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MMS2019 IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Materials Science and Engineering 776 (2020) 012035 doi:10.1088/1757-899X/776/1/012035

FEM analysis of selected construction bodies

of the conceptual bike

K Konecki, K Talaśka and A Kołodziej

The President Stanisław Wojciechowski State University of Applied Sciences
in Kalisz, Nowy Świat 4, 62-800 Kalisz, Poland

E-mail: [email protected]

Abstract. The main subject of work is a concept bike featuring a non-standard construction.
The classic frame has been replaced with a straight beam. Consequently, there is a much
greater stress on some of the components of the bike body. Furthermore, the construction of
these body components becomes more complex which calls for the employment of the
numerical method of stress calculation. The work involved carrying out a strength analysis for
several selected components of the bike body utilizing the finite element method (FEM). The
primary object of analysis was the wheel rotation mechanism. The result of the analysis allows
to develop an optimized construction, allowing to select the most suitable materials and to
determine the appropriate and compact dimensions.

1. Introduction
The purpose of the work is to determine the stresses present in the steering mechanism of the front
wheel while riding the conceptual bike (the project is at the initial design stage) and possibly develop
an optimal construction solution in terms of materials and dimensions, with utilization of the finite
element method. The initial visualization of the vehicle is shown in figure 1. The steering mechanism
is mounted in the front wheel rim under a cover (figure 2).

Figure 1. The initial visualization of the conceptual bike.

Content from this work may be used under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 licence. Any further distribution
of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the title of the work, journal citation and DOI.
Published under licence by IOP Publishing Ltd 1
MMS2019 IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Materials Science and Engineering 776 (2020) 012035 doi:10.1088/1757-899X/776/1/012035

Figure 2. Mechanism cover.

2. Forces and moments

The key aspect of work is to determine the loads. It was assumed that the bicycle would be made of
carbon fiber with density of 2400 kg m–3. An additional 20 % weight increase was also assumed for
individual metal parts that are part of various mechanisms or gears. The vehicle's weight was
estimated at 36 kg. Furthermore, an increased weight of the driver was considered - whereas
Deutsches Fachbuch [1] proposes to use 80 kg, 100 kg was assumed for this study. Afterwards, two
main load cases (without air resistance) were devised. From these cases, the forces and moments
present in the analyzed mechanism were determined.

Load case 1: Static, wheel turn

Based on the diagram in figure 3, reaction forces were determined using formulas 1 to 3.

center of gravity

Gv Gh
ls
lA

Figure 3. The diagram for determining the reaction force at the contact points of the
wheels with the ground; Gv, Gh – vertical components of reaction forces, G – gravity
of the bicycle including the driver, lA – wheel base, ls – distance from the center of
gravity to the rear axle [1].

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MMS2019 IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Materials Science and Engineering 776 (2020) 012035 doi:10.1088/1757-899X/776/1/012035

𝐺 = 𝐺𝑣 + 𝐺ℎ (1)

𝑚
𝐺 = 𝑚 ∙ 𝑔 = (36 kg + 100 kg) ∙ 9.81 = 1334 N (2)
𝑠2

∑ 𝑀𝑣 = 𝐺ℎ ∙ 𝑙𝐴 − 𝐺 ∙ (𝑙𝐴 − 𝑙𝑠 ) = 0 (3)

𝐺 ∙ (𝑙𝐴 − 𝑙𝑠 ) 1334 N ∙ (1400 mm − 600 mm)

𝐺ℎ = = = 762 N
𝑙𝐴 1400 mm

𝐺𝑣 = 𝐺 − 𝐺ℎ = 1334 N − 762 N = 572 N

Figure 4 presents the visualization of the steering mechanism. It is connected with two parts forming
an extension of the bicycle's main frame. There are two such parts: left and right and are actuated by
linear electric motors which motors move the gear racks in the desired directions.

Figure 4. Visualization of the steering mechanism – right turn.

These gear racks are pushed with certain forces that must overcome the so-called the wheel turning
resistance that is highest at zero speed – figure 5.

Figure 5. Diagram for determining the wheel turning resistance (the cross-
section shows the shape of the contact surface of the wheel with the ground);
2a – longer side of the tire imprint on the ground [2–4].

The gear rack is coupled with a gear pinion mounted on the main shaft of the rotary mechanism.
A torque is generated in the mechanism. This moment must overcome the friction that occurs in the
cross-section of the tire's contact area with the ground, its value was derived from formula 4.

