Improvement of bionic surface of thrust rod ball joint and finite element analysis

The thrust rod is an important component of heavy-duty vehicles. It can transmit force and torque during vehicle driving and play the role of flexible connection. This paper mainly applies the bionic friction-increasing principle of locust foot pads to the rubber surface of the thrust rod ball joint of commercial vehicles. A bionic ball crown-shaped flexible protrusion is constructed on the surface of the rubber ball joint to increase the stiffness of the ball joint. The height, radius and spacing of the bionic flexible protrusion are changed, and the finite element analysis is performed using Abaqus software to study the radial stiffness, deflection stiffness and torsional stiffness of the thrust rod ball joint. The results show that the best effect is achieved when the protrusion height is 1 mm, the radius is 4 mm and the spacing is 10 mm. Finally, the optimal solution is comprehensively analyzed, and the feasibility of the solution is verified through simulation and experiment.