Design, analysis and optimisation of ATV spaceframe

chassis

Thesis submitted to

Department of Mechanical, Production, Industrial and Automobile Engineering, Delhi

In partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of

Bachelors in Technology
Mechanical with specialisation in Automotive Engineering

By
Prajit Bhadauria(2K18/AE/042)
and Pankaj Pal(2K18/AE/038)

Thesis submitted to
Dr Sushila Rani
 Certificate

I hereby certify that the Project Dissertation titled “Design, analysis and optimisation of ATV
spaceframe chassis” which is submitted by PRAJIT BHADAURIA (2K18/AE/042) and PANKAJ
PAL (2K18/AE/038) to the Department of Mechanical, Production, Industrial and Automobile
Engineering, Delhi Technological University, Delhi, India in fulfilment of the requirement for the
award of the degree of Bachelor of Technology is a record of the project work carried out by the
students under my supervision. To the best of my knowledge this work has not been submitted
in part or full for any Degree or Diploma to this University or elsewhere.

PLACE- DELHI
DATED - 28-11-2021

Dr Sushila Rani
SIGNATURE OF SUPERVISING PROFESSOR
 Abstract

Chassis is the largest structural framework of a car body. All the components of a car are
installed on it. Also, it helps the passenger to drive safely and protects the passenger from
injuries during a crash, hence it is called a passive safety feature. The analysis of the chassis is
essential to ensure its crashworthiness that is the assessment of the chassis to guarantee the
safety of the occupants. Different types of chassis are used in vehicles such as monocoque, roll
cage, unibody and ladder type. This research work includes the designing of an ATV roll cage in
accordance with the SAE rulebook and further its analysis and optimisation. The CAD model of
ATV roll cage is constructed in Solidworks 2019. Further, the CAD model of ATV roll cage is
imported in ANSYS for static, dynamic/modal and torsional analysis. The static analysis includes
evaluation of impact stresses (front, side and roll-over impact) and deformations. The results
obtained from static, dynamic/modal and torsional analysis are optimised. The optimised
chassis body is constructed by using optimised results. By comparative study between the
optimised design and base design of chassis body, it is concluded that the optimised design is
best suited and fulfils all the requirements thus, should be selected for further manufacturing.
 Introduction
The Chassis is the major support structure for all the components in the vehicle. In both static
and dynamic settings, it bears all of the vehicle's stresses. The chassis in a vehicle is equivalent
to the skeleton in a biological organism body. A chassis frame is present in every vehicle,
whether it is a two-wheeler, a car, or a truck. Its shape, on the other hand, clearly differs
according to the vehicle type. The chassis being the largest functional unit has a lot of functions
to play. All the aggregates of the vehicle are mounted on it and it has to bear the load and safely
support them. On top of that, it will also need to safely support the passengers as well as any
extra luggage. The chassis will also be responsible to withstand stresses and forces when
driving or when at a halt.

There are quite a few different types of frames manufactured all for different applications. First,
there is the basic Ladder-type frame. The ladder frame is one of the oldest, simplest, and most
commonly utilised under-body, separate chassis/frame systems. It is made up of two
symmetrical beams, rails, or channels that run the length of the vehicle and are joined by
transverse cross-members. Almost all commercial vehicles are built in this fashion. The
body-on-frame technology allows for numerous body types to be bolted onto vans, trucks, and
buses. Next, there is the unibody or monocoque design. In a completely integrated body
structure, the entire vehicle is a load-carrying unit that handles all of the vehicle's loads,
including driving forces and cargo loads. Welding prefabricated metal panels and other
components together, moulding or casting entire sections as one piece, or a combination of
these techniques are used to create integral-type bodies for wheeled vehicles. This is commonly
referred to as a monocoque construction because the car's outer skin and panels are
load-bearing, ribs, bulkheads, and box sections are used to reinforce the body.
Finally, the body that will be studied in this paper is the tubular frame also known as the space
frame. To increase rigidity and reduce weight, the design typically employs triangles, and all
forces in each strut are either tensile or compressive, never bending, allowing them to be
maintained as thin as feasible. The suspension, engine, and body panels are attached to a
three-dimensional skeleton structure of tubes in a (tubular) spaceframe chassis, and the body
panels have limited or no structural role. Tubular chassis are mostly employed in
high-performance vehicles due to their superior safety. Tubular chassis, which are rarely found
in passenger automobiles, are significantly stronger than ladder chassis, and they popularised
the use of stronger structures beneath the doors to achieve more consolidated strength.
Benefits
● For a chassis of about equal weight, there is a significant improvement in stiffness.
● A good balance of stiffness and weight results in a car that is both strong and light.
● For race cars, it is highly recommended.
Drawbacks
● Tubular chassis have such a complicated design that they can't be made using
traditional methods.
● They are difficult to mass-produce and take a long time to make.
● Not recommended for passenger vehicles.
● The tubular chassis raises the doors somewhat, making access to the cabin a little more
difficult.

