Analysis of large deformation and fatigue life of fabric braided composite hose subjected to cyclic loading

The braking hose in the automotive hydraulic braking system exhibits the complicated anisotropic large deformation while its movable end is moving along the cyclic path according to the steering and bump/rebound motions of vehicle. The complicated large deformation may cause not only the interference with other adjacent automotive parts but also the durability problem resulting in the fatal microcraking. In this regard, the design of high-durable braking hose with the interference-free layout becomes a hot issue in the automotive industry. However, since it has been traditionally relied on the cost-/time-consuming trial and error experiments, the cost-and time-effective optimum design method that can replace the experiment is highly desirable. Meanwhile, the hose deformed configuration and fatigue life are different for different hose cyclic paths, so that their characteristic investigation becomes an important preliminary research subject. As a preliminary step for developing the optimum design methodology, we in this study investigate the hose deformed configuration and the fatigue life for four representative hose cyclic paths.