Shape and Material Optimization of the Steering Knuckle Component

The steering knuckle is a most critical component in automotive vehicle. It experiences the continuous application of the loads and also the deflections. As the need of people with respect to high comfort increases, the weight of the vehicle will also increase, ultimately performance of the vehicle reduces and fuel consumption increases accordingly. Keeping this concept in mind an effort has been made to improve the performance by reducing the weight of the steering knuckle, as it is a known fact that by reducing the weight of both smaller and bigger components only the overall weight can be reduced. This has been done using numerical method. The 3D cad model is created by using the software CATIA V5. Then the component is discredited in Hyper Mesh pre-processor. For steering knuckle, the static and modal analysis is carried out to understand its behaviour under operating conditions. Using the results of analysis the low stress regions are marked and the shape optimization has been done.All the above procedure to be done for the different aluminium alloys like 2011-T3Al, 2024-T3Al and 6061-T6Al. The best design among above mentioned materials is proposed by comparing the structural strength with that of existing cast iron component in material optimization stage for weight reduction with optimum efficiency.