Investigation of Mechanical Behaviors of Motorcycle Frames Designed from Steel and Hybrid Materials under Static and Dynamic Loading

Abstract

Motorcycle use is increasing and becoming widespread every day in the world, especially in Turkey. As the need for motorcycles increases, the basic structural parts of motorcycles, especially the frames, are desired to be stronger and cheaper as well as lighter. For this reason, although motorcycle frame materials are mostly steel or aluminum, in recent years hybrid materials consisting of composites and various alloys, especially in frame construction, have become widespread in the motorcycle industry. In this study, a preliminary design of two separate motorcycle frames consisting of steel and hybrid (steel, aluminum alloy and carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) composites) materials were made with solid modeling, and a finite element model of both frames was created. Thus, the deformations and stresses created by the static and dynamic loads acting on the frame were analyzed, and the frames were compared in terms of static and acceleration loading.

Keywords

• Finite element method
• Motorcycle frame
• Design
• Hybrid materials
• CFRP composites

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