Structural Performance Analysis of SAE

Supra Chassis

Shubham Thosar, Antriksh Mutha and S.A. Dharurkar

Abstract The objective of this study is to analyse the design of a Formula SAE roll
cage by analytical and numerical methods based on dynamic loads experienced by
the roll cage under normal driving conditions. Torsional stiffness of the roll cage
has also been studied. Good designs demand a light chassis which has to sustain the
racing environment. In this study, static and dynamic load distributions were
calculated analytically followed by extensive study of various boundary conditions
to be applied during Finite Element Analysis (FEA) carried out in Ansys. Stress
distributions, lateral displacements during static, dynamic conditions and fre-
quency modes were analysed and a high factor of safety made the design favourable
for use.

Keywords Structural performance analysis Finite element analysis SAE supra





chassis Dynamic conditions Frequency modes High factor safety

S. Thosar (&)
A. Mutha
S.A. Dharurkar

Department of Mechanical Engineering, MGM Jawaharlal Nehru Engineering College,
Aurangabad, India
e-mail: [email protected]
A. Mutha
e-mail: [email protected]
S.A. Dharurkar
e-mail: [email protected]

© Springer Science+Business Media Singapore 2017 239

R.P. Bajpai and U. Chandrasekhar (eds.), Innovative Design and Development
Practices in Aerospace and Automotive Engineering, Lecture Notes
in Mechanical Engineering, DOI 10.1007/978-981-10-1771-1_27
240 S. Thosar et al.

1 Introduction

The chassis structure must safely support the weight of the vehicle components and
transmit loads that result from longitudinal, lateral and vertical accelerations that are
experienced in a racing environment without failure. This paper probes the various
aspects of chassis design. Some crucial questions addressed are: What is the best
way to transfer the loads through the structure? How stiff should the frame be? How
a chassis has effect on different race condition? What is the effect of pipe diameter
and cross section on the stiffness of the chassis? What should be the appropriate
factor of safety while designing a frame?

2 The Chassis

The primary objective of the chassis is to provide a structure that connects the front
and rear suspension without excessive deflection. When considering a race car
chassis, a frame that is easily twisted will result in significant handling problems.
The lateral loading on a vehicle is taken up in two places; the frame and the sus-
pension. The suspension can be adjusted, the frame cannot. So to get required
handling, the frame should be stiffer to compensate lateral loading on the car. On the
whole, a frame that is able to sustain torsional loads resulting from inertial accel-
erations of components experienced during cornering or from applied loads acting
on one or opposite corners of the vehicle will almost always be sufficiently strong.
Structural Performance Analysis of SAE Supra Chassis 241

3 Design Methodology

4 Material Selection

The integrity of a design can be ensured only after a systematic material selection
procedure. Since the chassis has to be designed for harsh driving conditions, the
selection of material becomes a vital part of design process. The mechanical
242 S. Thosar et al.

properties such elasticity modulus E, the shear modulus G, density ρ and yield
stress fy are important from design point of view.
For selection of appropriate material for chassis, prepare a decision matrix of
crucial factor which can affect the performance of the car’s mechanical properties,
cost and availability.

AISI 1010 AISI 4130 AISI 1018

Tensile strength 3 5 3
Cost 4 3 4
Availability 4 3 3
% Elongation 3 4 3
Machinability 4 4 4
Density 3 5 3
Total 21 24 20

Thus the material AISI 4130 proves to be most desirable even with the higher
cost for a greater safety.

5 Vehicle Loading

Frame is defined as a fabricated structural assembly that supports all functional

vehicle systems. This assembly may be a single welded structure, multiple welded
structures or a combination of composite and welded structures. Depending upon
application of loads and their direction, chassis is deformed in respective manner
shown below.
Structural Performance Analysis of SAE Supra Chassis 243

(a) Longitudinal Torsion—created mainly by a cornering vehicle or bumps in the

racetrack. It is the chassis’ ability to resist deformation under this load that
defines torsional stiffness.
(b) Vertical Bending—Vertical bending is created by the weight of the drive and
vehicle’s components, these forces can be boosted by vertical acceleration
produced.
(c) Horizontal Bending—This deformation mode is caused by the centrifugal
forces created by the cornering of the vehicle.
(d) Horizontal Lozenging—occurs when the car deforms into a parallelogram-like
shape, this is caused by the uneven or opposing application of force on the
wheels on opposite sides of the car.

