Verification of Computer Aided Engineering (CAE) in Optimization of Chassis for Tricycle

International Journal of Innovative Research in Advanced Engineering (IJIRAE) ISSN: 2349-2763
Issue 06, Volume 3 (June 2016) www.ijirae.com
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Verification of Computer Aided Engineering (CAE) in
Optimization of Chassis for Tricycle
Agbadua Segun A., Obinwa Chinedu C., Agbomabinu Emmanuel A., Sheidu Sumaila Onimisi and Joseph
Michael Irabodemeh
National Engineering Design Development Institute P.M.B 5082, Nnewi, Anambra State, Nigeria.
PMB 5082. Nnewi, Anambra State. Nigeria.
Abstract - Computer Aided Engineering (CAE) has been an important tool in the process of automotive product
development. Chassis of the automobile are subjected to excitations from the road conditions and due to engine operations
during their life cycle. While designing this component, it should be ensured that it with stand the random vibration loads
for the life cycle of the vehicle. The chassis was modelled in solid works and analyzed in ANSYS14.0 where it was subjected
to vibration. The behaviors of structural steel, Mild steel, Cast iron gray, Aluminum alloy and Magnesium alloy were
investigated under the same conditions. Cast iron gray were found to be the most suitable with maximum deformation of
0.10988m, maximum stress of 9.2398GPa and with least frequency of vibration of 53.961Hz.
Keywords: Chassis, Vibration, CAE, Excitation, Tricycle.
INTRODUCTION
Three wheel Vehicle is becoming popular in Nigeria following the banning of motor bikes in some major cities and towns.
Recently Nigerian made three wheel vehicle was launched in NASENI which was manufactured by local engineers, hence the
need for study of some of its key components for an improved deign and safety of the occupants. Due to the bad conditions of
most our loads and engine operations the automobile is subject to some loads (vibration/excitation) which can damage the
vehicle if not considered at the design stage. Vibration may also be as result of one or more of the following, unbalance,
misalignment, looseness, shaft catenary / bearing loading, resonance, rubbing, shaft bow, deviated operating parameters,
defective bearing / assembly of bearing, vibration transmission from other source, gear inaccuracies, casing distortion. Heng D.
et al (2014) concluded that engine is one of the main vibration sources, and it has a big impact on the vibration characteristics
of the car.
Vibrations are oscillations in mechanical dynamic systems. Although any system can oscillate when it is forced to do so
externally, the term “vibration” in mechanical engineering is often reserved for systems that can oscillate freely without
applied forces. Sometimes these vibrations cause minor or serious performance or safety problems in engineered systems.
Computer Aided Engineering (CAE) has been an important tool in the process of automotive product development. In modern
automobile industries structural, material and crash worthiness of vehicles are first analyze with the aid of engineering
software before it is manufactured to avoid material wastages and reduce cost of manufacturing and in some cases it is used to
optimized an existing product or technology as in the case of NASENI TCI tricycle. Modern developments in automotive
industry have seen emphasize towards addressing sustainability matter in operational requirements of components during the
early stage of design.
The chassis and its cross member along with several other components on automobile are subjected to loads due to the engine
operations and road conditions. These loads are typically random in nature. It is very important to predict the fatigue life of the
component for getting an optimized design. This application forms a specialized analysis domain which can be referred as
random vibration fatigue analysis. In a compressed design cycle, most of the FEA is done on the various engine and chassis
mounted components using simplified load representations. This is in the form of applying fixed inertia loads on the
components as per relevant industry standards and calculating the natural frequencies.
Lakušić S, et al (2011) argued that the chassis vibrations of the car are 4 to 6 times less in relation to the wheel holder
vibrations. They further observed that the above mentioned depends primarily on the vehicles’ suspension systems which are
unique for different vehicle types or models. Due to that fact it is concluded that vehicle chassis vibrations cannot be used with
great reliability in pavement roughness state evaluation.

