Design Modification for Failed Grill Bracket using Finite Element Analysis

Grill is a part placed on vehicle located in front of the Engine cooling module by means of bracket. The purpose of the Grill is to protect the cooling module from front impact and at the same time provide appropriate aesthetic value to the vehicle. This report presents the failure analysis of grill bracket of Engine cooling module of a Truck using Finite Element Analysis. The Grill bracket has failed in the field before warranty period so it has to be replaced with new one. Replacing old bracket means economic loss to the company. The Failure of this Grill bracket is analysed using Finite Element Analysis. 3 D models were created using Pro –E CAD softwares and Finite element analysis was done using Medina and Permas softwares. After doing Finite Element Analysis it was observed that high stresses were coming at failure location on the Grill bracket. The high stresses were mainly observed due to accelerations loads. Several proposals for alternate designs were created considering the packaging data, availability of the standard materials and manufacturing feasibility. These alternate designs were again checked by finite element analysis. The most optimized design was finalized through this process. The finalized design showed 60% lower stress values at failure location compared to current design. New proposed design was found to pass the given warranty period (100000 miles). Thus Finite element analysis proved to be very suitable tool for the situation where quick solution is expected.