An all-terrain vehicle (ATV) is a motorised off-highway vehicle with a seat designed to be

ATVs are heavily used on rugged and off-road applications and need to ensure the safety of the
passenger/driver to a larger extent as compared to a city vehicle. The accidents that are prone
to occur are front and side-impact, also since they are used on uneven roads without side rails
roll-over impacts do occur as well. Then, since it is a roll cage there will be natural frequency
modes that may coincide with the driving conditions or the engine running frequency. If this is
the case then harmonic oscillation may take place and cause heavy damage to the frame. The
base spaceframe is chosen as per the SAE guidebook and is further worked upon to reduce the
stresses and deformations during impact as well as torsional stresses and deformations. Also, a
dynamic analysis is important as most of the forces applied would be during running conditions
and thus those conditions will be created in this test. Finally, in this study, the outputs will be
tabulated and the frame will be optimised to decrease the stresses and deformations by
changing the material, geometry and dimensions of structural tubes.
 Literature review

Thompson et al.,[1] (1998) analysed a Hopkins cup race car to optimise its torsional stiffness
while keeping the increase in weight and height of the centre of gravity least. They have added
structural members to increase torsional stiffness and a sensitivity analysis is conducted in order
to find the elements that influence the stiffness of the structure. On the basis of the sensitivity
analysis, the structural members were strategically added to the base of the chassis design.
They had considered 24 chassis modifications by adding and relocating structural members. It
was observed that there was a great enhancement in torsional stiffness in the case where the
floor pan support bars were removed.

Naiju et al.,[2] (2012) conducted a Finite Element Analysis on the roll cage of a student racing
car to review the effects of forces and torsion on the tubular chassis. In the design and analysis
procedure, a 3D CAD model of the student race car was developed to be used in computational
analysis. The tests conducted were front and side(front and driver) impact, where the results
gave the deformation and maximum stresses produced in the tubes. Their maximum values
were noted. Next, the torsional stiffness was evaluated against the longitudinal torsion acting on
the frame where results showed the stiffness values for elements and nodes.

Sharma et al.,[3] (2018) studied the various enhancements which can be employed to increase
the stiffness of a vehicles chassis irrespective of the type of chassis. The need for a stiffer
chassis for increased safety and manoeuvrability is discussed and suitable arrangements are
proposed. The list of strengtheners includes the use of strut braces and stiffening bars, which
are common add ons to reduce body twist. And permanent changes can be listed as Roll cages
and Continuous seam welds that are efficient in lowering the chassis flex.

