Design and Analysis of Front Mono Suspension in Motorcycle
Design and Analysis of Front Mono Suspension in Motorcycle
Design and Analysis of Front Mono Suspension in Motorcycle
e-ISSN: 2278-1684,p-ISSN: 2320-334X, Volume 12, Issue 2 Ver. VI (Mar - Apr. 2015), PP 84-100
www.iosrjournals.org
I. Introduction
The suspension system is the main part of the vehicle, where the shock absorber is designed
mechanically to handle shock impulse and dissipate kinetic energy. In a vehicle, shock absorbers reduce the
effect of traveling over rough ground, leading to improved ride quality and vehicle handling. While shock
absorbers serve the purpose of limiting excessive suspension movement, their intended sole purpose is to damp
spring oscillations. Hysteresis is the tendency for otherwise elastic materials to rebound with less force than was
required to deform them. Hence, the designing of suspension system is very crucial. In modeling the time is
spent in drawing the coil spring model and the front suspension system, where risk involved in design and
manufacturing process can be easily minimized. So the modeling of the coil spring is made by using SOLID
WORKS. Later the model is imported to ANSYS for the analysis work.
Shock Absorbers:
The shock absorbers damp out the motions of a vehicle up and down on its springs. They also must
damp out much of the wheel bounce when the unsprung weight of a wheel, hub, axle and sometimes brakes
and differential bounces up and down on the springiness of a tire. Some have suggested that the regular bumps
found on dirt roads are caused by this wheel bounce, though some evidence exists that it is unrelated to
suspension is a mechanical or hydraulic device designed to absorb and damp shock impulses. It does this by
converting the kinetic energy of the shock into another form of energy which is then dissipated. It controls the
travel speed and resistance of the vehicle's suspension. An undamped car will oscillate up and down. With
proper damping levels, the car will settle back to a normal state in a minimal amount of time. Most damping in
modern vehicles can be controlled by increasing or decreasing the resistance to fluid flow in the shock absorber.
The top of the forks are connected to the motorcycle's frame in a triple tree clamp, which allows the
forks to be turned in order to steer the motorcycle. The bottom of the forks are connected to the front axle
around which the front wheel spins. On typical telescopic forks, the upper portion, known as the fork tubes,
slide inside the fork bodies, which are the lower part of the forks. As the tubes slide in and out of the body they
are telescoping, thus the term telescopic forks. The fork tubes must be smooth to seal the fork oil inside the fork,
and typically have a mirrored finish, though some fork tubes, especially those on off-road motorcycles, are
enclosed in plastic protective sleeves, known as gaiters.
Upside-down forks: Also known as inverted forks, are installed inverted compared to conventional telescopic
forks. The slider bodies are at the top, fixed in the triple clamps, and the stanchion tubes are at the bottom, fixed
to the axle.
Types Of Forks:
Cartridge forks: Cartridge forks use internal cartridges with a valving system. The valve will have a number of
shims of varying thicknesses that cover the orifices in the valve to control the damping of the fork on high and
low speed bumps. Some of the leaf springs lift with little force allow fluid to flow through the orifice. Other
springs require greater force to lift and allow flow. This gives the fork digressive damping, allowing it to
be stiff over small bumps, but get relatively softer over larger bumps.Also, the springs only allow flow in
one direction, so one set of springs controls compression damping, and another rebound damping. This
allows the dampings to be set separately.
Saxon-Moto fork:
The Saxon-Motodd has an additional swingarm that mounts to the frame and supports the spring. This
causes the rake and trail to increase during braking instead of decreasing as with traditional telescopic forks.
Hossack fork: The Hossack separates completely the suspension from steering forces. It was developed
by Norman Hossack though used by Claude Fior and John Britten on racebikes. Hossack himself described the
system as a 'steered upright'. In 2004 BMW announced the K1200S with a new front suspension that is based
upon this design.
Proposal System
Monoshock in Front Suspension:
On a motorcycle with a mono-shock suspension, a single shock absorber connects the rear swingarm to
the motorcycle's frame. Typically this lone shock absorber is in front of the rear wheel, and uses a linkage to
connect to the swing arm. Such linkages are frequently designed to give a rising rate of damping for the rear.
Mono-shocks are said to eliminate torque to the swing arm and provide more consistent handling and braking.
