckle. As indicated earlier, a reason for the more conservative nature of the predictions for the cast aluminium knuckle [Fig. 10(b)], as compared with the forged steel knuckle [Fig. 10(a)], is the signicant microcrack growth life in castings, which is not explicitly accounted for in a nucleation type life prediction method. In the second category of local stress and strain approach using FEA stresses and strains, elastic FEA

results were used in conjunction with a Neubertype stress correction (path 4 in Fig. 6) to account for inelastic deformation [15]. To estimate the local stresses and strains under elasticplastic deformation condition, Neubers rule was applied in terms of equivalent quantities of multiaxial stresses, and the equivalent stresses were computed from von Mises ow criterion [16], which is a reasonable assumption for multiaxial proportional stresses. If eseq and eeeq are dened as the elastically calculated notch stress and strain (i.e. based on the assumption of a linear elastic relation between von Mises equivalent stress and strain), and seq and eeq are the notch stress and strain under elasticplastic deformation (i.e. based on the actual elasticplastic relation between von Mises equivalent stress and strain), Neubers rule becomes [16]
seqeeq=eseq eeeq (9)

Note that the equivalent strain here refers to the strain calculated on the basis of the octahedral shear strain theory. Neubers rule in the form of equation (9) was used for all applied bending moment levels. The second equation to obtain stress and strain under elasticplastic deformation condition is the cyclic stressstrain curve of the material [16] eeq=
seq 1/n seq + E K

A B

(10)

To better observe the dierences between the nonlinear FEA and linear FEA combined with Neuber correction, Table 4 compares the stress amplitude, mean stress, and fatigue life based on these two approaches. In this table, the fatigue lives using the SWT mean stress correction models for sN and eN approaches are listed. It can be seen that the lives obtained using the linear FEA and Neuber correction are close to the non-linear FEA predictions. It can be concluded that the linear FEA plus the Neuber correction method is a capable approach to life prediction of components, especially considering the fact that it does not require the more complicated and time-consuming non-linear FEA.

5 DISCUSSION The life prediction methods used in the ground vehicle industry mainly rely on crack nucleation approaches (i.e. stresslife and strainlife). The traditional stresslife approach, based on either nominal stress or local stress, resulted in overly conservative predictions for the components evaluated
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Fig. 10 Superimposed local strain amplitude versus experimental life and predictions of the strain life model for (a) a forged steel steering knuckle and (b) a cast aluminium steering knuckle using non-linear FEA results
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in this study. The modied Goodman mean stress equation, which is commonly used in conjunction with the SN approach, resulted in more conservative predictions than the Gerber model. Also, the maximum principal stress criterion, which is often used to account for multiaxial stresses in castings owing to their brittle nature, increased the degree of conservatism of the life predictions for the cast aluminium knuckle, as compared with the von Mises criterion. The best predictions were obtained from the strainlife approach, where local strains are rst obtained from simple linear elastic FEA and then corrected for plastic deformation by using a Neuber correction method. Such an approach is also practical in applications, since, in complex geometries with many load application points, stresses and strains based on elastic analysis can much more easily be obtained than in a non-linear type analysis considering plastic deformation. Many factors can inuence fatigue behaviour and life predictions of vehicle components. These include material property variability such as anisotropy and fatigue data scatter, manufacturing parameters such as residual stresses and surface nish, loading conditions such as overloads and multiaxial loading, and service operating conditions such as the presence of corrosion and fretting. Each of these is briey discussed below. The material strainlife constants derived from specimen strain-controlled fatigue tests used for life predictions in equations (3), (6), (7), and (8) are the coecients s and e and the exponents b and c. f f These constants for both forged steel and cast aluminium are listed in Table 1. Constants s and b f are obtained from a linear regression t of stress amplitude versus reversals to failure data, whereas constants e and c are obtained from a linear f regression t of plastic strain amplitude versus reversals to failure data, with both ts in loglog scale [7]. These data and ts for both forged steel and cast aluminium used in this study are shown in reference [6], and all ts resulted in regression correlation coecients larger than 0.96, indicating reasonable linear data ts. Among these constants, fatigue life is most sensitive to exponent b, particularly in the high cycle fatigue regime. A 10 per cent change in the value of b will cause a dierence by a factor of about 4 in the fatigue life of either the forged steel or the cast aluminium in this life regime. It should also be mentioned that for aluminium alloys a bilinear relation in loglog scale often better ts the stresslife specimen data, as compared with a linear t. The eect of this on life prediction is discussed in detail in reference [17].
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Comparison of alternating and mean stress values, the SWT parameter, and fatigue life for two stress calculation methods non-linear FEA and elastic FEA plus Neuber correction using the sN and eN methods. Fatigue lives for the sN and eN approaches were both obtained from the SWT model. Non-linear FEA results were taken as the base for comparison

