Design Optimization of Stabilizer Bar Link Used in Sedan Vehicles

ISSN(Online): 2319-8753
ISSN (Print): 2347-6710
International Journal of Innovative Research in Science,

Engineering and Technology
(A High Impact Factor, Monthly, Peer Reviewed Journal)
Visit: www.ijirset.com
Vol. 8, Issue 5, May 2019
Design Optimization of Stabilizer Bar Link

Used In Sedan Vehicles
Farhan E M1, Dr.S.Sankar2, Tedy Thomas3 , Deepak.V.K4
PG Student, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, Nehru College Of Engineering and Research Centre, Thrissur,
Kerala,India1
HOD, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, Nehru college of engineering and Research Centre,Thrissur,Kerala,India 2
Assistant Professor, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, Nehru college of engineering and Research Centre, Thrissur,
Kerala, India3
Assistant Professor, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, Nehru college of engineering and Research Centre, Thrissur,
Kerala, India4
ABSTRACT: Suspension is the system of tyres, springs, shock absorbers and linkages that connects a vehicle to its
wheels and allows relative motion between the two. Suspension systems must support road holding, handling and ride
quality, which are at odds with each other. Normally the ball joints on stabilizer bar link at either end deteriorate and
develop lost movement which can be heard as a rattling or knocking noise. If this is ignored and the link rod actually
breaks, the anti-roll bar becomes completely ineffective. In this project, an existing model of stabilizer bar link is
designed in SolidWorks 2016 Edition, and analyzed the same in Ansys15.0.Then two modified designs are modeled
with change in shape of the link rod and introduction of spring in ball joint housing.Modified designs are analysed and
compared with the existing design.Three different materials such as Stainless steel, Titanium alloy and Grey cast iron
has been analysed in order to find out the best suitable material for the stabilizer bar link.A suspension system is also
designed according to the specification of an common sedan car,where the existing and modified stabilizer bar link is
installed to and analysed.Static structural and modal analysis are done on the designed models and results are
compared. From the results it can be concluded that spring introduced stabilizer bar link applied with stainless steel is
the best choice for application in the ssuspension system of sedan vehicles.
KEYWORDS: Stabilizer bar link,Sway bar link, Balljoint,Titaniumalloy,Stainlesssteel,Grey cast iron
I. INTRODUCTION
A sway or stabilizer bar prevents the car body from leaning too much and keeps the vehicle stable when driving in
turns. Most of the cars have one sway bar in the front and another separate sway bar in the rear suspension. Some cars
have only one sway bar in the front suspension. Sports cars have thicker sway bars for better stability when cornering.A
sway bar is connected via rubber bushings to the car body or frame in the middle. Outer ends of the sway bar are
connected to the parts of the vehicle suspension that holds the wheel (struts or control arms). The part that connects the
outer ends of the sway bar to the suspension component is called a sway bar link. In most cars a sway bar link has two
small ball joints at each end.Over time, the sway bar link ball joints wear out. The first sign of a worn-out sway bar link
is a knocking noise from the suspension when driving slow over road bumps. In rare cases, if the grease inside the sway
bar link joints dries up, it may also make a creaking noise when the suspension is moving up and down. Your mechanic
can check the sway bar links while performing a regular service with the car on the lift. A worn-out sway bar link will
show a free play when pushed up or down. An extremely worn out sway bar link can separate. This will cause your car
Copyright to IJIRSET DOI:10.15680/IJIRSET.2019.0805085 5597

ISSN (Print): 2347-6710

to lean excessively in turns and feel less stable and secure on the road. A worn-out sway bar link must be replaced to
keep your vehicle safe.
II. DESIGN PROCEDURE
This section deals with the process of modeling. Model is a representation of an object, a system, or an idea in some
form other than that of the entity itself. Modeling is the process of producing a model; a model is a representation of the
construction and working of some system of interest. A model is similar to but simpler than the system it represents.
Generally, a model intended for a simulation study is a mathematical model developed with the help of simulation
software. Softwares commonly used for modelling are SolidWorks, Creo, Catia, Unigraphics etc. In this project
SolidWorks 2016 edition is used for the modelling process.
Design of stabilizer bar link

