A Fast Calculation Method for Improving the Steering Arm of Mining Trucks with Macpherson Suspension

The steering arm has recently been frequently broken in a kind of mining truck with Macpherson suspension. To accelerate replacing the broken parts and minimize the economic cost, a fast calculation method for improving the steering arm is proposed in this paper. In this method, the forces on the steering arm are calculated by quasi-static analysis under a low vehicle velocity. Dynamic characteristics of the tire and road are partly included by considering the ranges of the rolling resistance coefficient and friction coefficient from the empirical values, which determines the torque on the steering arm under extreme conditions. The rigid–flexible coupling model for the left steering mechanism in ANSYS Workbench is established and solved to obtain the distribution stress on the steering arm under extreme conditions. Then, the reliability of the simulation results based on this fast calculation method is verified by the experiment. After determining an improvement scheme considering the economic and time cost, the satisfactory strength is obtained. The results illustrate that the strength of the improved steering arm has nearly doubled. Finally, the effectiveness of the improved steering arm is demonstrated by the users’ feedback after it is manufactured, installed, and used.