To Study the Design Optimization of the Tie Rod with Mass Reduction using CAD/CAE Tools

In the present work, a three dimensional model of a Car tie rod is prepared in CAD modelling tool SOLIDWORKS and imported into FEM assisted CAE tool, ANSYS. A proper description of FEM is also presented to describe the working of this technique. First of all the Failure analysis of the tie rod is done to determine the sensitive region of the tie rod and failing forces. The material assigned to the model is AISI 8620 alloy steel. The meshing of the tie rod is done and then proper boundary conditions are applied and the equivalent stress and deformation is calculated. The failure analysis shows that the highest stresses are produced at the edge of the threaded joint of tie rod and the under the compressive forces of 4205 N, the stresses surpass the compressive yield strength of the material and tend to fail the tie rod. The changes in the sensitive part of the tie rod are done in order to reduce the stresses induced in the tie rod. The fillets are added to the edge of the threaded joint of the tie rod and for each case, the structural analysis using same boundary condition and forces is done to determine the values of equivalent stress and mass of the tie rod. The compressive forces kept are 4200 N since this was the highest value at which tie rod remains safe during failure analysis. The modification is done only in the sensitive part of the tie rod. After the structural analysis of each case of change, it is found that the maximum stress reduction is 30.014 and the mass reduction percentage is 0.27 when compared to the original model.