Strand7 Software:  Galleries:  Automotive:  Differential case

Differential case

Cast differential case for rear wheel drive automobile. The frequency solver is used to predict the natural modes of vibration. This is an important consideration in the design of gear housings to reduce the likelihood of resonances resulting in excessively noisy operation.

The surface is modelled from plate and shell elements. Some brick elements are used for modelling locally thick regions inside the case.

The first mode is a global deformation mode at 1957 Hz.

Higher order modes are typically local modes such as an outer rib vibrating at 2208 Hz. These modes are usually easy to eliminate by making minor design changes such as adding local stiffening.