I have a project rapidly approaching for which i plan to do FEA analysis on various strut tower bars available for the prelude. I would greatly appreciate any help you guys could give me with the following:

Dimensions (length, angles, diameter, thickness, etc..)
Material

The easiest way might be to just dimension a cross sectional view, and then give the lengths and bend angles. If you can't give me 100% accurate measurements, thats fine.. just tell me that they're not exact and that sorta thing.

I want to do analysis on at least 3 or 4 bars and i'll post up whatever results I achieve with the analysis when i'm done. The results won't be 100% accurate as some assumptios will have to be made.

Thanks for your help! Any questions, let me know.

 

what is FEA analysis, btw? and are you going to test these bars under load? as someone who thinks strut bars are a waste, i'm most interested in knowing whether these things actually work or not so...

good luck.

 

FEA is finite element analysis... you form a computer model of the part and do 'virtual testing' i guess would be the easiest way to describe it. I dont' have the resources or money to actually test the bars. The analysis will allow me to determine the maximum deflection and maximum stress that each bar sees. Although these numbers might not be exact as i will have to estimate the load applied and assume certain boundary conditions, what it WILL do is give a comparison between bars since all will be analyzed with the same loads and conditions. The better the measurements and more accurate the material information... the better the comparison.

 

ah i c. that sounds pretty interesting.

how are you going to estimate the loads on the bar?

 

I figure i'll assume a certain mph around a corner, use that to try to estimate the force in some way. Not entirely certain yet, but it'll definately be an approximation.