Table 1 Dimensions of stabilizer bar link with spring
S.no Description Dimensions(mm)
1 Length of the rod 230

2 Radius of the ball 8
bearing
3 Radius of the flange 7
4 Length of the screw 21
5 Radius of the screw 4.25
6 Angle of the bend 200
7 Length of the spring 5
Fig.1 Stabilizer bar link with spring 8 Radius of the bush 9.38
Design of suspension system Table 2 Dimensions of suspension system
S.no Description Dimensions(mm)

1 Length of the spring 254
2 Radius of the spring 5
wire
3 Total length of system 479
4 Radius of the flange 69
5 Thickness of the flange 2
Fig.2 Suspension system

ISSN (Print): 2347-6710

III. ANSYS PROCEDURE
This section deals with the analysis of the designed model. The model that is in STEP format is analysed. Static
structural analysis of both stabilizer bar link and suspension system is performed by applying the working load and
number of supports used is two. The model is imported to Ansys and meshing is performed. The mesh size used is 4.4
mm. From the results obtained optimal design is selected. Suitable materials are applied to three different models of
stabilizer bar link and modal analysis is performed. Different softwares such as Comsol, Radioss solver, Abaqus,
Hypermesh, Ansys etc. are used for analysis. In this project Ansys R15.0 is used for design analysis.
Design analysis
The figure shown below represents the meshed image of total suspension system and the force application in the
stabilizer bar link
Fig.3 Meshed image of total suspension system Fig.4 Force application in stabilizer bar link
The figure shown below represents the total deformation in the stabilizer bar link with spring
Table 3 Overview of analysis results
Total
Stabilizer bar
Sl.No deformation(mm)
link
Max
1 Ordinary 12.388
With change in
2 8.3413
shape
3 Spring 5.0527
Fig.5.Total deformation of stabilizer bar link with spring

ISSN (Print): 2347-6710

From the analysis results it can be concluded that the stabilizer with introduction of spring have the least value of
maximum total deformation. Hence stabilizer bar link with spring is selected for further analyses.The figure shown
below represents the total deformation of suspension system with spring introduced stabilizer bar link
Table 4 Overview of analysis results
Total
Suspension
Sl.No deformation(mm)
system
Max
With ordinary
1 1.3146
stabilizer bar link
With shape
2 changed stabilizer 1.1602
bar link
With spring
3 introduced 0.62821
Fig.6 Total deformation of suspension system
stabilizer bar link
with spring introduced stabilizer bar link
From the analysis results it can be concluded that the suspension system with spring introduced stabilizer bar link have
the least value of maximum total deformation. Hence suspension system with spring introduced stabilizer bar link is
selected as the best suitable system.
IV. MATERIAL OPTIMISATION
Table 5 Overview of analysis results of the stabilizer bar link using three different materials
Stainle Titaniu Grey cast
Design parameter
ss steel m Alloy iron
Total Max 3.897 5.7353 5.0527
deformation
(mm) Min 0 0 0
Max 3.5731 5.1838 4.5908
Directional
deformation -
-
(mm) Min 0.0316 -0.020947
0.02174
93
Max 309.75 589.98 541.49
Equivalent
stress (MPa) 0.0025 0.00477
Min 0.0040365
005 71
0.0016 0.00489
Max 0.0043833
Equivalent 135 22
elastic strain 3.1246 6.8763e
Min 5.7885e-8
e-8 -8