Ratio

Fatigue life (cycles)

Linear FEA and Neuber correction

16 700 52 200 320 500 1.4106 20 900 82 600 538 800 2.1106 4 6 5 4 567 480 394 346 547 454 376 333 0.9 1.2 1.7 1.7 Forged steel knuckle 10 400 8900 29 900 36 100 180 900 300 700 776 500 1.3106 5 13 13 8 177 198 220 225 1 4 8 8 437 374 294 250 434 390 319 270 0.72 0.58 0.45 0.38 170 176 195 209

0.8 0.6 0.6 0.6

eN

% Dierence

Nonlinear FEA

e E (MPa) max a

Linear FEA and Neuber correction

Nonlinear FEA

Ratio

Fatigue life (cycles)

% Dierence

s (MPa) m

sN

Linear FEA and Neuber correction

Nonlinear FEA

Ratio

Linear FEA and Neuber correction

s (MPa) a

Nonlinear FEA

Applied bending moment amplitude (kN m)

Table 4

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1.08 0.76 0.61 0.56

215 152 123 112

203 142 116 104

6 6 6 6

81 128 128 125

99 131 127 119

23 2 1 5

Cast aluminium knuckle 2014 2409 11 711 17 255 45 855 67 431 87 458 150 403

Nonlinear FEA

Linear FEA and Neuber correction

1.2 1.5 1.5 1.7

238 194 165 153

248 196 169 154

4 1 2 0

5740 25 850 85 090 144 800

4070 22 700 73 420 158 300

0.7 0.9 0.9 1.1

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In forged components, grain ow produces directional characteristics in properties such as strength, ductility, and resistance to impact and fatigue. The eect of anisotropy and directionality of the forged steel knuckle material fatigue behaviour was investigated in this study, and it was found that the primary stressing direction oers about twice the life than the other two directions. In castings, owlines, porosity, and several other casting defects can show up, depending on casting practice. Solidication is not always uniform in castings. Directional solidication is another process that might cause variability of behaviour in dierent directions. Residual stresses at the critical locations of the component generated during the manufacturing process could be a signicant source of strengthening (if compressive) or weakening (if tensile) in terms of fatigue life. They can be determined analytically or computationally if detailed knowledge is available on the local mechanical response during the induction of residual stress [18]. For the case of the forged steel knuckle under investigation, the main location suitable for inducing local compressive residual stress is the lower section of the spindle second-step llets. This could be achieved in a number of ways, including shot peening. Owing to the one-sided nature of loading that the component undergoes, this is a very eective method for increasing fatigue strength. The surface nish eect could be very inuential in fatigue evaluation and, normally, a surface nish reduction factor is applied to the fatigue strength of a component. However, in this study the llet of the forged steel knuckle was machined and polished, and therefore no surface nish factor was applied to life predictions. For the cast aluminium knuckle, owing to the nature of the casting materials and the fact that the defects of a casting material are uniform internally and externally, no surface nish factor was implemented either. The present study was based on simplied constant-amplitude experiments and analysis, while the component in service undergoes more complex variable-amplitude loading including overloads and underloads. For a steering knuckle, this type of loading can be generated from panic brake, severe cornering, and potholes. Overloads can have a signicant inuence on fatigue life. For example, yield-stress-level bending overloads were found signicantly to aect torsional fatigue strength of steel axle-shafts [19]. Also, loads and bending moments in all three directions are applied to a typical knuckle
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installed in a vehicle [5]. Therefore, experiments and analyses based on multiaxial loading, rather than unidirectional loading, express the real loading condition. However, owing to the complexity of such testing for this component, unidirectional tests are typically conducted [5]. Automotive chassis components are often used without corrosion protection. Therefore, fatigue performance under corrosive environments has to be assessed as part of the design process. Corrosion in conjunction with the eect of time, frequency, and variable-amplitude loading may play a prominent role in fatigue design. For instance, a study on durability assessment of forged and cast aluminium steering knuckles showed that fatigue resistance drastically drops under cyclic loading in corrosive environments [20]. Fretting fatigue is another mode of failure. Fretting, which is a surface wear phenomenon occurring between two contacting surfaces having oscillating relative motion of small amplitude, may exist between the steering knuckle and hub assembly, strut joints, suspension links, and chassis connections in service.

