Design of a hybrid composite strut tower for use in automobiles

Abstract

Lightweight hybrid composite strut towers for use in automobiles were designed to increase the structural rigidity and for the prevention of permanent deformation and cracking. When the suspension structure in automobiles is increased in hardness to further increase the operational performance, the strut tower, which is the mechanical part that joins with the suspension system, is easily deformed by impact forces that result from passing over road surface irregularities, such as a pothole or bump in the road. In this work, the stress distribution of a strut tower made of a carbon fiber-reinforced composite and a back-up metal was analyzed by using the finite element (FE) method, and an optimum stacking sequence of the hybrid composite for reducing the materials cost was suggested based on the FE-analysis results. The hybrid composite strut towers were fabricated, and their dynamic characteristics were analyzed by impact tests.