AN INVESTIGATION ON LINEAR ANALYSIS OF ON ROAD VEHICLE CHASSIS FOR THE VARIOUS SPECIAL EFFECTS OF STRESS DISTRIBUTION AND DEFORMATION BY FINITE ELEMENT METHOD

STRACT Design and development considerations for a lorry chassis as a case study. Design methodology for the development of a series-hybrid vehicle chassis is explored. Next, several loading scenarios are investigated in order to understand the substantially increased forces that must be communicated through the chassis and suspension components due to the added mass of hybrid apparatus such as electric motors and battery arrays. Material selection will also be considered. Utilizing SolidWorks 3-D modelling software, several design iterations are run in order to determine the best compromise between vehicles mass, component packaging, and weight distribution while still ensuring driver safety. Finally, Finite Element Analysis is implemented using the ANSYS design software. A model with an examined in order to determine the efficiency of the structure in resisting torsional loads, as these are most critical in determining overall vehicle performance.