ISSN (Print): 2347-6710

The above shown table represents analysis results of the stabilizer bar link using three different materials.Three
different materials are applied to the stabilizer bar link with spring and the analysis results are compared to select the
most suitablematerial. The three different materials used for analyses are Stainless Steel, Titanium Alloy, Grey Cast
Iron.
V. MODAL ANALYSIS
Table 6 Comparison of the natural frequencies of the Table 7 Comparison of the natural frequencies of
three different models of stabilizer bar link stabilizer bar link applied with different materials
Change Grey
With Sl.No Mode Stainless Titanium Cast
Sl.No Mode Ordinary in
spring Steel Alloy Iron
shape
1 1 1 34.515 32.236 30.066
1 22.082 25.32 30.066
2 2 2 2 34.69 34.225 31.487
24.047 25.681 31.487
3 3 3 3 278.97 271.26 240.77
247.3 250.93 240.77
4 4 4 4 280.74 275.04 241.26
253.13 256.91 241.26
5 5 5 5 423.55 363.62 350.93
344.15 311.87 350.93
6 6 6 6 526.27 575.4 508.87
466.47 460.54 508.87
By comparing the results of modal analysis listed in the Table 6 and 7,it can be clearly understood that the spring
introduced stabilizer bar link applied with stainless steel is the best suitable for the suspension system.
VI. RESULT AND DISCUSSION
Fig. 7 Total deformation of three different models of stabilizer bar link

ISSN (Print): 2347-6710

From the above graph,we can see that the total deformation has reduced by 32.67% when the shape of the stabilizer bar
link was changed compared to the ordinary shape.We can also see that the total deformation has reduced by 59.21%
when a spring is introduced in the ball bearing housing compared to the ordinary one.
6 5.7353
5.0527
5
3.897
4 STAINLESS STEEL
3
TITANIUM ALLOY
2
GREY CAST IRON
1
0
Max
Total deformation (mm)
Fig 8 Comparison of spring introduced stabilizer bar link applied with three different materials.
From the above graph,we can see that the total deformation of the stabilizer bar linkhas reduced by 11.90% when it is
applied with Grey cast iron compared to Titanium alloy.We can also see that the total deformation has reduced by
32.05% when it is applied with Stainless steel compared to Titanium alloy.
VII CONCLUSION
In this project three different models of stabilizer bar link were designed using SolidWorks 2016 edition and the
designed model was analysed using ANSYS R15.0. From the analysis results it was found out that stabilizer bar link
with spring introduced in the ball bearing housing has minimum total deformation. Then a suspension system was
designed according to the specification of a common sedan vehicle and was subjected to a force of 500N and it is here
where the stabilizer bar link acts. After analysis it is found that the suspension system with spring introduced stabilizer
bar link has the least total deformation. From the three different materials such as Stainless Steel, Titanium alloy and
Grey cast iron applied, analysis results shows that the stabilizer bar link applied with Stainless steel provides least total
deformation. Results on modal analysis show that stabilizer bar link with spring exhibits higher natural frequency.
Modal analysis on spring introduced stabilizer bar link with three different materials such as Stainless steel, titanium
alloy and Grey cast iron also proves that Stainless steel have higher natural frequency. From above results we can
conclude that spring introduced stabilizer bar link applied with Stainless steel proves to be the best choice for improved
performance in sedan vehicles.

ISSN (Print): 2347-6710

REFERENCES
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Engineering Research Group, Eafit University, Cra. 49 No. 7 sur 50, Medellin, Colombia
[2] AnshulDhakar and RishavRanjan, Force calculation in upright of a formula sae race car, Department of
Mechanical Engineering, RV College of Engineering,
[3] SadjyotBiswal,AravindPrasanth, Dr. R Udayakumar, Shobhit Deva, AmanGupta,Design of a suspension system
and determining suspension parametersof a medium downforce small Formula type car.Automotive, Mechanical
Department, BITS Pilani Dubai Campus, DIAC, 345055
[4] C. Kavitha , S. Abinav Shankar , B. Ashok Adaptive Suspension Strategy For A Double Wishbone Suspension
Through Camber And Toe Optimization .A. Criminisi, P. Perez, and K. Toyama, “Region filling and object
removal by exemplar-based image inpainting.”, IEEE Transactions on Image Processing, vol. 13, no.9, pp. 1200–
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[5] PetreAlexandru, Ion Visa, CatalinAlexandru 3modeling The Angular Capability Of The Ball Joints In A Complex
Mechanism With Two Degrees Of Mobility .Yassin M. Y. Hasan and Lina J. Karam, “Morphological Text
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ISSN(Online): 2319-8753

ISSN (Print): 2347-6710

International Journal of Innovative Research in Science,