Finite Element Analysis of Titanium Suspension Pick-up Points in High-Downforce Applications

Suspension pick-up points sit at the intersection of the two most demanding requirements in motorsport: they must be light, and they must never fail. As aerodynamic downforce levels have climbed across every major series, the cyclic loads passing through these joints have grown to a point where conventional steel mountings carry an unacceptable weight penalty. Our engineering team set out to qualify a titanium alternative using full finite element analysis before a single part was ever cut.

Defining the load case

We modelled peak combined braking and cornering events at a representative high-downforce circuit, layering vertical, lateral and longitudinal loads onto each pick-up. Rather than rely on a single worst-case figure, the analysis ran across a spectrum of duty cycles to capture the fatigue behaviour that ultimately governs component life. The result is a stress map that highlights exactly where material can be removed and where it absolutely cannot.

Every gram we remove from unsprung mass pays back twice — once in performance, and once in the loads the rest of the assembly has to survive.

Validated thermal stress testing

Titanium's behaviour under sustained thermal load differs meaningfully from steel, so the validation programme included thermal cycling that mirrors brake-heat soak during long stints. The pick-up points held tolerance through the full test envelope, with no measurable creep at the bonded interfaces. These results give teams the confidence to specify the lighter assembly without revisiting their existing safety margins.

New manufacturing protocols have now been released for both V10 and V12 architectures, with certified CAD files and compliance certificates available through the technical documentation portal. Teams running 2026 high-downforce packages can request validated inventory directly through their account manager.