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MMS2019 IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Materials Science and Engineering 776 (2020) 012035 doi:10.1088/1757-899X/776/1/012035

2
𝑀𝑠 = 𝑎 ∙ 𝑁 ∙ 𝜇 (4)
3

The pressure force N was assumed to be equal to the reaction force of the ground, parameter 2a value
was estimated at 100 mm, and the adopted coefficient of friction was μ = 0.95.

2 2
𝑀𝑠 = 𝑎 ∙ 𝐺𝑣 ∙ 𝜇 = ∙ 50 mm ∙ 572 N ∙ 0.95 ≈ 18000 Nmm
3 3

Load case 2: Dynamic, sudden braking, maintaining balance by turning the wheel.
Based on formula 5, the deceleration (parameter a) value during braking was calculated – from the
initial speed 𝑣 = 30 km h–1 in time 𝑡 = 2 𝑠

km 1000 m
∆𝑣 𝑣𝑘 − 𝑣𝑝 0 − 30 h −30 ∙ 3600 s m (5)
𝑎= = = = = −4.2 2
∆𝑡 ∆𝑡 2𝑠 2𝑠 s

To determine the dynamic increases during braking, the diagram presented in figure 6 was used.

center of gravity
Fträg

G hs

ΔG
Gv Gh
ΔG
lA

Figure 6. Braking; ΔG – dynamic increase, Fträg – inertial force equivalent to

the braking force [1].

Calculations based on formulas 6 and 7.

m
𝐹𝑡𝑟ä𝑔 = 𝑚 ∙ 𝑎 = 136 kg ∙ 4.2 = 571 N (6)
s2

∑ 𝑀ℎ = 𝐹𝑡𝑟ä𝑔 ∙ ℎ𝑠 − ∆𝐺 ∙ 𝑙𝐴 = 0 (7)

𝐹𝑡𝑟ä𝑔 ∙ ℎ𝑠 571 N ∙ 0.5 m

∆𝐺 = = = 204 N
𝑙𝐴 1.4 m

3. FEM
The most important for this analysis [5, 6] is to determine the dimensions of the main shaft on which
all the rotating parts that are part of the mechanism are mounted. The baseline design requirement is to

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MMS2019 IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Materials Science and Engineering 776 (2020) 012035 doi:10.1088/1757-899X/776/1/012035

maintain the relatively small dimensions of the rotation mechanism, to maintain the impression that
there is no visible steering device of the wheel. Therefore, during the analysis, the stage of shaft
geometry simplification (chamfers, roundings, machining undercuts, keyways) was abandoned so that
the stress distribution was as approximate as possible. AISI 4130 / 25CrMo4 improved alloy steel
(material number: 1.7218) was selected as the material to handle ultra-high loads, with tensile strength
limit of 𝑅𝑚 = 1172 MPa and yield point equal to 𝑅𝑒 ≥ 700 MPa.
Figure 7 shows the results of the main shaft analysis for the first load case. In the area where the
highest stresses were expected, the number of finite elements was increased. Stresses at the level of
over 400 MPa are relatively high, even when selecting a material with yield strength at almost double
the value of stress.

a) b)

Figure 7. Results of the shaft analysis for the first load case: a) mesh, b) stress distribution.

As expected, the next stage calls for a dynamic analysis of the machine shaft. See figure 8 for the
types of load cycles. It is anticipated that the torque acting on the shaft alternately (depending on the
direction of turning the wheel) necessitates to assume at least mutually variable loads.

a) b) c) d)

Figure 8. Types of load cycles and stresses: a) constant, b) unilaterally variable (1 – pulsating,
2 – pulsating unilateral), c) mutually variable (3 – swinging symmetrical, 4 – bilateral
asymmetrical), d) transient, T – period ( load and stress change cycle) [7].

The following parameters were analytically calculated for re-analysis: fatigue strength from formula 8,
safety factor from formula 9 and allowable stresses from formula 10. The safety factor was adopted at
3.4 – formula 9.

5
MMS2019 IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Materials Science and Engineering 776 (2020) 012035 doi:10.1088/1757-899X/776/1/012035

𝑍𝑠𝑜 = 0.3𝑅𝑚 = 352 MPa (8)

𝑥𝑧 = 3.4 ÷ 3.7 (9)

𝑥𝑧 = 3.4

𝑍𝑠𝑜 352
𝑘= = = 104 MPa (10)
𝑥𝑧 3.4

This leads to an optimized shaft geometry – as shown in figure 9. After optimization, a re-analysis was
performed as shown in figure 10.

