Computer Aided Structral Analysis of a Tie Rod End

The tie rod end is one of the most elementary parts of a steering mechanism, which has direct and crucial importance in terms of driving safety. The main function of this part is to transfer the routing, coming from the steering linkage, to steering knuckle via tie rot arm. In this study the structural analysis of a tie rod end part for a van-type vehicle is carried out by finite element (FE) modeling of the body, the joint and the bearing. Hence, unlike the previous studies in literature, each component of the tie rod end is included in FE model and a complete assembly is analyzed by means of contact interactions between parts. The analyses for the joint assembly are carried out for different possible tie-end orientations, and by this modeling approach, the stress variations and deformation characteristics of each component are investigated for different operational loading conditions.