The Innovative Design of Suspension Cast Components of Vehicles Made from High-Strength AlZnMgCu Alloy Resistant to an IED Type Threat

The new research trends are moving away from research works that are not directly connected with industrial applications. The Integrated Computational Materials Engineering (ICME) is an excellent example of the relationship between scientific research and the industrial sector.As an example of the design development of construction of a suspension component, an overview of the changes of a welded part replaced with cast component is presented. The identification of boundary conditions and forces operating on the nodes of the suspension element allowed determining the critical areas in the existing welded construction. Then the new design of casting for high performance applications was developed. Analysis of the kinematics of the suspension components also revealed the need for changes in the design of the mounting points of the suspension components to reduce the maximum values ​​of forces and enforced moments. As a result of successive stages of the topology optimization of analysed cast, control arms with significantly lower values ​​of maximum stresses were obtained. The material conversion of welded part with high strength AlZnMgCu aluminium alloy allowed the reduction of the weight by 25% for the lower control arm and 30% for upper control arm.