Design and Weight Optimization of Wheel Assembly Components Using FEA For BAJA

ISSN (O): 2393-8609
International Journal of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering

Volume 2 – No.6, October 2015
Design and Weight optimization of wheel assembly

components using FEA for BAJA
Rahul Sharma Raman Nain

B.Tech Automotive Design Engineering B.Tech Automotive Design Engineering
University of Petroleum and Energy Studies University of Petroleum and Energy Studies
i.rahulsharma10@gmail.com nainraman@yahoo.com
ABSTRACT Table 1. Mechanical Properties of En24& Al 7075-T6
The BAJA SAE is an international series of events which

Material type En 24 Al 7075-T6
attracts passionate engineers from all over the world. In India,
the event is known as Mini Baja SAEINDIA which is held
annually at NATRAX, Indore under the supreme organization Yield Strength (N/mm2) 680 505
of Mahindra. The event challenges young enthusiasts to
design, fabricate and race the ATV buggies against the teams
from top colleges in India. The general layout of the vehicle is Tensile Strength (N/mm2) 870 570
a 4 wheel rear wheel drive system with engine provided by
Briggs and Stratton. The vehicle undergoes rigorous tests
including hill climb, suspension and traction, maneuverability, Mass Density (Kg/m3) 7850 2810
acceleration and a 4 hour endurance race.
The vehicle must be able to sustain all the loads that are
generally encountered in an off-road scenario both static and Considering the above mentioned parameters, Aluminum
dynamic. These loads are generally Impact loads which occur 7075-T6 was selected the appropriate material for the
either due to a crash or jump. The designed vehicle is machining of hubs and the upright.
analyzed to ensure its durability under these circumstances.
General Terms
SolidWorks, Ansys WB etc.
Keywords
Hub, Upright, Disc, BAJA, ATV, FEA, Workbench,
Modeling and Meshing.
1. INTRODUCTION
The wheel assembly of an ATV generally comprises of a
Wheel rim attached to a hub and fastened using 4 bolts.
Further the brake rotor is also mounted on this hub and Fig 1: Exploded view of Front wheel assembly in
through the hollow axis of this hub the spindle from the SolidWorks.
upright passes which supports the hub. The hub is mounted on
the spindle using 2 roller bearings designed as per the 3. DESIGN METHODOLOGY
requirement. The components procured for the BAJA vehicle 3.1 Force Calculation
are Douglas A5 rims with PCD holes at 156mm of 10mm dia. The Design of the hub and upright must ensure the durability
The hub and upright are designed custom to reduce the weight
of the components under crash loads, jumps, bumps and
of the wheel assembly and provide appropriate strength to the
wheel assembly components. The components are designed to lateral acceleration. The vehicle was assumed to go over a
ensure the safety of the driver and also look aesthetically jump of 6ft under a projectile motion and the force acting on
pleasing. the hub and upright during the time of landing was calculated
and then later applied with two different cases. If the vehicle
2. MATERIAL SELECTION lands on only two wheels and other one is if vehicle lands on
To optimize the weight of the wheel assembly and ensure its
4 wheels. The forces acting during a two wheel landing are
durability, two different metals were considered for
machining – EN-24 steel and Aluminum 7075-T6. more vulnerable and thus, they were considered as the base
for design of these components.
Jump height = 6 feet = 1.83m

Mass of vehicle along with driver= 250kg.
Velocity at impact= V2 = 2XgXh
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ISSN (O): 2393-8609

V= 6m/s
Force on all 4 wheels during impact=
mv/t = 250X 6/ 0.10 = 15000N
If vehicle lands on 2 wheels, force on single wheel = 7500N
Force on the Assembly = 7500N ~ 3g.
3.2 PART MODELING & FEA

With its easy to use interface and high functionality during
assembly, SolidWorks is the best software package available
for part modeling of the hubs and uprights. These models
were prepared using 3D modeling technique and appropriate
material was applied to calculate their respective weight.
However for the FEA, ANSYS WB 14.0 was used. The files Fig 3: Max deformation in front hub using ANSYS WB.
were imported in .iges format and meshed using solid 3d
elements.
4. DESIGN OF HUB
The vehicle is a rear engine rear wheel drive that indicates that
the design of front and rear hubs will be different from each
other as the rear hub has to support the driving torque from
the axle half shafts through splines in addition to all the
impact loads. The hubs also undergo the braking torque when
the driver hits the brake pedal.
4.1 Front hubs