Zhang et al.,[4] (2010) evaluated optimisation techniques to construct a safer design parameter
for vehicle side interior panels. Instead of analysis of the whole car body and its components,
only the motion of the sub-structure model was defined using PSM(prescribed structural motion)
for impact displacement of the FEM(finite element model) nodes. Consequently, RSM(response
surface methodology) with quadratic polynomial surrogate response surfaces was chosen for
the youngs modulus and thickness of the door interior panels and it was also found to be the
quickest way to evaluate crashworthiness. The model is optimised(youngs modulus and panel
thickness) and head, rib and thorax injury parameters are reduced by notable amounts.
Aru et al.,[5] (2014) analysed a BAJA ATV tubular chassis for the optimisation of the safety of
the driver and the highest achievable acceleration of the vehicle. The computational analysis
uses a model which conforms to all SAE guidelines and constraints. First of all, material and
cross-sectional parameters were chosen for the least weight of the vehicle. The CAD model is
analysed in ANSYS for frontal and side impacts. Subsequently, secondary bars are added to
decrease stress and deformation. A similar methodology is adopted for side-impact as well as
side and front rollover. Finally, the modal analysis deduces that no mode lies in the working
frequency range of the engine. The necessary improvements optimise the chassis for optimal
performance.

Rao and Bhattu,[6] (2019) conducted a dynamic analysis of ladder-type chassis frame to
determine its harmonic force response. The preliminary evaluation revealed the first 6 non-zero
natural frequencies of the chassis. Along with this, the working frequency of a diesel engine is
considered to find the most affected modes. To remove the overlapping of these frequencies the
bars of the ladder frame was chosen which affected the frequency the most. Their position and
cross-section were varied using the Taguchi method to find their optimum position which would
decrease harmonic vibrations. The optimisation is aimed to reduce the maximum amplitude and
thus minimise the chances of critical failure.

Gautam et al.,[7] (2020) analysed and optimised a formula 1 monocoque chassis structure for
torsional stiffness and impact deformations. The process is initiated with the material selection
for the chassis and followed by the construction of the rudimentary CAD model. The impact
analysis was conducted using Gs experienced during a crash, which gave insights into the
deformations as well as maximum stresses involved. The results indicated that correct material
selection and optimisation of the model parameters gives the required output of a stiffer chassis
made with the least components.

Kumar,[8] (2017) conducted a dynamic crashworthiness analysis for a part of the unibody
chassis of a heavy vehicle. The crash parameters are defined(using FMVSS and IIHS data) and
the model is created using set material properties for accurate output deformations. The static,
modal and transient analysis is done for the frame, and the output is collected in the form of
various graphs. The test is repeated for the same chassis but with a different tube thickness to
determine which would lower the deformations and component movement. The study concluded
that a thicker frame rod resulted in lesser dynamic loads and distortion.

Kumar et al.,[9] (2021) optimized the weight and conducted an impact force analysis of the roll
cage of an all-terrain vehicle. The first step was a material selection which considered the
weight and other properties of the various materials. The cad design was constructed in
accordance with the SAE BAJA rulebook, and impact force analysis was performed on this
computer model. The stresses, deformations and factor safety were computed for the front and
side impacts and in the next step for torsional stiffness analysis as well. The last test was
conducted for rollover analysis for the same parameters. The test results were in accordance to
the minimum factor of safety limits, which ensured that the roll cage would be safe in all
aforementioned conditions.

Safiuddeen et al.,[10] (2020) did a comparative analysis of the roll cage of a performance
automobile made of two different materials carbon fibre (EPA-CF) and ASTM A36 steel on the
basis of how internal energy, kinetic energy and momentum transfer is changed when subjected
to frontal impact test, sideway impact test and rollover test. The results of the analysis reveal
that the internal energy of the roll cage increases in the crash test due to the effect of the impact
force on the roll cage material at the molecular level. Change in internal energy causes variation
in max stress exp. By roll cage and max stress plays imp. In roll in determining FOS. The
structural integrity of the roll cage is determined using the FOS. The fall of momentum in the
graph indicates the loss of momentum from the vehicle to the object with which it collides. The
impact force and FOS derived from the analysis results emphasizes that EPA-CF has better
performance than ASTM, A36 Steel roll cage.