Threaded hole → Seeger ring groove

Φ 9 mm → Φ 19 mm

Figure 9. Shaft geometry optimization.

Figure 10. Results of the shaft re-analysis for the first load case after geometry optimization.

The highest concentrated stresses are two times smaller than the expected allowable stresses. At this
stage, it can be said that the dimensions of the shaft are approximately correct. This is all to detail the

6
MMS2019 IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Materials Science and Engineering 776 (2020) 012035 doi:10.1088/1757-899X/776/1/012035

other parts in the front of the bike. In the final stage, fatigue analysis of the entire mechanical
assembly will be carried out utilizing the connection mode. The final analysis will account for the
second load case – the results are shown in figure 11.

a) b)

Figure 11. Results of the shaft analysis for the second load case after
geometry optimization: a) mesh, b) stress distribution.

Figure 12 shows a possible representation of the mechanism cover after re-analysis. Its aesthetics and
compactness is significantly reduced.

a) b)

Figure 12. View of the mechanism cover: a) before analysis, b) after optimization.

The purpose of the design was to hide the device controlling the steering angle of the wheel as much
as possible. It is possible to reduce the dimensions of the entire mechanism under existing loads by
increasing the diameter and maintaining the current shaft length. Consequently, this calls for the use of
non-standard prismatic grooves – possibly splined. Another optimization of geometry was carried out
and the shaft was subject to another analysis. The results are shown in figure 13.

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MMS2019 IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Materials Science and Engineering 776 (2020) 012035 doi:10.1088/1757-899X/776/1/012035

a) b)

Figure 13. Results of the shaft analysis for the first load case after
geometry re-optimization: a) mesh, b) stress distribution.

As can be seen, the shaft length in this case has no effect on the stress distribution. The only difficulty
in the construction process may be the selection of appropriate bearings with a relatively small width.
Finally, an analysis was carried out for the two connecting parts which transfer the load directly from
the shaft to the final restraint of the part being the extension of the main frame. Figure 14 shows that
the fastener is too thin to transfer bending forces. Where the largest stress distribution was anticipated,
the number of finite elements was increased.

a) b)

c)

Figure 14. Results of the connector analysis for the first load case: a) mesh,
b) stress distribution, c) the area of highest stresses and concentrated stresses.

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MMS2019 IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Materials Science and Engineering 776 (2020) 012035 doi:10.1088/1757-899X/776/1/012035

It is worth noting that the connector geometry presented in figure 14 already accounts for the change
in the main shaft geometry. This means that originally the connector was relatively much smaller and
all the more unsuitable for carrying the given load. Figure 15 shows the result of the reanalysis after
geometry optimization.

Figure 15. Results of the connector re-analysis for the first load
case after geometry optimization.

As for the part which forms an extension of the main frame, the analysis will be carried out in the
subsequent stages of the project, because this part is made of carbon. For such materials, the
distribution of stress depends on the direction of composite fibers and the results of the examination
will be presented in a separate article.

4. Conclusion
These tests allowed to receive stress approximation in a static analysis. Consequently, dimensions
were identified to indirectly account for variable loads. In the further stage of research, the mechanism
will be designed in greater detail. Presently, the shaft dimensions will be used to determine the
dimensions of the mating parts. Finally, a dynamic analysis of the entire mechanism will be carried out
using the connection mode.

5. References
[1] Stoffregen J 2006 Engine and Technology: Fundamentals and Concepts of Engine, Drive and
Chassis (Wiesbaden: Springer) pp 259–264 (in German)
[2] Pieczonka K 2007 Engineering of Working Machines: Part I Basics of mining, driving, lifting
and rotation (Wrocław: Oficyna Wydawnicza Politechniki Wrocławskiej) (in Polish)
[3] Habich E 1962 Technical Vehicle Guide (Warszawa: Państwowe Wydawnictwa Techniczne)
pp 632–690 (in Polish)
[4] Habich E 1956 Technical Car Guide (Warszawa: Państwowe Wydawnictwa Techniczne)
pp 130–171 (in Polish)
[5] Kleiber M 1989 Introduction to the Finite Element Method (Warszawa: Państwowe
Wydawnictwo Naukowe) (in Polish)
[6] Zienkiewicz O C, Taylor R L and Zhu J Z 2013 The Finite Element Method: Its Basis and
Fundamentals (Amsterdam: Elsevier)
[7] Osiński Z 1999 Machine Construction Basics (Warszawa: Państwowe Wydawnictwo Naukowe)
pp 57–58 (in Polish)