Title: Study and failure analysis of non-drive automotive rear axle of heavy commercial vehicle

Authors: Aakarsh Ranjan; Rajasekhara Reddy Mutra; Yash Kirty; J. Srinivas; Muhamad Norhisham; D. Mallikarjuna Reddy

Addresses: School of Mechanical Engineering, Vellore Institute of Technology, Vellore, Tamil Nadu, 632014, India ' Noise Vibration Harshness Lab, School of Mechanical Engineering, Vellore Institute of Technology, Vellore, Tamil Nadu, 632014, India ' School of Mechanical Engineering, Vellore Institute of Technology, Vellore, Tamil Nadu, 632014, India ' Department of Mechanical Engineering, National Institute of Technology (NIT), Rourkela, Odisha, 769008, India ' Structural Dynamics Analysis and Validation (SDAV), College of Engineering Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM), Shah Alam, Selangor, 40450, Malaysia ' School of Mechanical Engineering Vellore Institute of Technology, Vellore, Tamil Nadu, 632014, India

Abstract: The non-drive automotive rear axle beam of a heavy commercial vehicle, 35T gross vehicle weight (GVW), 8·2 Truck, is undergoing bending failure on the field (failed axle beam). The failure is primarily due to the overloading of the vehicle by the customer. The paper analyses the failed rear axle shaft of the vehicle and highlights the regions of failure in the axle cross-section and its impact on performance and life. A three-dimensional (3D) computer-aided design (CAD) engineering model of the failed axle beam is modelled on Solid Works software. The 3D model is imported into finite element analysis (FEA) software, Altair Hyper Works to create a finite element model, carry out linear static, modal, and fatigue analysis and study the stress/strain induced in the failed axle beam. Based on the results obtained from the three analyses, the axle beam will undergo cross-sectional and material changes to eliminate the failure and improve product quality and life.

Keywords: non-drive automotive rear axle; bending failure; finite element model; fatigue analysis; stress concentration; CAD; computer-aided design; heavy vehicle; static analysis; materials.

DOI: 10.1504/IJHVS.2023.131981

International Journal of Heavy Vehicle Systems, 2023 Vol.30 No.1, pp.1 - 16

Received: 05 Oct 2021
Accepted: 16 Dec 2021
Published online: 06 Jul 2023 *