AJAE 2(2):45-49 (2011) ISSN:1836-9448

Static and dynamic analysis of front axle housing of tractor using finite element methods

Javad Tarighi*, Seyed Saeid Mohtasebi, Reza Alimardani

Department of Agricultural Machinery Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Technology, University of

Tehran, P.O. Box 4111, Karaj 31587-77871, Iran

  *Corresponding author: javad_tarighi63@yahoo.com

 

Abstract

MT250D Mitsubishi Tractor with 25hp power is a small agriculture tractor which is used to do light agricultural operations. In order
to do off road operations, a front mounted mechanical shovel with total weight 400kg that including hydraulic equipment for example
the weight of hydraulic cylinder was added on the front of the tractor and thus, the static weight on the front axle housing was
increased. In this study, to do modeling of housing, Solid Works software (Version2010) was used. In order to use finite element
method for static and dynamic analysis, Cosmos Works Software (Version 2010) was used. Finite element analysis results showed
that the maximum stress of 238.84MPa is applied on the upper housing. According to Von- Misses theory, the value of maximum
applied stress and allowable stress, the safety factor of 1.05 was obtained which is less than the required value. The first four natural
frequencies of housing were found as 678.54, 720.29, 908.78 and 1877 Hz, respectively. The obtained factor of safety is very low
and obviously this value decreases under dynamic loading conditions of field operation. The present study clearly indicates that the
front axle housing of MT250D Mitsubishi tractor is not strong enough to be mounted on a tractor. There is a need to optimize the
existing design of the front axle housing, if we want to use a mechanical shovel.

Keyword: Stress analysis, modeling, finite element, differential, Mitsubishi tractor

Abbreviations: σ _stress (MPa); σ1,σ2,σ3 _principal stresses (MPa ); f_ frequencies (Hz);Vi_ tractor speed (m/s); g _Gravity(m2/s);
h_ fall height (m); Tr_ rise time (s); h ′ _ tire compression (m); F max_ maximum value of dynamic load (N); Mf_ applied static mass
(kg); Δvi_ tractor speed (m/s); Δt_ rise time (s).
 

Introduction
of its component may face additional stress. This additional
stresses may cause the parts to failure or face permanent 
Helping with developed technologies and design software
which integrated in new generation of computers, designs are deformation. Tractor is one of the multifunctional machines
getting easier and reliable. Designers can design own that is used for different agricultural operations. Because the
products in virtual screen and they can evaluate working tractors work on difficult conditions than other machines,
condition of the products by simulating techniques using the components of that should have high safety of factor. If for
computers. Yaghoubi et al. (2010) for design and simulation an special order, a new mechanism should be installed on the
a new universal joint used the CAD softwares (Comosworks , tractor, its main components must be resistant to tolerate
Visual NASTRAN and Autodesk Inventor ).Today three- additional stress and loads.  The front axle housing of a tractor
dimensional (3D) modeling and finite elements method is one of the major and very important components and needs
applications are getting so widespread in the industry. Many to be designated carefully, science this part experiences the
of 3D modeling and finite elements application samples can worst load condition such as static and dynamic loads.
be seen on different engineering disciplines (Gunay 1993). Leon et al. (2000) used experimental and numerical
Especially in the small- and middle-scale agricultural methods, for the stress analysis of a frontal truck axle beam.
machinery industry, insufficient technical knowledge, use of The results obtained by finite element method were verified
new technology, and new design features can cause problems experimentally using photo stress. Mahanty et al. (2001)
such as breakdowns and failures during field operations. performed an experimental and numerical analysis of a
Failure of machinery devices is one of the major problems in tractor’s front axle. Based on finite element analysis results
engineering (Yılmaz et al., 2001). There are a few redesign was carried out for the front axle for weight
publications on the failure of agricultural machinery, and optimization and easy manufacturability. Five different
some reports on failure of agricultural machinery have been models were proposed based on ease of manufacture and
published. For example, Akinci et al. (2005) studied the weight reduction. Maly and Bazzaz (2003) used experimental
failure of a rotary tiller spur gear. Nanaware and Pable (2003) and numerical methods, for design change from casting to
investigated fatigue cracks on the rear axle of a tractor. welding for an axle casing. Mehmet topakci (2008) used
Generally, before any additional load on the tractor, the main finite element method to obtain the stress distribution and
parts of that must be resistant. Each machine is designed for a factor of safety on transmission gear of rotary tiller. After
specific purpose. If you use the machine over its ability, some evaluating of simulation results, stress distributions on gears
showed that gears working without failure according to yield

