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STRESS ANALYSIS OF A LIGHT COMMERCIAL VEHICLE CHASSIS BY

FEM

S.S.Sane
Sr.GM., Engineering
Piaggio Jehicles Private Limited
Baramati, Pune

Ghanashyam Jadhav
Manager, Design
Piaggio Jehicles Private Limited
Baramati, Pune

Anandaraj.H
Engineer, Design
Piaggio Jehicles Private Limited
Baramati, Pune




Keywords: Stress, Finite element method, Static analysis


ABSTRACT

Finite element analysis (FEA) helps in accelerating design and development process by minimizing number oI physical
tests, thereby reducing the cost and time Ior prototyping and testing. Current study involves static stress analysis oI a LCV
chassis using FEM to simulate the Iailure during testing. The commercial Iinite element package HyperMesh and
OptiStruct 8.0 was used Ior the solution oI the problem. To achieve a reduction in the magnitude oI the stresses at critical
stress regions, local stiIIener were added. Numerical results showed that stresses on the critical location were reduced up to
44 by adding the stiIIener. Subsequently the chassis was retested and it passed the test.

Introduction
The Iinite element method is a very powerIul technique Ior the numerical solution oI a wide range oI engineering problems.
In FEM, behavior oI structure is obtained by analyzing the collective behavior oI the elements.
In order to build a successIul vehicle structure, we must Iirst look at its most Iundamental component, the chassis. Analysis
oI chassis was carried out Ior diIIerent possible loading conditions. The objective is to make the product robust to all
possible load cases.

Process Methodology
Chassis components have been meshed with Iine elements to capture all the details and critical areas while cabin, Iloor &
other parts were coarse meshed. Sheet metal parts and Co
2
welds were modeled by thin shell (quad 4, tria 3) elements.
Spot-weld, bolt connections and other links modeled by 1-D beam and rigid elements in HYPERMESH. A static analysis
has been carried out in OPTISTRUCT to determine the stress and displacement levels. From the results obtained Ior initial
design, it has been Iound that the stress levels are more in the Iailure location. To avoid the Iailure diIIerent iterations were
carried out with increased length and height stiIIener, modiIied design oI stiIIener, etc. The step-by-step procedure is
shown below.








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Figure 1. Overview oI chassis analysis.
Load cases.
In order to simulate the test Iailures, Iollowing load cases and boundary conditions were considered.

1. Vertical
2. Braking
3. Cornering
4. Front LH wheel in ditch
5. Rear LH wheel in ditch
6. Front both wheels in ditch
7. Rear both wheels in ditch
8. Front LH and Rear LH wheel in ditch
9. Front LH and Rear RH wheel in ditch

Geometry
(Pro/E)
CAD model
Pre-Processing (HyperMesh)


Geometry correction Meshing Boundary conditions and Loads
Solver
OptiStruct
Post-processing
HyperView
Iterations
ModiIications in FE model
Post-processing
HyperView Final results
Solver
OptiStruct

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Results & Discussions












































Initial CAD model

Initial FE model

Initial design Stress Plot
Iteration-1 CAD model (400mm length with
height of 25mm stiffener at critical area)
Initial design Stress Plot at failure location
Iteration-1 design Stress Plot

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Stress comparison.

The stress level reductions Ior diIIerent load case at Iailure location were compared Ior diIIerent designs as shown below.
The stress levels in iteration-1 & iteration-2 is reduced up to 44 while comparing to initial design.

Table. Stress comparison















Benefits Summary

The stress level reduced up to 44 in the Iailure location by adding the stiIIener at critical stress location oI the chassis.
Testing iterations and thus development time reduced on chassis design by using FEM.


Future Plans
Transient Response analysis to be perIormed on the chassis
Optimization oI chassis stiIIener to achieve weight reduction based on dynamic results


Stress level reduction,
Load case
Initial design Iteration-1 Iteration-2
Vertical 100 41 43
Braking 100 41 43
Cornering 100 41 43
Front LH wheel in ditch 100 41 44
Rear LH wheel in ditch 100 39 41
Front both wheels in ditch 100 41 43
Rear both wheels in ditch 100 40 42
Front LH and Rear LH wheel in ditch 100 39 42
Front LH and Rear RH wheel in ditch 100 40 43
Iteration-2 CAD model (400mm length with
height of 50mm stiffener at critical area)
Iteration-2 design Stress Plot

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Conclusions
The analysis was carried out Ior diIIerent iterations and Iinally stress level has been reduced in the critical location. The
analysis was useIul to design the chassis with all possible load cases thus reducing the test iterations and development time.

REFERENCES
|1| Nitin S. Gokhale 'Practical Finite Element Analysis, Finite to InIinite
|2| Julian Happian-Smith 'An introduction to Modern Vehicle Design, Butterworth Heinemann
|3| Cicek Karao and N.SeIa Kuralay 'Stress analysis oI a truck chassis with riveted joints, Science Direct, Volume 38
|3| Altair HyperWorks 8.0 user manual