Aakash et al.,[11] (2020) A comparative analysis of two designs of ATV chassis, are proposed,
and both Chromoly steel and Carbon steel are assigned as design materials for both the
designs and these are subjected to frontal, rear, bump, rollover impacts and torsional tests.
Both designs 1 and 2 opting for carbon steel material don't very abundantly in performance. In
contrast, design 1 performs well during torsional, side, rollover impact tests, and design 2
performs well during the frontal, rear, rear bump impact tests, and both perform similarly during
the frontal bump impact test. While considering the results of designs 1 and 2 opting Chromoly
steel, design two performs well as it outmatches design one at frontal, rear bump, rollover
impact tests, and design one perform well only during the torsional test, and both perform
similarly at rear and side-impact tests. Design two opting Chromoly steel mat adopted since it is
the most optimistic design among the available alternatives and proves structurally sound. The
final design delivers the pre-eminent design optimality and ensures the safety of its occupants.

Katait et al.,[12] (2021) Used modal analysis, this study determines the best design parameter
for a roll-cage (thickness, breadth, height, and diameter). They proposed several static
structural and explicit dynamic analyses from which they were able to predict that the roll-cage
is secure when loaded statically and dynamically. The roll-safety cage's factor is 2, which is
considered safe from a design standpoint. Under various situations, the naturally created initial
bending mode will fulfil the dynamic frame performance criteria. The frequency of the first mode
is larger than that of road excitation in the most typical driving situations, as well as the
frequency of the electric motor, thus trying to avoid these resonance problems. It is required to
either lower or raise the natural frequency of the roll-cage in order to improve the driver's
comfort level. Because the FEA-optimized frequency is roughly 3.34 times higher than the
maximum frequency that the human body can tolerate.

Bhandari et al.,[13] (2014) this paper is published by a team of student who was participating in
the Baja SAE competition all the design parameters were according to the rule book. They used
finite element analysis in the design and study of the frame for the SAE BAJA off-road vehicle
which was proved extremely beneficial. For five distinct impact tests, such as frontal impact,
side impact, rollover impact, bump impact, and torsional impact, the analysis proved useful in
determining the maximum deformation, Von Mises stress, and factor of safety.

Angadi et al.,[14] (2018) designed a roll cage for wildland terrain operators and then compared
the results with the standard design SAE J1194.1983 for checking if the design is safe or not.
From g load results we can see stress and deformation are within the limit and FOS also within
the limit but we observe more deflection in Z-direction because of boundary conditions. In roof
crush analysis results are well within the limit and dimension meets the standard required
dimension making design safe. In both side and rear pendulum impact analysis stress and
deformation are within the limit and also FOS are also acceptable making roll cage design and
from clearance zone table deformation of a roll cage is within the limit hence roll cage design is
safe.
Srivastava et al.,[15] (2020) optimised the Go-Kart roll cage strength using different materials
and pipe thickness. Front, Rear and Side-impact analysis is carried out for three different
materials viz. (AISI 4130, 1018 and 1020) and pipe thickness (0.5, 1.0, 1.2, 1.4, 1.6, 2 mm)
using Finite Element (FE) software ANSYS 16.0. The simulation results are extracted in terms of
Von-Mises stress, total deformation and factor of safety.It has been discovered that when pipe
thickness increases, von-Mises stress and deformation decreases. The factor of safety
increases as pipe thickness increases. However, a heavier vehicle and greater material cost
come from a pipe with a larger thickness value. As a result, cost analyses for various materials
and thicknesses are offered. It has been determined that AISI 1020 material with thicknesses of
1.4 mm is well suited for the manufacture of Go-Kart roll-cages.

Jacob et al.,[16] (2021) studied and analyzed the previous year Baja roll-cage chassis to fix
faults and designed a new chassis with better performance by optimizing the weight and
ergonomics. They identified certain areas to bring down the volume such as engine
compartments, driver cabin, legroom, suspension hardpoints, and steering area. The
observations state that the impact regions are vulnerable but the geometry of the chassis
structure is rigid enough to restrain the impact stress to the cockpit region. Hence safety of the
driver is assured with or without other safety equipment.

