Finite element analysis on e-bike frame model with composite material variations

Abstract

Composites which are tough, lightweight, easy to produce are the choice of industrial materials. The choice of several composite materials is conducted to determine the extent to which the feasibility of these materials can be used. Mountain e-bike is one application of composite material development. The mountain e-bike is also a medium which can test the toughness of the material. Therefore, this article will discuss the comparative analysis of composite materials applied to mountain e-bike frame modeling. Modeling type of mountain e-bike frame using XC-bike model design. The finite element method (FEM) is used here to model and to simulate the performance of the bicycle frame. This simulation compares the modeling of two composite materials with static analysis. The materials used in the simulation are UD (unidirectional) epoxy carbon composite prepreg and epoxy carbon woven prepreg respectively with elastic modulus 239â GPa. Five various load conditions are used, namely static start up, steady state pedaling, vertical impact, horizontal impact and rear wheel braking. The simulation parameters that considered to evaluate the frame design are stress (von Mises stress), total deformation and safety factor. Epoxy carbon woven prepreg material has been found to be better in this modeling with the largest stress, highest deformation and lowest safety factor of 37,848â mm; 230.2â MPa; 2.6 respectively. Design optimization to increase the value of the safety factor has been conducted in the analysis by simulating an mountain e-bike frame. Design optimization resulted an increase the value of safety factor by an average of 17% for epoxy carbon UD prepreg and 23% for epoxy carbon woven prepreg.