Fatigue reliability assessment of the new design of universal upright for the JCU Formula SAE car

Abstract

The objective of this paper is to calculate fatigue reliability of the new design of universal upright for the James Cook University Formula SAE car. The upright design is the back bone of the unsprung mass on the car as it provides connection points for many necessary components. Several different forms of analysis were used to ensure the upright design is capable of handling the frequent loading from different load cases. The main form of analysis was computational modelling using finite element method (FEM) to determine and apply loads to the initial upright design. Using these results the upright was further optimised to save weight and improve cooling effects to the upright and surrounding components. Also, in order to maintain the minimum amount of reliability at a certain value, the number of variable components is defined at each time of inspection. The results showed that reducing the time interval between periodic inspections and increasing the number of replaced components at each stage of the inspection can keep the system reliability as expected.