DEVELOPMENT OF STANDARD FOR VEHICLE INPUT LOADS

THE PROPOSED WORK WILL REVIEW EXISTING STANDARDS FOR VEHICLE MANUFACTURERS AND EXISTING LITERATURE TO MAKE A DETERMINATION OF WHETHER AND HOW A SUITABLE DESIGN STANDARD FOR VEHICLE SUSPENSION SYSTEMS AND FRAMES CAN BE DEVELOPED, AND TO DEVELOP SUCH A STANDARD IN TERMS OF LOADS (AS MULTIPLES OF THE ACCELERATION OF GRAVITY-"G'S"), AS A FUNCTION OF VEHICLE TYPE, TERRAIN, AND SPEED. THIS EFFORT WILL ALSO EVALUATE THE FEASIBILITY OF SPECIFYING THESE DESIGN ACCELERATION LEVELS AS FUNCTIONS OF FREQUENCY (THE NATURAL FREQUENCY OF THE VEHICLE COMPONENT UNDER CONSIDERATION). THIS STUDY WILL DETERMINE WHETHER THIS STANDARD CAN BE DEVELOPED SUCH THAT IT WILL ENCOMPASS EXISTING VEHICLE DESIGN STANDARDS, BASED ON THE APPLICATION OF POWER SPECTRAL DENSITY AND SHOCK SPECTRUM METHODS (THE FORMER PRINCIPALLY FOR VIBRATION AND THE LATTER FOR SHOCK EFFECTS).