Stress Relaxations Analysis And Design Research On The M-Structure Of Clock-Spring On Steering-Wheel

Taking the M-structure of the clock-spring on steering-wheel as the subject of studying, using finite element analysis software MARC as analysis tools, the stress & stress relaxations of the M-structure are simulated and analyzed, and the design of the M-structure is optimized based on the analytical results.Based on the status of the clock-spring's research on the operating principles and the working environments and the applications of the M-structure and progress on stress relaxations .The material properties of the clock-spring with M-structure is analyzed. For polymer materials have the problem of stress relaxations under loads in long duration, and the material of M-structure is POM, which is a kind of polymer, so we introduce a theory of finite element analysis on viscoelasticity, which is the material nonlinearity relating to time. The stress distributions of M-structure plugged in the hole of steering wheel is simulated and analyzed; the corresponding stress and stress relaxation is calculated using FEA software MARC, and the structural defects of the original design are found out; Through proper modification of the design of the M-structure, the whole structure's stiffness obtained improvement. So the possible failure problem of DAB airbag due to the stress relaxation of the M-structure is prevented through our design optimization.