6 CONCLUSIONS Based on the results of the forged steel and cast aluminium steering knuckle fatigue tests conducted, along with the stress analysis and fatigue life predictions performed, the following conclusions can be drawn. 1. The nominal stress approach cannot be used for complex component geometries, such as the cast aluminium steering knuckle in this study, since nominal stress cannot be dened. For the forged steel steering knuckle, the predictions of the nominal SN approach were conservative, by about a factor of 7 on fatigue life, as compared with the experimental results. 2. The local stress or strain approaches in conjunction with the FEA results were found to provide more accurate life predictions, as compared with the commonly used nominal SN approach. This is partly due to the fact that the local approaches directly account for the residual stresses from local plastic deformation. Even at the lower load levels, representative of long-life service of the components, the materials at the critical locations undergo local cyclic plastic deformation.
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3. The local strain approach using nominal stresses for the forged steel knuckle in conjunction with Neubers rule predicted conservative lives, by about an order of magnitude, as compared with experimental results. This conrms the suggestion that Neubers rule is more applicable to plane stress states, since a plane strain state existed at the fatigue-critical location of the forged steel knuckle. 4. The maximum principal stress or strain criteria, which are commonly used for brittle behaving materials such as the cast aluminium in this study, were found to be overly conservative and not as accurate as the von Mises criterion. 5. For the local stress approach, Gerbers mean stress parameter provides more accurate predicted fatigue lives, as compared with the experimental lives, than the commonly used modied Goodman equation. For the local strain approach, Morrows mean stress parameter provides more accurate predicted fatigue lives than the Smith WatsonTopper mean stress parameter. 6. Life predictions based on the local strain approach using linear elastic FEA results in conjunction with Neuber-corrected stresses were reasonable and found to be close to those obtained on the basis of non-linear elasticplastic FEA results. This suggests that the simpler and less timeconsuming linear elastic FEA, when modied to correct for plastic deformation, is an eective and capable approach for life prediction of components with complex geometries and/or loadings.