The principal design alternative to the twin-tube form has been the mono-tube shock absorber which
was considered a revolutionary advancement when it appeared in the 1950s. As its name implies, the mono-tube
shock, which is also a gas-pressurized shock and also comes in a coil over format, consists of only one tube, the
pressure tube, though it has two pistons. These pistons are called the working piston and the dividing or floating
piston, and they move in relative synchrony inside the pressure tube in response to changes in road smoothness.
The two pistons also completely separate the shock's fluid and gas components. The mono-tube shock absorber
is consistently a much longer overall design than the twin-tubes, making it difficult to mount in passenger cars
designed for twin-tube shocks. However, unlike the twin-tubes, the mono-tube shock can be mounted either
way— it does not have any directionality. It also does not have a compression valve, whose role has been taken
up by the dividing piston, and although it contains nitrogen gas, the gas in a mono-tube shock is under high-
pressure (260-360 p.s.i. or so) which can actually help it to support some of the vehicle's weight, something
which no other shock absorber
An improvement in motorcycle frames having a generally closed configuration with generally
horizontal upper and lower frame members and spaced generally front and rear vertical members transverse to
and connecting said upper and lower members to form a closed configuration and a drive sprocket is provided
in the form of a pair of spaced generally horizontally extending swing arms on each side of said frame and a rear
wheel, said arms extending rearward from the rear member and each pivoted adjacent one end on said frame, a
generally vertical link connecting the other ends of said swing arms and receiving an axle shaft for the rear
wheel intermediate the two swing arms, spring means pivotally connected at one end to at least one swing arm
of each pair of swing arms at the other end to at least one of the other swing arms and the frame and link means
in one of said pivot connections of said spring means whereby deflection of said swing arms from a first normal
position upwardly around their pivot at the frame causes a progressively rising rate of deflection of said spring
means weight and cost considerations, structures are not made more rigid than necessary.
3.1.1 Advantages:
Mono-shocks eliminate torque to the swing arm and provide more consistent handling and braking.
They are also easier to adjust, since there's only one shock to adjust, and there is no worry about matching
two shocks.
They are also easier to adjust, since there's only one shock to adjust, and there is no worry about matching
two shocks.
Also, the linkages used to connect the shock to the swing-arm are frequently designed to give a rising rate
of damping for the rear.
The monoshock improves both the ride and handling if tuned well.
The simple reason for it being better can be understood by the following explanation- "Whenever you
encounter a bump on a Motorcycle with two shocks, both the shocks compress, but there is never a situation
when both of them compress for the equal length. This leads to downgraded dynamics when it comes to
stability. But with a single shock absorber, this problem is solved.
DOI: 10.9790/1684-122684100 www.iosrjournals.org 86 | Page
Design And Analysis Of Front Mono Suspension In Motorcycle
In a recent test conducted by Bike Magazine, Pulsar, Apache and Unicorn were pitted against each other on
a test track. Although the unicorn was not the fastest, they said it is the most confidence inspiring and the
most balanced.
Upper limit for that vehicle's weight. This allows the vehicle to perform properly under a heavy load
when control is limited by the inertia of the load. Riding in an empty truck used for carrying loads can be
uncomfortable for passengers because of its high spring rate relative to the weight of the vehicle.
IV. Design
4 .1 Design Of Frame:
The design proposal of the frame of the front suspension of motorcycle using SOLID WORKS.
Calculation:
Mean diameter of coil=35 mm (D)
Diameter of the wire (d) = 8mm
Total no of coils n1 =10
Height (h) = 200 m
Outer diameter of spring coil Do = D + d
= 35+8
= 43 mm
Active no of turn = 8
Assume
Weight of bike = 131 kg
Weight of 1 person = 75 kg
Weight of 2 persons = 75×2 = 150 kg
Weight of bike + person = 263 kg
Assume dynamic loads
Rear suspension + front suspension
= 400% + 40%
=80%
80% 263kg = 210 kg
Consider dynamic loads:
W= 342 kg = 3355N
DOI: 10.9790/1684-122684100 www.iosrjournals.org 88 | Page
Design And Analysis Of Front Mono Suspension In Motorcycle
W= w1+w2
W= 1677 + 838
W= 2515 N
Spring index (S) = WD3n/G.d4 = 45.94
C= spring index = D/d = 35/8 = 4
Solid length Ls=n1×d=10×5= 50 mm
Analysis Of Frame:
Stress analysis:
Shear stress:
Strain analysis:
Shear strain:
Total deformation:
Deformation in continuum mechanics is the transformation of a body from a reference configuration to
a current configuration. A configuration is a set containing the positions of all particles of the body.A
deformation may be caused by external loads and body forces.
