Experimental and Numerical Testing of Ambient Temperature Impact on Lifespans of Cuffs of Vehicles’ Steering Systems

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

The authors used experiments and numerical analysis to study the effect of temperature on the lifespan of a cuff. It is an interesting topic from the viewpoint of engineering. However, the following should be considered.

• There are many overlapping contents in “1. Introduction”, and “2. Materials and Methods”. A clear and compact writing is expected.
• 2.1 should be introduced in the “1. Introduction”.
• “3. Description of the experimental setup and testing” is a part of “2. Materials and Methods”.

Author Response

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Reviewer 2 Report

 

You should look at the possible variation in stiffness duringthe number of cycles

Some kind of justification should be included that relates the nº of cycles to  some damage mechanisms in component, e.g. aging,

Define stretch ratio line 259

You should look at the possible variation in stiffness during the number of cycles

 

Author Response

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Reviewer 3 Report

This is a nice practical study, however, the structure is more like a report rather than a scientific paper. I suggest you focus more on the science. Here are some comments that may help you improve the study:

1- The study is on rubber, so add more details on the scientific part of treating rubbers. The effect of temperature on rubbers can be explained and different theories can be discussed. 

2- A simple tension test on the material itself can be very informative. You can compare that for different cases. 

3- What is the reason behind doing the FE simulations? what information you are looking for? you should explain that. Non-scientific details of modelling is not needed. How can you implement effect of temperature in models?

 

Author Response

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Reviewer 4 Report

The presented study includes 

The presented study presents an extensive experimental effort in order  to prove the influence of temperature on lifespans of cuffs of vehicles’ steering systems.

 

The experimental part of the work is overall well written although some grammatical and spelling corrections should be made.

 

The numerical part includes a standard FEM based simulation for rubber components based on standard constitutive equations while only a static analysis is performed without using the temperature as an input boundary condition.

 

Both the experimental and the numerical followed procedures as well as tested the tested material components are standard and, thus, the reviewer, unfortunately may not find any new contributions in the specific study.

 

The results provide clear evidence on the initial observation that temperature effects the cuffs’ life. However, this is common for rubber like material components and is expected.

 

Moreover, the authors should provide some specific new design suggestions in order to add novelty on their work.

 

Taking into account the abovementioned point, I regret that I must recommend rejection of the submitted manuscript.

 

The author are advised to submit their research in a more experimentally-oriented journal.

Author Response

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Round 2

Reviewer 4 Report

The manuscript has significantly been improved. However, the authors should cite the utilized references in the text (some papers are mentioned at the end but not introduced during the presentation). Research studies based on the combination of finite element method and Mooney-Rivlin model should be cited (e.g. DOI: 10.1115/1.2400254) in order to scientifically strengthen the numerical part of the research.

Author Response

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