HEAVY TRUCK 5TH WHEEL MODELING TECHNIQUES IN FINITE ELEMENT AND THEIR EFFECT ON STRESS DISTRIBUTION

Finite element analysis has been used widely in the automotive industry to evaluate design alternatives. Especially when there is no prototype part for rig or vehicle testing, CAE (Computer Aided Engineering) is the only tool to evaluate whether the design meets its target or not. Truck chassis, 5th wheel table and its reinforcement has been modeled for stress calculations under 5th wheel forces. Various FE modeling techniques have been evaluated, including assembly loads and contact modeling, and their effect on the stress distribution has been demonstrated. The aim of this paper is to demonstrate the important parameters that effect stress distribution on the critical areas under the 5th wheel.