Fatigue failure prediction of a rear axle housing prototype by using finite element analysis

A premature failure that occurs prior to the expected load cycles during the vertical fatigue tests of a rear axle housing prototype is studied. In these tests, crack mainly originated from the same region on test samples. To determine the reason of the failure, a detailed CAD model of the housing was developed. Mechanical properties of the housing material were determined via tensile tests. Using these data, stress and fatigue analyses were performed by finite element method. Fatigue crack initiation locations and minimum number of load cycles before failure initiation were determined. Results provided from tests were compared with the analyses. Design enhancement solutions were proposed to increase the fatigue life of the housing.