Performance Evolution of Tie Rod in Suspension System of Car Using Finite Element Approach

Tie rods or Track rods are an integral part of vehicle’s steering system. Tie rod ties vehicle’s steering rack to the steering arm. Tie rod may get fail due to varying forces and bumping of vehicle during steering. The forces from the steering are also considered during the static condition of car. Vibration and buckling of Tie rod has been continuously a concern which may lead to structural failure if the resulting vibration and stresses are undesirable and excessive. Present paper is aimed to assess buckling strength and compare buckling performance of Tie rod for different proposed dimension of Tie rod with constant length and same material. Finite element models of the Tie rod also analyzed to obtain stiffness and stress distributions in it. The mode shape and natural frequency results for different proposed dimensions of tie rod obtained in the normal modal analysis and in buckling analysis, the buckling load factor obtained for that tie rod are compared and critical buckling load is calculated. Results getting from the Finite element analysis are validated by using the theoretical results.