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MODEL FREQUENCY ANALYSIS OF AUTOMOTIVE EXHAUST SYSTEM

Article · February 2014

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Int. J. Mech. Eng. & Rob. Res. 2014 D Jai Balaji et al., 2014

ISSN 2278 ñ 0149 www.ijmerr.com

Vol. 3, No. 1, January 2014
© 2014 IJMERR. All Rights Reserved

Research Paper

MODEL FREQUENCY ANALYSIS OF

AUTOMOTIVE EXHAUST SYSTEM

D Jai Balaji1*, P V Srihari1 and Veeranna B Sheelvanth2

*Corresponding Author: D Jai Balaji,
jaibalajid@gmail.com

An exhaust system has various aspects including vibrations, acoustics, thermal distribution and
durability in addition to its interface with the vehicle. Presently exhaust systems are developed
to minimise noise, minimise emissions, increase durability, minimise corrosion, better
serviceability and make it economically viable. Modal analysis is the study of dynamic behaviour
of structure at its various natural frequencies by studying its mode shapes. Marcus Myrén and
Thomas Englund used beam elements, rigid elements and mass elements to represent an
exhaust system in their work for simulation purpose. In this paper modal analysis of an automotive
exhaust system for a passenger car was studied and a combination of shell and solid elements
are used to represent the exhaust system to get better results in modal frequency domain. The
exhaust system was modelled using Catia and discretized using Hypermesh, solved using
ABAQUS solver. The results were viewed in HYPERVIEW and excitation points were found out
in transverse direction.

Keywords: Automotive exhaust system, Finite element analysis, Model analysis

INTRODUCTION evaluation of structural strength. Modal

The automotive industry is heading in the
direction of signing off the exhaust system
durability based on computer simulation
rather than rig simulation and physical vehicle
testing. This is due to the cost, time and
availability of prototype vehicles and test
track. Use of Finite Element Method (FEM)
enables to assure the structural integrity of
the exhaust system and also contribute to
better understanding of the system behaviour
in the various operating conditions and
analysis is used here to find the various
periods at which the exhaust system will
naturally resonate. Exhaust systems are
special cases in vehicles because of their
geometry and the constraints placed on their
design by the underside of the cars. An
exhaust system is generally piping system
used for muffling the noises caused by high
pressure exhaust gases from the engine and
avoid the hot/toxic gases from entering the
passenger compartment. Exhaust systems

1
Department of Mechanical Engineering, R.V. College of Engineering, Bangalore, India
2
Asst Manager (FEA), Faurecia Emissions Control Technologies Bangalore Technical Centre, Bangalore, India

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Int. J. Mech. Eng. & Rob. Res. 2014
are subjected to many loads, the most
important one coming from the engine and
the road condition loads. The induced
vibrations are spread along the exhaust
system, and forces are hence transmitted to
the car body through the attached points. A
flex decoupler is used to reduce the vibrations
transferred from the engine to the exhaust
system and hanger isolators are used to
reduce vibrations transferred from exhaust
system to the body structure.
GEOMETRICAL AND FINITE
ELEMENT MODEL OF THE
EXHAUST SYSTEM
CAD Modeling of Exhaust System
An exhaust system usually consists of pipes,
acoustic and emission control components
and decoupling elements. Since we are
interested in only Structural analysis of the
exhaust system, the internal peripherals of
the muffler and the catalytic convertor are
neglected. An inline exhaust system is
considered for analysis in this paper which
has a catalytic converter at the inlet pipe, a
flexible coupling, a resonator, a mid muffler
and rear muffler the exit. Figure 1 shows the
CAD Model of an inline exhaust system and
Figure 2 describe the parts of the same.
Finite Element Modeling of
Exhaust System
The exhaust system cold end components
such as down pipe, catalytic converter,
flexible coupling, under resonator, muffler and
Table 1: Material Properties
Sl. Parts Material Name
No.
1 Pipes & Flanges SS4510
2 Weld SS308
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D Jai Balaji et al., 2014
tail pipe are made of stainless steel of various
grades such as SS4501, SS308, SS4301 and
FE410. CAD model was checked for
geometry cleanup and mid surface extraction.
FE model was developed by using pre-
processing software Hypermesh. The Figure
3 shows the FE model of the exhaust system.
Majority of components were modelled with
shell elements (CQuad4) and flanges were
modelled with solid elements (CHexa). The
connections between flange and bracket bolt
holes were made with rigid elements i.e.
RBE2. The welded seams were modelled
using solid elements (CHexa & CPenta).
When modeling welded seams, it is important
to ensure that at least one row of shell is lying
entirely on the solids in order to depict the
connection with sufficient resistance to
bending. C3D6 elements form the runout of
the fillet welds. The flexible coupling was
represented using a Joint C spring element.
To define tie contacts between surfaces,
contact manager was used in Hypermesh.
Perforated or punched metal pipes were
also taken into account in the modelling
process. This was done by inserting a
separate shell component. Depending on the
type of perforation, the wall thickness is to
be revised lesser than the unpunched
condition. The value was taken as around 80
- 85% of the initial value. The Table 1 shows
the different materials used for different parts
with their properties.
Young’s modulus, Poisson’s Density,
N/mm2 ratio T/mm3
2.16 E+05 0.30 7.6 E-09
1.90 E+05 0.28 7.9 E-09
333
Int. J. Mech. Eng. & Rob. Res. 2014 D Jai Balaji et al., 2014