REFERENCES
1 Conle, F. A. and Chu, C. C. Fatigue analysis and the local stressstrain approach in complex vehicular structures. Int. J. Fatigue, 1997, 19(Suppl. 1), S317S323. 2 Sonsino, C. M., Kaufmann, H., Foth, J., and Friedemann, J. Fatigue strength of driving shafts of automatic transmission gearboxes under operational torques. SAE technical paper 970706. In SAE PT-67, Recent developments in fatigue technology (Eds R. A. Chernenko and J. J. Bonnen), 1997 (Society of Automotive Engineers, Warrendale, Pennsylvania). 3 Blarasin, A. and Farsetti, P. A procedure for the rational choice of microalloyed steels for automotive hot-forged components subjected to fatigue loads. Int. J. Fatigue, 1989, 11(1), 1318. 4 Diboine, A. Fatigue assessment of components under complex loadings. In Proceedings of the Fourth International Conference on Biaxial/multiaxial Fatigue: Multiaxial Fatigue and Design, SaintGermain en Laye, France, 1996, pp. 425444.
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5 Lee, Y. L., Raymond, M. N., and Villaire, M. A. Durability design process of a vehicle suspension component. Trans. ASME, J. Testing and Evaluation, 1995, 23, 354363. 6 Zorou, M. and Fatemi, A. Fatigue life comparisons of competing manufacturing processes: a study of steering knuckle. SAE technical paper 2004-010628, 2004. 7 Stephens, R. I., Fatemi, A., Stephens, R. R., and Fuchs, H. O. Metal fatigue in engineering, 2nd edition, 2000 (John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York). 8 Neuber, H. Theory of stress concentration for shearstrained prismatical bodies with arbitrary nonlinear stressstrain law. Trans. ASME, J. Appl. Mechanics, 1961, 28, 544550. 9 Molski, K. and Glinka, G. A method of elasticplastic stress and strain calculation at a notch root. Mater. Sci. Engng, 1981, 50, 93100. 10 Harkegard, G. and Mann, T. Neuber prediction of elasticplastic strain concentration in notched tensile specimens under large-scale yielding. J. Strain Analysis, 2003, 38(1), 7994. 11 Zeng, Z. and Fatemi, A. Elasto-plastic stress and strain behavior at notch roots under monotonic and cyclic loadings. J. Strain Analysis, 2001, 36(3), 287300. 12 Homann, M. and Seeger, T. A generalized method for estimating multiaxial elasticplastic notch stresses and strain. Part I: theory. Trans. ASME, J. Engng Mater. Tech., 1985, 107, 250254. 13 Seeger, T. and Heuler, P. Generalized application of Neubers rule. J. Testing Evaluation, 1980, 8(4), 199204. 14 Sonsino, C. M., Kaufmann, H., and Grubisic, V. Transferability of material data for the example of a randomly loaded forged truck stub axle. SAE technical paper 970708. In SAE PT-67, Recent developments in fatigue technology (Eds R. A. Chernenko and J. J. Bonnen), 1997 (Society of Automotive Engineers, Warrendale, Pennsylvania). 15 Chu, C. C. Multiaxial fatigue life prediction method in the ground vehicle industry. Int. J. Fatigue, 1997, 19(Suppl. 1), S325S330. 16 Socie, D. F. and Marquis, G. B. Multiaxial fatigue, 2000 (Society of Automotive Engineers, Warrendale, Pennsylvania). 17 Fatemi, A., Plaseied, A., Khosrovaneh, A. K., and Tanner, D. Application of bi-linear loglog model to strain-controlled fatigue data of aluminum alloys and its eect on life predictions. Int. J. Fatigue, 2005, 27, 10401050. 18 Savaidis, G., Savaidis, A., Tsamasphyros, G., and Zhang, C. On size and technological eects in fatigue analysis and prediction of engineering materials and components. Int. J. Mech. Sci., 2002, 44, 521543. 19 Bonnen, J. J. F. and Topper, T. H. The eect of bending overloads on torsional fatigue in normalized 1045 steel. Int. J. Fatigue, 1999, 21, 2333.
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20 Heuler, P. and Birk, O. Durability assessment of automotive aluminum parts. Fatigue Fracture Engng Mater. Struct., 2002, 25, 11351148.

APPENDIX Notation a a ,b e e b, B c e %EL E E K K K f K t K tq M M a M max M min n n N f r %RA R material characteristic length (mm) elastic stress ratios fatigue strength exponent fatigue ductility exponent nominal strain (mm/mm) percent elongation (%) modulus of elasticity (GPa) cyclic modulus of elasticity (GPa) strength coecient (MPa) cyclic strength coecient (MPa) fatigue notch factor stress concentration factor under elastic deformation condition equivalent stress concentration factor bending moment (N m) bending moment amplitude (N m) maximum bending moment (N m) minimum bending moment (N m) strain hardening exponent cyclic strain hardening exponent cycles to failure radius of the notch (mm) percent reduction in area (%) bending moment ratio (M /M ) min max

S S a S f S m S Nf S u S y S y e e a e f e f e ,e 1 2 eeq eeeq s s a s e1,2,3 s f s f s m s max s ,s 1 2 seq eseq

nominal stress (MPa) nominal alternating stress (MPa) fatigue strength (MPa) nominal mean stress (MPa) equivalent nominal completely reversed alternating stress (MPa) ultimate strength (MPa) yield strength (MPa) cyclic yield strength (MPa) local strain (mm/mm) local strain amplitude (mm/mm) true fracture ductility (mm/mm) fatigue ductility coecient (mm/mm) maximum, middle principal strain (mm/mm) equivalent strain at the notch root under elasticplastic deformation (mm/mm) elastically calculated equivalent strain at the notch root (mm/mm) local stress (MPa) local alternating stress (MPa) elastic principal stresses (MPa) true fracture strength (MPa) fatigue strength coecient (MPa) local mean stress (MPa) local maximum stress (MPa) maximum, middle principal stress (MPa) von Mises equivalent stress at the notch root under elasticplastic deformation (MPa) elastically calculated von Mises equivalent stress at the notch root (MPa)

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