Data Analysis:
Units:
Unit System Metric (mm, kg, N, s, mV, mA) Degrees rad/s Celsius
Angle Degrees
Rotational Velocity rad/s
Temperature Celsius
Geometry:
Object Name Geometry
State Fully Defined
Definition
C:\Documents and Settings\ccts\Desktop\karthi-staff\ansys\bike
Source project\final video\without
wheel\1213_files\dp0\SYS\DM\SYS.agdb
Type DesignModeler
Length Unit Millimeters
Element Control Program Controlled
Display Style Part Color
Bounding Box
Length X 240. mm
Length Y 400.66 mm
Length Z 760.3 mm
Properties
Volume 2.2984e+006 mm³
Mass 18.042 kg
Scale Factor Value 1.
Statistics
Bodies 12
Active Bodies 11
Nodes 24385
Elements 10662
Mesh Metric None
Preferences
Import Solid Bodies Yes
Import Surface Bodies Yes
Import Line Bodies No
Parameter Processing Yes
Personal Parameter Key DS
CAD Attribute Transfer No
Named Selection Processing No
Material Properties Transfer No
CAD Associativity Yes
Import Coordinate Systems No
Reader Save Part File No
Import Using Instances Yes
Do Smart Update No
Attach File Via Temp File Yes
Temporary Directory C:\Documents and Settings\ccts\Local Settings\Temp
Analysis Type 3-D
Mixed Import Resolution None
Enclosure and Symmetry Processing Yes
Parts:
Object Name Mid parallelo. pin Part3^Assem1 piston split rod parallelo
State Meshed Suppressed
Graphics Properties
Visible Yes No
Transparency 1
Definition
Suppressed No Yes
Stiffness Behavior Flexible
Coordinate System Default Coordinate System
Reference Temperature By Environment
Material
Assignment Structural Steel
Nonlinear Effects Yes
Thermal Strain Effects Yes
Bounding Box
Length X 240. mm 25. mm 45. mm 49.029 mm 20. mm
Object Name part1 parallelogram part1 parallelogram Part3 parallelogram Parallelogram susp. parallelogram susp.
State Meshed
Graphics Properties
Visible Yes
Transparency 1
Definition
Suppressed No
Stiffness Behavior Flexible
Coordinate System Default Coordinate System
Reference Temperature By Environment
Material
Assignment Structural Steel
Nonlinear Effects Yes
Thermal Strain Effects Yes
Bounding Box
Length X 115.62 mm 210. mm 15. mm
Length Y 113.38 mm 174.91 mm 228.6 mm
Length Z 37.92 mm 39.77 mm 760.3 mm
Properties
Volume 1.6821e+005 mm³ 2.7658e+005 mm³ 5.6946e+005 mm³
Mass 1.3204 kg 2.1712 kg 4.4703 kg
Centroid X -8.3056e-003 mm -8.3035e-003 mm -3.3211e-004 mm -97.5 mm 97.5 mm
Centroid Y -48.836 mm -89.107 mm 17.487 mm 132.18 mm
Centroid Z 8.5716 mm -217.88 mm -226.36 mm 109.33 mm 109.34 mm
Moment of Inertia Ip1 1007.8 kg·mm² 4700.6 kg·mm² 1.9205e+005 kg·mm² 1.9204e+005 kg·mm²
Moment of Inertia Ip2 1420. kg·mm² 7541.5 kg·mm² 1.8765e+005 kg·mm² 1.8764e+005 kg·mm²
Moment of Inertia Ip3 2330.6 kg·mm² 12016 kg·mm² 4571.9 kg·mm²
Statistics
Nodes 1985 2090 1946 1522 1487
Elements 964 1026 927 161 156
Mesh Metric None
Bounding Box
Length X 210. mm 48.378 mm
Length Y 175.44 mm 150.17 mm
Length Z 32. mm 190.64 mm
Properties
Volume 2.7658e+005 mm³ 44550 mm³
Mass 2.1712 kg 0.34971 kg
Centroid X 8.0503e-004 mm 0.42351 mm
Centroid Y 58.183 mm 45.793 mm
Centroid Z 9.9524 mm -97.339 mm
Moment of Inertia Ip1 4700.6 kg·mm² 1472.6 kg·mm²
Moment of Inertia Ip2 7541.4 kg·mm² 1473. kg·mm²
Moment of Inertia Ip3 12016 kg·mm² 150.43 kg·mm²
Statistics
Nodes 1978 4093
Elements 950 1711
Mesh Metric None
Co ordinate system:
Object Name Global Coordinate System Coordinate System
State Fully Defined
Definition
Type Cartesian
Ansys System Number 0.
