Design of front axle with air suspension system for trucks

DESIGN OF FRONT AXLE WITH AIR SUSPENSION SYSTEM FOR TRUCKSHasan GÜNALIn our country, with the development of the transportation sector and technology, users? expectations are continously increasing. Parallel to these expectations and the competitive environment , while the usage of trucks is decreasing the usage of tractor is increasing.In this study, based on a tractor which is produced in Turkey, an air spring front suspension system was designed. Also the steering geometry of the vehicle was optimized . During the designs, computer aided engineering tools was used as much as possible and an optimum solution was found for each problem. Firstly the concept design of the system was done, then the system which is suitable with the concept was designed by CAD . The forces which acted on the components of the system were predicted for various road scenarious by vehicle dynamic model. By using these forces, mass-strength optimization was done for each component of the system by finite element method.In the last part of the study, fatigue analysis of the rigid axle which is the main component of the system was done. Large part of the study was devoted to this axle design which can be manufactured completely by steel welding. With the help of this design, a solution which can be manufactured very simply, with lower initial investment cost and lighter, was found.