Space Frame Analysis, Design, and Testing for Electric Vehicle Formula

Abstract

The objective of this paper is to design, analyze, and test the space frame for electric vehicle with comparison to the engine type. Therefore, in order to design the electric vehicle formula, the same requirements with some changes are considered. The space frame is designed to suit with the electric vehicle and then finite element analysis is used to determine the torsional stiffness of the frame which is verified by the torsional test. Initially, the required torsional stiffness for the electric car is 1350 Nm/deg and the mass is set to be not more than 40 kg. The numerical results and the experimental results for torsional stiffness are 960 Nm/deg and 1218 Nm/deg, respectively. Therefore, the torsional stiffness is about 25% under-predicted; anyway it can be used to predict the torsional stiffness of the frame. Due to some changes must be performed, therefore the modified frame is re-analyzed with the torsional stiffness of 1389 Nm/deg which is less than the revised required car’s torsional stiffness of 1404 Nm/deg. Anyway, the torsional stiffness of frame with battery’s case can meet the requirement. The mass of the modified frame is 50 kg which is larger than required mass due to selected sizes of steel tubes. In conclusion, the space frame can be designed and the mass can be improved further by reducing the sizes.