Ansys System Program Controlled
Origin
Origin X 0. mm 0.44394 mm
Origin Y 0. mm 45.616 mm
Origin Z 0. mm -97.669 mm
Define By Geometry Selection
Geometry Defined
Directional Vectors
X Axis Data [ 1. 0. 0. ] [ 0. -0.57801 -0.81603 ]
Y Axis Data [ 0. 1. 0. ] [ 0. 0.81603 -0.57801 ]
Z Axis Data [ 0. 0. 1. ] [ 1. 0. 0. ]
Principal Axis
Axis X
Define By Geometry Selection
Geometry Defined
Orientation About Principal Axis
Axis Y
Define By Default
Transformations
Base Configuration Absolute
Transformed Configuration [ 0.44394 45.616 -97.669 ]
Connections:
Object Name Connections
State Fully Defined
Auto Detection
Generate Contact On Update Yes
Tolerance Type Slider
Tolerance Slider 0.
Tolerance Value 2.2307 mm
Face/Face Yes
Face/Edge No
Edge/Edge No
Priority Include All
Group By Bodies
Search Across Bodies
Revolute Joints Yes
Fixed Joints Yes
Transparency
Enabled Yes
Object Name Contact Region Contact Region 2 Contact Region 3 Contact Region 4 No Separation - Part3^Assem1 To split
State Fully Defined
Scope
Scoping Method Geometry Selection
Contact 2 Faces 1 Face 3 Faces 2 Faces
Target 2 Faces 1 Face 2 Faces
Contact Bodies mid parallelo. pin Part3^Assem1
Target Bodies parallelogram susp. spring piston split
Definition
Type Bonded No Separation
Scope Mode Automatic
Behavior Symmetric
Suppressed No
Advanced
Formulation Pure Penalty
Normal Stiffness Program Controlled
Update Stiffness Never
Pinball Region Program Controlled
Object Name Bonded - part1 parallelogram To split Bonded - mid parallelo. pin To piston
State Fully Defined
Scope
Scoping Method Geometry Selection
Contact 2 Faces 4 Faces
Target 2 Faces
Contact Bodies part1 parallelogram mid parallelo. pin
Target Bodies split piston
Definition
Type Bonded
Scope Mode Manual
Behavior Symmetric
Suppressed No
Advanced
Formulation Pure Penalty
Normal Stiffness Program Controlled
Update Stiffness Never
Pinball Region Program Controlled
Mesh:
Object Name Mesh
State Solved
Defaults
Physics Preference Mechanical
Relevance 0
Sizing
Use Advanced Size Function Off
Relevance Center Coarse
Element Size Default
Initial Size Seed Active Assembly
Smoothing Medium
Transition Fast
Span Angle Center Coarse
Static structural:
Object Name Static Structural (B5)
State Solved
Definition
Physics Type Structural
Analysis Type Static Structural
Solver Target ANSYS Mechanical
Options
Environment Temperature 22. °C
Generate Input Only No
Directory wheel\1213_files\dp0\SYS-1\MECH\
Future Analysis None
Scratch Solver Files
Directory
Save ANSYS db No
Delete Unneeded
Yes
Files
Nonlinear Solution No
Solver Units Active System
Solver Unit System Nmm
Force Fixed
Object Name Fixed Support 2 Force Fixed Support 3
2 Support
State Fully Defined
Scope
Scoping Method Geometry Selection
Geometry 2 Faces 1 Face 4 Faces 3 Faces
Definition
Type Fixed Support Force Fixed Support
Suppressed No
Define By Components
Global Coordinate
Coordinate System
System
X Component 0. N (ramped)
Y Component 0. N (ramped)
Z Component -50. N (ramped)
Object Name Solution (B6)
State Solved
Adaptive Mesh Refinement
Max Refinement Loops 1.
Refinement Depth 2.
