MSXIV Steering Arm Analysis

This page contains the findings for conducting FEA on the steering arm.

Loading conditions: (from this Google Sheet)

Vy = 1054.575 N

Mx = 54.8379 N⋅m

My = 147.6405 N⋅m

Mz = 173.5619535 N⋅m

Date	What I learned	Questions after doing the analysis
11/04/19	FEA SEEMS TO BE LINING UP WITH MY CALCS! In the right range! Sharp corners are likely to have the highest stresses. This was also observed by fixing the hole surface of the rod end hole; the pointed edge of the hole had the highest stress in that case. Filleting seems to be good Bend doesn’t affect it a lot The mesh doesn’t need to be crazy small It’s okay if it’s not like the previous steering arm, since our loading case is different	Why are our loading conditions so different from MSXII’s? What happens when you make it thinner and taller? This increases moment of inertia; is it better for torsion? Test this tomorrow How does it work without any fillets? Test this tomorrow
11/05/19	Making the arm thinner was an okay idea Refining mesh made results more predictable Filleting isn't crucial Our culprit is not the rod end hole, but the steering bracket hole	Can we add weight reduction slots? Is it better on the top, bottom, left, or right sides? Should the wall thickness change around the steering bracket hole? Maybe the shape shouldn't be so rectangular there? Look into other shapes.
11/07/19	Started looking into convergence. Dilemma: the Mesh Numbering object must be used to allow Ansys to recognize that the 32k nodes (max number of nodes for student version) hasn't been reached, BUT you can't use Mesh Numbering with the automatic convergence object We might wanna make the end that attaches to the steering bracket even beefier. But the steering bracket is to be changed soon so the contact points will likely be changed as well. Going forward, there definitely are stress concentrations at edges. Deal with this by filleting and removing/filleting the bend in the arm. The bend doesn't need to be so prominent. Brainstorm a more creative way to get flat surface at steering bracket end without the stress concentration in the bend	Should the end attached to the steering bracket end be beefier? Is that normal? What is the maximum acceptable deflection?