6 Effect of Chassis on Different Race Condition

The SAE Supra competition is scored based on two areas, static and dynamic
testing, with both having various sub-categories. The dynamic section consists of
four events; acceleration, skid pad, autocross and endurance. Each of these events
demand different performance from the chassis. It is a balancing act to achieve
optimum performance from the vehicle.
Acceleration: This event simply needs a car that can reach high speeds quickly,
thus looking at Newton’s second law of motion F = ma; thus low mass of chassis
will give higher acceleration.
Skid pad: This event is a measure of the car’s cornering ability around a flat
corner. To achieve this, the chassis is required to have a high value of torsional
stiffness that is well balanced throughout the chassis.
Autocross: The Autocross event is a standard race track comprising of a straight,
constant turns and some other types of turns. Cars run on the track with the average
speed between 40–48 km/h. This event is designed to measure the vehicle’s desired
performance outcomes of handling, acceleration and breaking. Thus higher tor-
sional rigidity of the chassis will yield higher handling.
Endurance: The final event is the measure of the car’s reliability, endurance and
fuel economy. The fuel economy however will be influenced by the car’s chassis, as
any superfluous weight will slow the car down thus reducing economy.

7 Dynamic Loading

Lateral Load Transfer: When cornering in a steady turn, load is transferred from the
inside pairs of the wheels to the outside pair due to centrifugal force. This load
transfer is called lateral load transfer.
244 S. Thosar et al.

Lat:Accn:  C:G:  Weight

Lateral Load Transfer ðLb Þ ¼
Track Width
Lb ¼ 1:5  10  705:479=48 ¼ 220 lbs ¼ 99 kg
Force ¼ 99  9:8 ¼ 970:2 N

8 Lateral Bending

Lateral bending is due to the load transfer while cornering which is equal to
centrifugal force and thus the force of 4774.3 N is acted on the side impact member
in cockpit, thus the equivalent stress is calculated (246 MPa) which is well under
permissible limit. Thus material will not start to yield during lateral bending
(Figs. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 and 11).
Longitudinal Load Transfer: Such load transfer occurs in a longitudinal plane
under linear acceleration or deceleration

Accn:  C:G:  Weight

Long:Load Transfer ðLb Þ¼
Track Width
Lb ¼ 1:5  10  705:479=68 ¼ 170 lbs = 77:14 kg
Force ¼ 77:14  9:8 ¼ 755:9 N

Fig. 1 Lateral acceleration

loading
Structural Performance Analysis of SAE Supra Chassis 245

Fig. 2 Lateral acceleration

stress analysis

Fig. 3 Long. acceleration

loading

Fig. 4 Long. acceleration

stress analysis
246 S. Thosar et al.

Fig. 5 Front impact loading

Fig. 6 Front impact stress

analysis

Fig. 7 Side impact loading

Structural Performance Analysis of SAE Supra Chassis 247

Fig. 8 Side impact stress

analysis

Fig. 9 Torsional rigidity

loading

Fig. 10 Torsional rigidity

stress analysis
248 S. Thosar et al.

Fig. 11 Torsional rigidity

total deformation

9 Acceleration and Brake Test

Due to inertia effect, acceleration forces tend to act in opposite direction to the
motion of body. The mass of driver is assumed 70 kg and drive train 50 kg and
acceleration of engine is 3.7 m/s2.
As calculated above, longitudinal force is applied on the main hoop; and
simultaneous static load due to drive and drive train is acted downward in cockpit
area. Equivalent stress is calculated for this dynamic test which comes as 221 MPa.
This is less than the permissible stress 435 MPa, thus chassis is safe.

10 Impact Loading

Type of Boundary conditions Force that chassis Von FOS

impact can withstand after mises
forces the impact stress
(MPa)
Front Clamping all suspension pickup 9G 261 1.76
impact points and applying force on front
bulk head
Side Clamping all suspension pickup 5G 114 4.03
impact points and applying force on side
impact member
Structural Performance Analysis of SAE Supra Chassis 249

The function of the frame is to provide the vehicle strength, structural integrity
and to protect the driver (in case of serious impacts and rollover) and support front
and rear suspension systems, engine, drive train, steering system and other systems
in the vehicle. It must be of adequate strength to protect the driver in case of an
accident.