The front hubs provides mounting holes for both wheel rim
and brake rotor. The rim fits with 4 holes PCD 156mm and
10mm bolt diameter whereas the brake rotor is drilled with 4 Fig 4: Max Stress in front hub using ANSYS WB.
holes PCD 82mm with 10mm bolt dia. A central shaft
connecting these mounting points is designed with groves cut 4.2 Rear hubs
for inserting the roller bearings at the two ends of the hub. The design of the rear hub is different from the front hub as it
is only supported by the splined shaft which is inserted in the
rear upright. Although the mountings of disc and wheel rim
remain the same.
Fig 2: Front Hub modeled in SolidWorks.

After modelling of the hub in SolidWorks, the model was
meshed in ANSYS WB. For the impact analysis, the central
axial shaft was given a roller support and Force of 3g was Fig 5: Rear Hub modeled in SolidWorks.
applied on the mounting holes of the wheel rim in upward
direction. Von-Mises stress gives the appropriate value of In addition to the impact load during a bump and the braking
amount of stress induced in the component with respect to the torque, the rear hub also supports the propulsion torque from
force applied. For the simulation of the braking torque, the the axle half shafts. This was applied to the inner splined shaft
mounting holes of the brake disc were fixed using rigid and the mounting holes of the wheel rim were fixed using
support and the braking torque was applied at the mounting rigid support.
holes of the rim along the shaft axis.
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ISSN (O): 2393-8609

Fig 6: Max deformation in rear hub using ANSYS WB
Fig 10: Max stress in front upright using ANSYS WB
Fig 7: Max stress in rear hub using ANSYS WB 5.2 Rear upright
Unlike the double wishbones at the front, the rear suspension
system features a unique H-arm type linkage which requires 3
mounting points at the upright rather than 2. Heim joints are
5. DESIGN OF UPRIGHT used at the rear to increase the durability and vertical travel
The upright in the wheel assembly holds the rest of the smoothness. The design of the rear upright is a female type
components into their places. The front and rear uprights where the central cavity is provided to fit the bearing through
feature very different design approach as the front upright is a which the hub and axle half shafts pass.
male type and rear upright is a female type.
5.1 Front upright

Front upright is connected to the wishbones using 2 ball joints
and a spindle supports the hub internally with 2 roller
bearings. Mounting points for brake caliper are also provided
along with a steering arm as per the design of the steering
geometry.
Fig 11: Rear upright modeled in SolidWorks.

For analyzing the upright with respect to the impact forces
during the bump or jump landing, the central bearing case was
fixed and the force of 3g was equally applied to the arms of
the heim joints along the axis of the upright.
Fig 8: Front upright modeled in SolidWorks.

The part was analyzed in ANSYS by first fixing the spindle
surface externally and applying the impact force of 3g on the
two mounting points of ball joints in the upward direction.
Fig 12: Max deformation in rear upright using ANSYS
Fig 9: Max deformation in front upright using ANSYS
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ISSN (O): 2393-8609

Rear hub 62 0.055 8.14 425
Front Upright 69 0.007 7.3 380
Rear Upright 59 0.043 8.5 490
The Stress results in the above table clearly shows that the
stress induced in the component is less than the yield strength
with a suitable Factor of Safety. Thus the components can be
considered safe for their implementation in BAJA vehicle.
Fig 13: Max stress in rear upright using ANSYS
7. REFERENCES
6. CONCLUSION [1] BAJA SAE INDIA Rule Book 2015.
Max Max
Mass( [2] R.K.Rajput, (2007). Strength of Materials, 4thEd.S.Chand
Case Stress Deformation FOS Inc.
gm)
(MPa) (mm) [3] Nitin S.Gokhale,(2008).Practical Finite Element
Analysis, Finite To Infinite.
Front Hub 52 0.025 9.7 440
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ISSN (O): 2393-8609

International Journal of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering