MODELING, SIMULATION AND OPTIMIZATION ANALYSIS OF STEERING KNUCKLE COMPONENT FOR RACE CAR

Razak I.H.A, Yusop M.Y.M, Yusop M.S.M, Hashim M.F

Abstract: Light weight and low fuel consumption are the two main demands for a vehicle, particularly for a race car. Steering knuckle, as one of the critical components of a race car, is the main subject in the present study. A light weight and optimized design of steering knuckle is proposed to be used for an EIMARace race car; a small high-performance formula-style car, with suitable material selection as well as valid finite element analysis and optimization studies. First part of this study involves modeling of steering knuckles and analysis of the stresses and displacement under actual load conditions. A CAD and FEA software; SolidWorks, is applied for modeling as well as for static analysis studies. Shape optimization is the second part of this study, utilizing solid Thinking software from Altair Engineering packages. The improved design obtained had achieved 45.8% reduction of mass while meeting the strength requirement

Keywords: Steering knuckle, FEA, Optimization, Race car.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.15623/ijret.2014.0311037