Object Name Solution Information
State Solved
Solution Information
Solution Output Solver Output
Newton-Raphson Residuals 0
Update Interval 2.5 s
Display Points All
Total
Object Name Directional Deformation Equivalent Elastic Strain Equivalent Stress
Deformation
State Solved
Scope
Scoping Method Geometry Selection
Geometry All Bodies
Definition
Total Equivalent (von-Mises) Elastic Equivalent (von-Mises)
Type Directional Deformation
Deformation Strain Stress
By Time
Display Time Last
Calculate Time
Yes
History
Identifier
Orientation X Axis
Global Coordinate
Coordinate System
System
Use Average Yes
Results
Minimum 0. mm -4.3136e-004 mm 2.9862e-015 mm/mm 5.9724e-010 MPa
Maximum 8.6628e-003 mm 4.3466e-004 mm 1.1302e-005 mm/mm 2.2605 MPa
Minimum Occurs On mid parallelo. pin parallelogram susp. spring
Maximum Occurs On parallelogram susp. mid parallelo. pin
Information
Time 1. s
Load Step 1
Substep 1
Iteration Number 1
V. Material Data:
Structural Steel:
Density 7.85e-006 kg mm^-3
Coefficient of Thermal Expansion 1.2e-005 C^-1
Specific Heat 4.34e+005 mJ kg^-1 C^-1
Thermal Conductivity 6.05e-002 W mm^-1 C^-1
Resistivity 1.7e-004 ohm mm
Alternating Stress:
Alternating Stress MPa Cycles Mean Stress MPa
3999 10 0
2827 20 0
1896 50 0
1413 100 0
1069 200 0
441 2000 0
262 10000 0
214 20000 0
138 1.e+005 0
114 2.e+005 0
86.2 1.e+006 0
Strain-Life Parameters:
Strength Coefficient Strength Ductility Ductility Cyclic Strength Coefficient Cyclic Strain Hardening
MPa Exponent Coefficient Exponent MPa Exponent
920 -0.106 0.213 -0.47 1000 0.2
Relative Permeability:
Relative Permeability
10000
Isotropic Elasticity:
Temperature C Young's Modulus MPa Poisson's Ratio
2.e+005 0.3
VI. Conclusion
We have designed a Shock Absorber used in bike and we have modeled it using 3D parametric
software called Pro/Engineer. The shock absorber design is modified by reducing the diameter and stress
analysis is performed. The stress value is lesser in our designed spring than in original which adds an advantage
to our design. By comparing the results in the table we could analyse that our modified front suspension has
reduced in weight and it is safe. This invention overcomes the prior art disadvantages and provides an
esthetically pleasing adjustable front end spring support.
Bibliography
[1]. Bhandari V B.Design of machine elements. New York: Tata McGraw-Hill; 1994.
[2]. Carlson H. Spring designer’s handbook. New York: Marcel Dekker Inc.; 1978.
[3]. Shigley J. Mechanical engineering design. New York: McGraw-Hill; 1981.
[4]. John C. Dixon, The Shock Absorber Handbook. John Wiley & Sons, Ltd; 2007.
[5]. R.S. Sharp: Variable Geometry Active Rear Suspension for Motorcycles, Proceedings of AVEC 2000, Ann Arbor, 2000, 389-395
[6]. M. Ahmadian and J. Gravatt: A Comparative Analysis of Passive Twin Tube and Skyhook MRF Dampers for Motorcycle
FrontSuspensions, Proceedings of SPIE 2004 Smart Structures and Materials/NDE, San Diego, 2004
[7]. S. Evangelou: The Control and Stability Analysis of Two-Wheeled Road Vehicles, Doctoral Thesis, Imperial College London,2003
[8]. H.B. Pacejka: Tyre and Vehicle Dynamics, Butterworth Heinemann, Oxford, 2002
[9]. W.O. Schiehlen: Recent Developments in Multibody Dynamics. In: Proc. of Asian Conf. Multibody Dynamics 2004 (2nd
[10]. ACMD, Seoul, Korea, August 1-4, 2004). S. S.Kim (ed.). Seoul: Korean Society Mech. Eng. 2004, Paper 108, 586-595
[11]. Cossalter: Motorcycle Dynamics, Race Dynamics, Greendale, 2002
[12]. D.H. Weir and J.W. Zellner: Development of Handling Test Procedures for Motorcycles, SAE 780313, 1978.