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The registration of vehicle vibrations due to passing over the pavement with transverse cracking, ripples, potholes, patching,
block cracking, depression, raveling, fatigue and joint cracking using this method is very reliable. Measuring the vibrations of
vehicles due to irregularities in the direction of the vehicle, such as longitudinal cracking and rutting on pavement, is slightly
more complicated. Yogendra S. R. et al in 2013 carried out vibration analysis of a vehicle frame and reported that the
installation of other components and accessories that is mounted, which will increase the total mass, therefore the natural
frequencies will fall out of the natural range that can be compensated with increasing the chassis stiffness and will place the
excited frequencies below natural range. This findings underscore the needs also to use a better material for chassis.
Janice M. A. & Gumasing J. (2014), recommended vibration analysis whether it contribute to the passengers discomfort in
their locally fabricated tricycle but the effects on passengers are not investigated in this work rather on the chassis and best
material to be used to reduce its effects. Wang Hai-fei et al, in 2014 studied the random vibration analysis of FB45 hydraulic
truck and he suggested that such results is useful for design and improvement for the truck’s structure and to avoid resonance.
The vibration energy of the exhaust system is transmitted to the underbody by suspension device so that the vehicle’s body
vibration and noise is generated. Therefore, the research on the vibration characteristics of automobile exhaust systems has
very important significance in terms of reducing the overall automobile vibration Jian M. X, et al (2014). Arshad K et al, also
investigated the effects of random vibrations on the components mounted on chassis such as auxiliary heater bracket for its
fatigue life cycle. This work studied various materials suitable for chassis frame design ranges from structural steel, mild steel,
Cast iron, aluminum alloy and magnesium alloy and natural frequencies to avoid resonance.
METHODOLOGY
The tricycle chassis was modelled with solid works and vibrational analysis was performed in ANSYS 14.0. The materials
studied are structural steel, Mild steel, Cast Iron Gray, aluminum alloy and Magnesium alloy. It was subjected to excitation of
frequency 100,000,000 Hz.
Figure1: Solid works model of the tricycle Chassis
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Figure 2: Stress on the chassis due to Free vibrations

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Figure 3: Deformation due to free vibrations
Figure 4: Normal Strain due to vibration under load
TABLE1.0: SUMMARY OF THE RESULTS OF FREE VIBRATION
MATERIAL YOUNG
MODULUS
DEFORMATIONS
M
MAX. STRESSES
(MPA)
MAX. STRAIN FREQUENCY
(HZ)
Structural Steel 2.e+011 0.10537 15947 0.09185 69.651
Mild Steel 2.05e+011 0.10567 16442 0.092536 70.75
Gray Cast Iron, 1.1e+011 0.10988 40732/9239.8 0.097266 53.961
Aluminum Alloy 7.1e+010 0.17774 9409.7 0.1513 69.841
Magnesium alloy 4.5e+010 0.22079 7338.5 0.18488 68.984
TABLE 2.0: SUMMARY OF THE RESULTS OF VIBRATION WITH LOAD (CABIN) FOR FREQUENCY RANGES FROM 50 -80HZ. AND
VELOCITY RANGES OF 20 – 50KM/H
MATERIAL DENSITY
(KG/M^3)
DIRECTIONAL
DEFORMATIONS M)
MAX. STRESSES
(MPA)
MAX.
STRAIN
VELOCITY
(M/S)
ACCELERATION
(M/S^2)
Structural Steel 7850 0.14051 213430 0.16466 51.179 18741
Mild Steel 7800 0.14185 223190 0.16679 52.44 19483
Cast Iron, gray 7200 0.026255 21165 0.031015 9.87 3861.8
Aluminum Alloy 2770 0.14072 73088 0.16289 51.39 18866
Magnesium alloy 1800 0.13963 44701 0.16006 50.387 18285

