Finite Element Analysis of Bicycle Frame Composed of Different Materials

Abstract

The finite element analysis has become an important tool for designers and engineers in modern times since it can be used to analyze any kind of structures with any shape and material In this sense a bicycle frame which is a simple yet complex structure can be optimized by taking advantage of the data obtained from a finite element analysis Specifically referring to the race bicycles they need to be light resistant and safe which generates a problem in many factors of the design process being one of them the material to be used for the bicycle frame The material could achieve lightness safeness resistance and a good performance for the bicycle Due to the importance of the above mentioned design factor this research focuses on analyzing the four most common materials utilized for building bicycles frames Many research has been performed in order to evaluate the behavior of certain specific materials in bicycle frames under specific loading conditions that try to simulate (along with the boundary conditions) the real situations to which a bicycle frame is subjected These studies focused in one material or comparing two materials whether a metal or a composite for example but none had compared the four most common materials for bicycle frames under the same loading and boundary conditions This research is based on some ideas from previous works in design of bicycle frames and material analysis The approach of this study is to compare the structural behavior in a race bicycle frame of three alloys namely steel aluminum titanium and one composite material namely carbon-epoxy The values of maximum deformation maximum principal stress in the case of metals or compressive/tensile stress in the case of the composite and weight of each frame built from every material were obtained using the finite element analysis software Abaqus The maximum principal stress to weight ratio for metals the compressive/tensile stress to weight ratio for composites and the tensile or compressive/maximum principal stress to the strength value of each material were calculated for three standard testing conditions: frontal loading test torsional test and vertical loading test The results were compared and discussed concluding that the optimum material for race bicycles is by far the 8th-ply carbon-epoxy composite

Date of Award	2014 Aug 27
Original language	English
Supervisor	Hsuan-Teh Hu (Supervisor)