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stress of gear’s materials. Topac et al. (2009) analyzed
premature fatigue failure of a truck rear axle housing
prototype using finite element method. In the analysis, in
which the vertical fatigue test procedure was simulated, stress
concentrated regions were predicted at the banjo transition
area.
The main objective of this research was to analyze the
front axle housing of MT250D four-wheel drive tractor under
static and dynamic loading conditions and to find the factor
of safety and maximum stress, whether the housing can
tolerate the additional stresses of installation of a mechanical
shovel on the front of tractor or not.

Material and methods

 
The CAD model of the front axle housing of MT250D tractor
was created. The housing essentially consists of two Fig 1. Front axle housing of Mitsubishi tractor
equivalent thin walled shells, which have a uniform thickness
of 6 mm. Two sides of the housing are connected to each
other with 8 bolts. For modeling and stress analysis of the
housing, the commercial 3D modeling and finite element
package Solidworks and Cosmos Works V2010 were used.
To build the finite element model, the housing was meshed
using SOLID45, a higher order three-dimensional solid
element, which has a quadratic displacement behavior and is
well suited to model irregular meshes. The element is defined
by 29 nodes having three translational DOF at each node
(Cosmos works help, V2010) completely bonded contact was
chosen as the contact condition for all connective surfaces.
Finite element model consisted of 40,241elements and
73,214nodes. Fig .1 and fig .2 show the Front axle housing of
commercial tractor and 3D-model, respectively.

Housing material Fig 2. Complete CAD model of the housing

Shells are manufactured by the casting process and their

thickness is 6 mm. The mechanical properties of the material shown in Fig. 3. After obtaining the solution, the results of
which were obtained from the supplier are given in Table 1. analysis can be reviewed using post processing to determine
minimum value of factor of safety and maximum induced
Loads on front axle beam stress and its location.
FE analysis was used to predict the exact location of the
All vehicles are subjected to both static and dynamic loads. In regions where compressive stress concentrations were seen.
this study, static loads, drop test and also the first four natural Stress analysis was carried out using CosmosWorks
frequencies were studied on the housing. Front axle housing commercial FEA software on a 2.56 GHz 2 Duo-core Intel
of tractor is considered as a support for front wheels, Processor SONY VPCCW Workstation.
bodywork or super-structure etc. Static loads that applied on
the front axle housing are as follows: vertical bodywork Calculating safety factor
loads, weight of the bucket, weight of the boom, weight of
hydraulic cylinders of loader and etc. These forces were In designing parts to resist failure, it is assumed that the
determined by experimental and theoretical methods. internal stresses do not exceed the strength of the material. If
the material to be used is brittle, then it is the yield strength
Analysis that designer is usually interested in, because a little
deformation would constitute failure. The distortion-energy
The commercial finite element package Solidworks version theory is also called the Von-Mises theory, which is the most
2010 was used for the solution of the problem. The geometric suitable theory to be used in materials (Shigley and Mischke
model for the front axle was created based on the drawings 1989) .Von-Mises stress, is calculated by using the formula
provided by tractor manufacture. The front axle housing is Von-Mises stress as follows:
modeled with two hexahedral three dimensional elements.
The individual components have been coupled together so (σ1 - σ2)2 - ( σ2 - σ3)2 - ( σ1 - σ3)2 1
that there is no free motion between components. The next σ =( )2 (1)
step was to define the boundary conditions. All degrees of 2
freedom are constrained at the connection plates of the Where σ , σ , σ are principal stresses associated with the
1 2 3
model. The next step was the definition of the loads that have
three principal directions.
to be previously described and defined.
 
