Selection Of Representative Load To Evaluate The Effects Of Relative Damage On Vehicle Durability

Durability is one of the most important factors in vehicle performance; thus, a proper method to evaluate the durability of the vehicle is required. A real vehicle for an endurance test requires rather longer time; a mode extraction method that generates a combination of test roads is widely used. When a relative damage theory, which defines relative severity based on the representative load, is applied, a meaningful selection of representative loads is significant. In previous studies, wheel loads were used as a representative load for vehicle durability; however, there is no reported basis for selection. Therefore, in this study, a process of selecting a representative load by using the correlation coefficient was developed under the assumption that the stress history is directly related to the fatigue analysis. A driving simulation was then conducted by using the flexible multi-body dynamics model of the vehicle; the results were analyzed to validate the selection of the representative load.