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Structural Steel
Cast Iron Gray
MagnesiumAlloy
0
50000
100000
150000
200000
250000
Comparison of the Results of Vibration Under Loads
Structural Steel Mild Steel Cast Iron Gray AluminiumAlloy MagnesiumAlloy
The study shows that gray Cast iron under that same conditions has the least directional vibration velocity of 9.87m/s and
acceleration of 3861.8m/s2
and also the least normal stress as well as the directional deformation as depicted in the table 2.0
above.
Figure 5: 3D graphical views of the Results of Free Vibration
Structural steel has the least deformation of 0.10537m but high frequency of vibration 69.651Hz and maximum stress of
15947MPa while Mild steel has lower maximum stress of 16442MPa, the frequency of its vibration is 70.75Hz which is high
and lower deformation of 0.10567m. Aluminum alloy and Magnesium Alloy have relatively low maximum stresses of
9409.7MPa and 7338.5MPa respectively but very high frequencies of 69.841Hz and 68.984Hz respectively and deformations
of 0.17774m and 0.22079m respectively. The cast Iron Gray has low maximum stress of 9239.8MPa and deformation of
0.10988m and with the least vibrational frequencies of 53.961Hz. It can be deduced that cast iron gray is the most suitable of
the five materials studied.
Figure 6: 3D graphical views of the Results of Vibration under load
The gray cast iron is slightly less dense than the structural steel and mild steel which will not affect the stability of the
automobile and also improve its fuel economy.
structuralsteel
Mild steel
Cast Iron Gray
AluminiumAlloys
MagnisiumAlloy
0
500
MaterialInvestigated
MaterialProperties
Results of the Analysis
Comparative Analysis of the Results of Free Vibration
structuralsteel Mild steel Cast Iron Gray AluminiumAlloys MagnisiumAlloy

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CONCLUSION
The cast Iron Gray has low maximum stress of 9239.8MPa and deformation of 0.10988m and with the least vibrational
frequencies of 53.961Hz when subjected to free vibration. On application of loads before subjected to excitations it also has the
least directional vibration velocity of 9.87m/s and acceleration of 3861.8m/s2
and also the least normal stress of value
21165MPa as well as the directional deformation of value 0.026255m which shows that it is the least susceptible to vibration
fatigue over time and it is slightly less dense than mild steel and structural steel the conventional materials for chassis with a
density of 7200kg/m3
which serve as an added value from fuel economy point of view and stability of the automobile. It can
be deduced that cast iron gray is the most suitable of the five materials studied to be used for tricycle chassis.
REFERENCES
[1]. Wang Hai-fei, Jia Kun-kun and Guo Zi-peng (2014). Random vibration analysis for the chassis frame of hydraulic truck
based on ANSYS. Journal of Chemical and Pharmaceutical Research. ISSN : 0975-7384, CODEN(USA) : JCPRC5
[2]. Arshad Khan, Devashish Sarkar, Reshad Ahmar and Hitenkumar Patel, () Random vibration analysis and fatigue life
evaluation of auxiliary heater bracket. Larsen and Toubro Integrated Engineering Services, INDIA
[3]. Janice M. A. & Gumasing J. (2014). Overall Improvement for the Design of Motorized Tricycles in the Philippines- An
Ergonomic Study. Proceedings of the 2014 International Conference on Industrial Engineering and Operations
Management Bali, Indonesia, January 7 – 9, 2014
[4]. Yogendra S. R, Vikas S, Shivam S & Gaurav S., (2013). A Vibration Analysis of Vehicle Frame. International Journal of
Engineering Research and Applications (IJERA) ISSN: 2248-9622 www.ijera.com Vol. 3,
[5]. Issue 2, March -April 2013, pp.348-350.
[6]. S. Lakušić, D. Brčić, V, & Tkalčević Lakušić, (2011). Analysis of Vehicle Vibrations – New Approach To Rating
Pavement Condition of Urban Roads. Promet – Traffic &Transportation, Vol. 23, 2011, No. 6, 485-494.
[7]. Heng D, Weihua Z, Wuwei C & Peicheng S. (2014). Automobile Power-Train—Coupling Vibration Analysis on Vehicle
System. Hefei University of Technology, China
[8]. Jian M. X., Shuiting Z. and Shui x. C, (2014). An Analysis of the Vibration Characteristics of Automotive Exhaust
Systems and Optimization of Suspension Points. The Open Mechanical Engineering Journal, 2014,8, 574-580

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