Static Analysis of an Electric Three-Wheel Vehicle

Abstract

An electric three-wheel vehicle, called e-Trike, is developed for a delivery service vehicle. Design objectives of this small size vehicle are flexible maneuverability and large cargo capacity. The e-Trike vehicle is required to operate on urban road with the potential congested traffic and small alley. In this study, two Alpha frames: Alpha-0 and Alpha-2 which are the two earliest basic frame designs in the development process are investigated. These basic frames are developed to fulfill the vehicle mobility and delivery objectives. The study includes the determination of chassis characteristics performance and maneuverability which resulting in spring stiffness applied in the static analysis of Alpha frame. The frames bear the maximum operational load that consists of curb frame weight and maximum payload weight. Implicit LS-DYNA software to obtain the responses is used to simulate the static analysis. Spring constraint is applied in the suspension and axle joint and fix displacement is applied in the steering head to represent the actual conditions. This spring stiffness is varied by in the parameter to investigate the vehicle behavior with the different stiffness. The result shows that the Alpha-2 frame has the best performance in the deformation. Stiffener trusses and extended handling frame of Alpha-2 gives strong support to withstand with the loading and distribute the stress fairly to prevent the vehicle deflection lower when the loading is applied.