Application of the Photoelastic Coating Technique in Car Suspension Failure Analysis

The article presents the results of an experiment carried out to determine the cause of damage to the right rear trailing arm of a passenger car. The routine inspection of the vehicle and the test of the arm damaged during the running have indicated production defects as the cause of a dangerous failure. The results of the expertise were questioned and the thesis was formulated that the process of the rocker failure was initiated during the theft of wheels by raising the car in a manner inconsistent with the manufacturer's instructions. A simulation of this event was carried out by lifting the vehicle on the trailing arm. To assess the effort of the rocker, the photoelastic coating technique was used. The analysis of the measurement results showed that the theft incident could not initiate the fatigue process that led to the failure of the trailing arm.