The static analysis of front axle was carried out and
elements with average size of 9 mm were used. The meshed
model of front axle housing of MT250D Mitsubishi tractor is

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 Table 1. Mechanical properties of front axle housing of MT250D 4WD tractor.
material Modulus of Poisson’s ratio Yield strength Tensional Density
elasticity strength
E
ASTM A-220 162 GPa 0.26 280 MPa 448 MPa 7300 kg.m-3

Modal analysis

The eligibility of the static strength of front axle housing

cannot prove that it will never break. In reality, the front axle
housing is loaded with some kinds of stimulations, which
result in breakages such as resonance, fatigue and etc. It is
very significant to analyze dynamic characteristic for the
chosen modified design of front axle housing. Modal analysis
of front axle housing is performed by Block Lanczos method
of finite element software CosmosWorks V 2010.
Considering the typical row spacing range from 150 to 400
mm, the field ground profile is modeled with a sinusoidal
wave with a wavelength of 0.3 m and amplitude of 0.15 m.
considering the tractor speed ranges from 2 to 11 km/h, the
maximum value of corresponding frequency is calculated as Fig 3. Finite element model of the housing
below:
11
f = = 10.18 Hz (2)
3.6 × 0.3
Therefore, a frequency range from zero to 11 Hz is
considered for frequency range of harmonic loads.

Transient analysis

In transient analysis, front axle housing of tractor is

considered as a beam that was subjected to one bodyworks
loads (Fig. 4). A dynamic loading condition consists of two
load steps (Fig. 5). In the first load step, the force increased
during the rise time and the value of force at the end of the
first step, reached the maximum value. During the second
load step, value of load remained constant at maximum value.
Rise time and maximum value of dynamic load applied on
the housing were calculated by considering some  
assumptions. Assuming the tractor falls from 0.3 m height, its
speed when reaching the ground, was calculated as follows:
Fig 4. Beam model of front axle subjected to the transient
loads

Vi = 2gh = 2 × 9.81× 0.3 = 2.42m / s (3)

Where, Vi is the tractor speed when reaching the ground in

meters per second and h is the fall height in meters.
Assuming that the tractor tires are compressed by 0.05 m, the
rise time can be calculated using following equation:
h 2 h′
Tr = = =0.041 s (4)
V V
Where T is the rise time in second; h' is the tire compression
r
in meter and is the average speed during rise time in meter
per second. Above equation includes the assumption that the
final speed of the tractor during rise time is zero.
To calculate the maximum value of dynamic load, the
following equation can be used:
 
Δvi 2.42
Fmax = mf × = mf × = 59.024mf = 6.01mf .g Fig 5. Load versus time curve in dynamic loading
Δt 0.041
(5)

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 Fig 6. Overall stress distribution on the housing.

Fig 7. Distribution of factor of safety on housing

Where F is the maximum value of dynamic load, m is the machinery was considered as 6g. (Mirehea 2005). This issue
max f
applied static mass on the front axle and g is the acceleration approximately verifies the mentioned assumptions and
due to gravity. This equation means that the dynamic load is calculations for obtaining the rise time and maximum value
6.01 times as the static load. of dynamic loads applied on the front axle. In this study to
In dynamic loading conditions, the vertical acceleration of increase the design factor of safety, the maximum value of
lumped mass of the vehicle body due to the road surface dynamic load was considered as six times as much as the
roughness can be estimated as six times as much as the applied static load. Subsequently, the defined boundary
acceleration of gravity. This means that the maximum conditions applied to the model were analyzed using post
dynamic loads can be increased to six times as much as the processing. The results of analysis were used to identify the
corresponding loads in static loading conditions. The amount value of maximum induced stress.
of dynamic acceleration for tractors and agricultural

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 Fig 8. The first four mode shapes of housing

Results and discussion

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capacity of bucket intersecting angle up to 100 degrees for farm machineries.
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The authors would like to thank university of Tehran for full University.
support. The authors are also grateful to Dr. Ali jafari,
Esmaeel mahmoodi for their useful help.
.

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