Figure 1: CAD Model of an Inline Exhaust System

Figure 2: CAD Model of an Inline Exhaust System

Figure 3: Finite Element Model

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Int. J. Mech. Eng. & Rob. Res. 2014 D Jai Balaji et al., 2014

MODEL ANALYSIS Table 2: Modes and Frequencies

Modal analysis is the study of properties of
structures under vibrational excitation. Modal Mode Number Frequency
analysis uses the overall mass and stiffness 1 9.23378E-05
of a structure to find the various periods at
2 3.23654E-04
which it will naturally resonate during free
vibration. Most of the times the only desired 3 4.09668E-04

modes are the lowest frequencies because 4 5.77535E-04

they can be the major modes at which the 5 5.85284E-04
structure will vibrate, dominating all the higher
6 6.23209E-04
modes. The objective of free-free analysis is
to make sure first 6 natural frequencies equal 7 2.0244
to zero. It is also a model check for FEM. 8 2.7619
In free-free modal analysis no constraints 9 3.2646
are applied to the system. Results include 10 4.7640
natural frequency, mode shapes and
11 21.861
displacement for each mode. Strain energy
results are in various forms and are used to 12 24.119
identify critical locations in the model for each 13 101.40
mode. If a location appears critical for several
14 106.89
modes, then it definitely is a potential failure
location. 15 110.15

16 113.49
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
17 216.69
Table 2 shows the modes extracted from the
18 225.27
free-free modal analysis performed on the
exhaust system. Block Lanczos method was 19 285.54
used to extract the mode shapes of the 20 306.27

Figure 3: Showing 9th Mode of Exhaust System with Bending in Z-Direction

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Int. J. Mech. Eng. & Rob. Res. 2014
Figure 4: Showing 14th Mode of Exhaust System with Bending in Z-Direction
exhaust system. The first six modes shows
rigid body modes in three linear directions
and rotational directions which are zero or
equal to zero. This is one of the finite element
validation methods for free–free modal
analysis.
The nodal points shown in the Figure 3
and Figure 4 are at mode 9 and mode 14
due to bending in Z-direction where the
displacement is zero.
CONCLUSION
This paper deals with the study of an exhaust
system in general, using modal analysis. The
mode shapes observed from Finite Element
Analysis is mostly in transverse directions.
So the excitation points are chosen such
that it excites the system in both the
transverse directions. It will give the general
guidelines on how to perform modal analysis
in the initial stage of the project and check
for nodal and anti-nodal points from mode
shape animation. The nodal points are to be
considered as preliminary hanger locations
for the exhaust system as this is where the
displacement is minimum.
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D Jai Balaji et al., 2014
SCOPE OF FUTURE WORK
Further to the above analysis static and
dynamic analysis, temperature distribution
analysis, thermal stress analyses can be
performed in order to simulate components
such as catalytic converter, manifold flange,
front pipes, flexible coupling etc.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
The authors would like to thank everyone who
was helpful in providing necessary
information and for their support.
REFERENCES
1. Arun Viswanathan and Dr Elaya Perumal
(2009), “Deciding Isolator and Mounting
Points of a Truck’s Exhaust System
Based on Numerical and Experimental
Modal Analysis”, ICSV 16, Krakow.
2. Marcus Myrén and Jörgen Olsson
(1999), “Modal Analysis of Exhaust
System”, M S Thesis, University of
Karlskrona/Ronneby.
3. P Verboven, R Valgaeren, M Van
Overmeire and P Guillaume (1998)
“Some Comments on Modal Analysis
Int. J. Mech. Eng. & Rob. Res. 2014 D Jai Balaji et al., 2014

Applied to Automotive Exhaust System”,

16th International Modal Analysis
Conference, IMAC XVI.
4. Thomas Englund, “Dynamic
Characteristics of Automobile Exhaust
System components”, M S Thesis,
University of Karlskrona/Ronneby, 2003.

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