11 Selection of Theory of Failure

Since all the tests are carried out under static structural, the cross section of the
component is assumed to be uniform throughout, but in practise due to some
irregularities, fluctuating load can lead to fatigue failure. These fluctuating loads are
very hard to calculate and so it is always preferred to have a higher factor of safety.
It is seen that Distortion Energy Theory (Huber Von Mises and Hencky’s Theory)
predicts yielding with precise accuracy in all four quadrants. Moreover, Distortion
Energy Theory is used for ductile materials, when the factor of safety is to be held
in close limits and the cause of failure of the component is being investigated. This
theory predicts failure most accurately. Thus, among the three theories, i.e. Max.
Principle Stress Theory, Max. Shear Stress Theory and Distortion Energy Theory,
Distortion Energy Theory was selected for designing the chassis.

12 Torsional Rigidity

It is the torsional response of a structure to an applied torque loading. A best

possible chassis would be one that has high stiffness; with low weight and cost. If
there is significant twisting, the chassis will vibrate, complicating the system of the
vehicle and sacrificing the handling performance. It is desirable to design a chassis
with maximum torsional rigidity. This allows the suspension to do their job
correctly.
In order to design a car of maximum torsional stiffness, the basis or generalised
equation for torsion must be examined. Figure below is a basic shaft constrained at
one end and an applied torque T at the other, with Φ denoting the resultant twist of
the shaft.
250 S. Thosar et al.

T ¼ UJG=l

This equation can then be rearranged to express torsional stiffness,

T=U ¼ JG=l:

This expression displays that torsional stiffness in proportion to both the polar
moment inertia and material shear modulus, whilst being inversely proportional to
the length.
The torsional rigidity can be calculated by finding the torque applied to the frame
and dividing by the angular deflection.

R
K¼
h
FL
K¼
tan1 ½Dy1 2L
þ Dy2


where, K Torsional Stiffness

T Torque
θ Angular deformation
F Shear Force
y1, y2 Translational displacement
Structural Performance Analysis of SAE Supra Chassis 251

Table 1 Deflection and stiffneszs

Applied moment (Nm) Deflection Stiffness
(m/deg) (Nm/deg)
2.4 mm wall thickness 450 0.10368 480
3.4 mm wall thickness 450 0.034 1470

Force applied 1130 N

y1 = y2 1.68 mm = 0.00168 mm
L 0.20

1130  2
K¼ þ 0:00168
tan1 ½0:00168
2  0:20 

Nm
K ¼ 482
deg

Deakin et al. concluded that a Formula SAE racer, which has a total suspension roll
stiffness of 500–1500 Nm/deg, requires chassis stiffness between 300 and 1000 Nm/deg
to enable the handling to be tuned.

13 Effect of Wall Thickness on Torsional Stiffness

From the given table, it can be inferred that the thickness of the frame has the
maximum effect on the torsional stiffness. The torsional stiffness increases 3 times
with 1 mm increase in frame thickness. Thus, it increases stiffness drastically with
no significant increase in the weight of the chassis and increasing the stiffness to
weight ratio of the chassis enhancing the handling of the car (Table 1).

14 Conclusion

The aim of this project was to design a chassis for a competition, a goal that has
been accomplished. In the work done, a frame is designed which is rigid enough not
to deform under acceleration and braking loads and at the same time hold all the
parts together. The work was started with a basic design of frame which would meet
the entire design requirement. Chassis was found to be safe significantly in static
(bending) and dynamic (acceleration) modes with stress values noticeably less than
the yield strength. The dominant characteristic of structural behaviour viz. torsional
rigidity increased three times with an average increase in the wall thickness.
252 S. Thosar et al.

Reference

1. SUPRA SAEINDIA Rulebook 2015.

2. Design, Analysis and Testing of a Formula SAE Car Chassis, SAE TECHNICAL PAPER
SERIES, 2002-01-3300.
3. Structural Performance Analysis of Formula Sae Car, Jurnal Mekanikal, December 2010,
No. 31, 46 – 61.
4. Milliken, William F. and Milliken, Douglas L., “Race Car Vehicle Dynamics”, Society of
Automotive Engineers, 1997.
5. Design of Machine Elements by V. B. Bhandari.
6. Data Records – Team VAAYU 4.0, J.N.E.C., Aurangabad, SUPRA SAEINDIA 2015.
7. Design, Analysis and Manufacture of 2011 REV Formula SAE Vehicle Chassis.
8. Jacob I. Salter 20247771 School of Mechanical and Chemical Engineering the University of
Western Australia.
9. World Academy of Science, Engineering and Technology International Journal of Mechanical,
Aerospace, Industrial, Mechatronic and Manufacturing Engineering Vol: 6, No: 5, 2012 The
Frame Analysis and Testing for Student Formula.