Design and analysis of all terrain vehicle chassis using finite element analysis

Abstract

ATV (all-terrain vehicle), as the name implies need to withstand various rugged terrains. These are mainly used in military and for recreational purposes. The design of chassis plays a crucial role as it is the final compone nt to take all the shocks and impacts. Hence the chassis was designed by considering various forces due to road imperfections, impacts along with the inertial forces and also the driver safety and ergonomics, mounting positions of components to be attached. Then the designed chassis was analysed virtually by Finite element analysis (FEA) on Hyperworks. Various loading forces were given in relation to front on collision, side impact, rear impact, rollover, other inertial forces due to acceleration, braking, rotational inertia due to drivetrain, torsion and bump. Both dynamic analysis and static analysis was done to compare the results. Based on the results the design of chassis was optimised. The ATV chassis was fabricated using circular steel tubes and for accuracy metal jigs and fixtures were used. After fabrication real time testing was done on the chassis like drop test, collision test and compared with the FEA results. The obtained values were within the limits. In order to increase the driver safety additional support members were added in the cockpit area. This study therefore deals with the integrity and structural stability of an ATV chassis.