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Keywords: Jounce Bumper, Microcellular polyurethane, Hyperelastic foam, McPherson strut, stiffness, durability, polymer, self-contact.
1. Introduction
Jounce bumper is a part of strut (McPherson struts) assembly in chassis suspension system of light automotives. They are the foamy little progressive spring over the shock rod. In earlier cars, a rubber bumpstop was used to protect against metal-to-metal contact and now they are replaced by a supplemental, active foam spring, which are called micro-cellular progressive jounce bumpers. In recent days almost every car on the road has such Jounce bumper (JB) made of Microcellular polyurethane (MCU) in the front/rear struts. Car manufacturers use this brilliant piece of high-tech engineering for many reasons. By using an almost zero-weight supplemental spring, they build the main (steel) spring with a reduced spring rate for a comfy ride and so their bumpstop have a specifically calculated spring rate and compressed height. This softer spring uses less weight and saving weight is the number one priority for a new car manufacturer.
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Figure 1. Location of Jounce bumper in the struts [2]. The foamy bumpstops are an active working part of the suspension. They work in harmony with the springs and the rest of the suspension components allowing the ride to be comfortable while cruising. When the car is in a handling situation, such as in a turn, they make the car feel firmer for better handling. It works to make the suspension progressive, allowing a smooth transition to full compression. The compressed height is what limits the wheel travel and controls how far the wheel and tire move up into the fender wall. A Load Vs Deflection (L-d) curve for a Jounce Bumper (JB) can be divided into three regions, such as 1. 2. Initial very soft entry region which will depend on the shape design of the JB and this region is responsible for rider feel by minimizing the harsh loading The next gradual climbing middle portion is influenced by both the shape and density design of MCU and it is the decisive region with respect to vehicle handling and so the importance of JB lay over here.
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3.
Finally the very hard travel restriction path is sensitive to density of MCU and plays a major role in energy management
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placed in proper position to have a good fatigue life. Total number of convolutes depends on the total height & density of the JB.
The lower end portion of JB is called Bend lip, its dimensions and shape are very sensitive area in JB design. As this portion will hit the striker plate first and transfer the load. Some of the dimensions A1, A2, A3, A4, b1, b2, b3 & d1 shown in the Figure-5 & Figure-6 have certain level of values for which the Jounce Bumper performs best endurance characteristics.
Figure 5. Some design parameters 2007 Abaqus India Regional Users Meet Page 5 of 10
Figure 6. Striker cup & Retainer ring Many times small design changes will greatly guarantee the product life and mostly this geometric parameters lead to the conflict between load deflection character and fatigue life. Numerous times the needs for a durable design drive away the load-deflection requirement and vice versa. A typical fatigue cycle for jounce Bumper to operate is given below: Maximum load @ 1Hz up to 2000 cycles 2/3 of Maximum Load @ 1.5 Hz up to 18000 cycles 1/6 th of Maximum Load @ 3 Hz up to 280000 cycles.
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1. 2.
At small strains (<5%) the foam deforms in a linear elastic manner due to cell wall bending. The next stage is a plateau of deformation at almost constant stress, caused by the elastic buckling of the columns or plates that make up the cell edges or walls. In closed cells the enclosed gas pressure and membrane stretching increase the level and slope of the plateau. Finally, a region of densification occurs, where the cell walls crush together, resulting in a rapid increase of compressive stress. Ultimate compressive nominal strains of 0.7 to 0.9 are typical.
3.
Figure 7. Experimental material datas. Accurate hyperfoam modeling requires that the experimental data used to define the material parameters correspond to the dominant deformation modes of the problem being analyzed. For small strains (<5%) foams behave similarly for both compression and tension. However, at large strains the deformation mechanisms differ for compression (buckling and crushing) and tension (alignment and stretching). As compression dominates in JB the pertinent tests needed are: 1. 2. 3. 4. Uniaxial compression Simple shear Planar compression (if Poisson's ratio 0) Volumetric compression (if Poisson's ratio 0)
As we have the lateral strain data to define the compressibility of the foam, which eliminates the need for a volumetric test to define the Poisson's ratio. Hence we use compression test data along with lateral strain and a simple shear for our FE analysis. 2007 Abaqus India Regional Users Meet Page 7 of 10
With these experimental datas, Abaqus will calculate the material parameters i, i and i in the elastomeric foam material model. The elastic behavior of the foams is defined through the strain energy function as
N
U=
i =1
2 i ^ ^ ^ 1 + 2 + 3 3+ 1 (( J el ) 2 i i
i i
1)
The quality of this hyperfoam model behavior in Abaqus is assessed by doing single-element test cases to calculate the nominal stressnominal strain response of the material model. Thus prediction of material behavior under different deformation modes are checked to judge the elastomeric foam constants, based on the correlation between the Abaqus predictions and the experimental data. In order to account for the exponential growth of stiffness, we use second order Strain energy potential function (N=2), As with higher order functions the material behavior models at higher strains is strongly sensitive to the material parameters (i, i & i), hence the stability of this material model is checked for different forms of loading.
5. FE Modeling:
JB geometry can be created by solid of revolution method and deformation (folding pattern) to axial compressive loading also follows symmetry about the axis of the part, Hence the classical 2-D Axisymmetric modeling approach is exploited to reduce the computational time (both FE modeling and solver) drastically. Normally for Hyperelastic Elastomer analysis in Abaqus/Standard, it is advisable to use hybrid (mixed formulation) elements than pure displacement formulation elements. But since elastomeric foams are assumed to be highly compressible, the use of hybrid elements will not yield any advantage over the use of normal (purely displacement-based) elements. Hence to reduce the computational time normal continuum Axisymmetric solid elements CAX4 (4-node bilinear) in Abaqus/Standard and CAX4R (4-node bilinear, reduced integration with hourglass control elements) in Abaqus/Explicit were used. Appropriate assumptions are made to meet the purpose JB design with out loosing the essence of underlying physics of MCU behaviors and they are 1. 2. JB is Isotropic and Homogeneous (direction independent and void of blow holes/ air entrapments etc...) Material is non-linear as per dominant deformation mode and capable of 90% compression, the required geometric nonlinearity are accounted during the analysis through non-linear options with friction activated for self contacts.
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3. 4.
Temperature effects are eliminated due to quasi-static analysis and also material relaxation time is enough to neglect the visco-elastic nature of this polymer. Modeled as 2D Axisymmetric problem, due to the existence of geometric, loading and boundary conditions symmetries with respect to JB axis.
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7. Reliability of FE
Most times we are able to get a comparable FE static stiffness curves within 5% deviation with that of test results on prototypes. As complete test load may not be simulated easily and accurately, the nearest feasible loadings are done to get quick computation. Thus lead time for new JB development is reduced considerably
8. Conclusion
In Jounce Bumper, a smart geometric design can guarantees both load deflection characteristics as well as fatigue life. As FEA can readily suit to solve these geometric issues by iterating the parameters to establish a better design before a physical prototype. Hence with the good agreement exists between FEA and lab tests, we can easily satisfy the customer driven parameters such as design space, load deflection characteristics and product life with sound engineering judgments to fetch the business.
9. References
1. A Primer on Jounce Bumper Design Using Microcellular Polyurethane, Daniel G.Dickson, SAE Technical paper Series,2004-01-1541, 2004 2. System Modeling of A Damper Module, Janson J.Tai and Todd A. Bishop, SAE Technical paper Series,2000-01-0727, 2000 3. ABAQUS Documentations. 2007 Abaqus India Regional Users Meet Page 10 of 10