Renuke,[17] (2012) performed dynamic analysis on a ladder-type chassis and found the
response to the modal analysis. The vibrational characteristics of a chassis are crucial to
determine its performance in real situations. Natural frequencies and mode shapes can be
determined via modal analysis using the Finite Element Method (FEM). The relation between
the engine working frequency and the first six natural modes is established and explained. The
chassis rigidity is suggested can be improved by shortening the chassis. Resonance
phenomenon can be avoided along with strange chassis vibrations by using this strategy, which
places natural frequencies in their native range.

Vijayakumar et al.,[18] (2020) carried out a static mechanical study and modal investigation on
the chassis of a commercial heavy vehicle. The chosen chassis was a TATA 407 staircase
chassis. Many factors must be addressed when designing a truck chassis, including material
selection, packing, strength-to-weight ratio, and stiffness. The maximum shear stress, maximum
equal stress, and displacement are all computed for the chassis made in steel and carbon fibre.
In the vehicle sector, product weight is a crucial design consideration, and carbon fibre stress
levels are within acceptable ranges. Carbon fibre is superior to steel for manufacturing ladder
frames because it reduces the chassis weight by 80% and increases the rigidity of the chassis
frame for the same load-carrying capability.

Krishna et al.,[19] (2021) modelled and analysed a go-kart chassis on the basis of rigidity,
strength and safety of the driver. The kart chassis was modelled and meshed in ANSYS for
simulation. Static structural analysis was carried out including front and side-impact analysis and
Von-mises stress, deformation and strain were found. The model was kept the same and the
material was changed to optimise the impact characteristics, the chosen materials were
AISI1018, AISI 1022 and AISI 4130. The goal of this research was to develop a go-kart at a low
cost while maintaining the vehicle's safety and performance. The end result is a desired Go Kart
design that meets all of the aforementioned criteria while using the best material available,
AISI1018.

Hung cho,[20] (2015) had developed the WRC roll cage and optimized it by DFSS methodology.
The objective was to minimise the weight in comparison to other OEM’s and to gain more
torsional stiffness and strength. As a result, the torsional stiffness of optimum is increased by
10% compared to the initial model and an allowable SWR for a rally car is 7.5, which is 1.9
times higher than the highest level ‘4.0’ by IIHS. Optimum strength has achieved 3.5times SWR
of IIHS highest level of production cars, and this is 8.8 times in consideration of deformation
amount. The weight of optimum is 52 kg which is minimal in comparison with the competitors.
The development period could also be reduced by 60% compared to the conventional way by
using the effective method considering performance and weight simultaneously and on the basis
of an additional analysis result upon racing cars' driving characteristics, the durability and
crashworthiness mode is to be developed.
 Research gap

A large number of literature is available in generals and books explaining the design and
analysis of the different types of chassis bodies of cars. It was explicitly revealed that most of
the papers published had conducted either static analysis to check whether the design is safe or
not when it is subjected to various impacts or had opted for dynamic analysis to check whether
the design would stand all the forces and impact that may occur while running. Some
researchers optimised the chassis design based on either the geometry or material of the
chassis and the dimensions of the tubes. As per the available literature, the designing, analysis
and optimisation of this kind of chassis body of an ATV roll cage have not been reported in any
archival literature.

Problem Statement

In this research work, the chassis body of an ATV roll cage is designed based on SAE rulebook
guidelines. This design is further analysed by using finite element based software ANSYS. The
evaluated results are used for the optimisation of the chassis body of an ATV roll cage design.
By comparative study between the optimised design and base design of chassis body of an ATV
roll cage, it is concluded that the optimised design of the chassis body of an ATV roll cage is
best suited, fulfils all the requirements and should be selected for further manufacturing.
 Objective

After a comprehensive review of literature, the main objective set for the research work
presented in this thesis are-
1. To create a computational model of an ATV roll cage using software Solidworks ‘19.
2. To perform computational analysis(static, dynamic/modal and torsional analysis) of an
ATV roll cage by using finite element based software ANSYS.
3. Evaluate the optimum values for the design and analysis of an ATV roll cage and further
design and analysis of the optimised ATV roll cage.
4. To conduct the comparative study between the optimised and base design of ATV roll
cage

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