Combined thermoelastic and photoelastic stress analysis of an automotive front suspension link

By means of full field experimental stress analysis only a combination of principal stresses can be obtained. In this paper the photoelastic and thermoelastic stress analysis techniques have been applied and integrated in order to obtain the two principal stresses and their relative directions. For this aim a complex mechanical component has been studied: the lower arm of a front automotive suspension. The combined use of strain gauge analysis provided information on both the applicability of the method and the precision of the measurements.