Welcome to Journal of Automotive Safety and Energy,

Journal of Automotive Safety and Energy ›› 2025, Vol. 16 ›› Issue (5): 679-687.DOI: 10.3969/j.issn.1674-8484.2025.05.002

• Automotive Safety • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Effective area estimation method based on performance degradation mechanism of rolling-lobe air springs

WU Mingyu1,2(), WANG Yafei1,2, CHEN Junjie3, ZHONG Hong3, LI Yaochao4, WEI Yintao5, LIU Xiang6, ZHANG Yifei7,*()   

  1. 1. School of Mechanical Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 00240, China
    2. School of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, Jiangxi University of Science and Technology, Ganzhou 341000, China
    3. Shanghai Jiao Tong University Sichuan Research Institute, Chengdu 610213, China
    4. BYD Auto Industry Company Limited, Shenzhen 518118, China
    5. School of Vehicle and Mobility, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China
    6. Shanghai Cijian Automobile Suspension Co., Ltd., Shanghai 201111, China
    7. Key Laboratory of Expressway Construction Machinery of Shaanxi Province, Chang’an University, Xi’an, 710064, China
  • Received:2024-12-02 Revised:2025-05-13 Online:2025-10-31 Published:2025-11-10

Abstract:

An effective area prediction model was built based on composite material theory and fatigue degradation mechanisms to predict the dynamic response behaviors of rolling-lobe air springs over their full lifecycle. The evolving fatigue characteristics of cords and rubber materials were introduced to establish a multi-physical coupling relationship, in which the effective area was modeled as a function of the fatigue cycles and the deformation excitation amplitude under force. Dynamic validation tests were carried out under different fatigue cycles and deformation excitation amplitudes. The results show that the model prediction error is within 1% at different degradation stages. The effective-area increases with both the fatigue cycles and the deformation excitation amplitude; but decreases with the elastic modulus of the cords and the rubber materials. The effective-area growth trend at 50 °C accelerates and exhibits nonlinear characteristics.

Key words: automotive engineering, vehicle suspension systems, rolling-lobe air-spring, performance degradation, effective area, rubber diaphragm

CLC Number: