• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.41 no.10
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• pp.975-981
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• 2017

Savings in weight using lightweight materials such as aluminum alloy can lead to increase fuel economy. However, compared to steel, aluminum alloys have a lower strength for an equivalent life cycle. To reduce the weight of automobiles, research is being performed on the fabrication of lighter and stronger torque struts without having to sacrifice the safety of automotive components. In this study, a weight reduction design process for torque struts is proposed that is based on varying von-Mises stress contours using an aluminum alloy (A356) having a tensile strength of 245 MPa, instead of STKM11A steels. The optimized design can reduce the weight of the original steel torque strut by over 42% and it can contribute to the design of light-weight components and to the safe design of torque struts.