Improving the Dynamic Performance of a Motorbike Chassis Using Hybrid Sandwich Material
摘要
Within individual mobility, motorbikes are currently playing an increasingly important role. It is a vehicle that, due to its characteristics, allows for comfortable, agile and fast travel within large cities, helping to reduce congestion on the saturated streets and roads around them. On the other hand, and given that it is a reduced vehicle in terms of size and weight, its emissions of polluting gases are much lower than those of other vehicles such as cars and vans, contributing directly to reducing the high levels of pollution that are recorded in large cities. We present the analysis the weight reduction in the manufacture of a motorcycle chassis. The material studied is a sándwich of hybrid material formed by aluminum sheets and a fiberglass composite core. Different thickness configurations have been studied with the premise that the hybrid material has the same bending rigidity as its aluminum counterpart. The configurations studied have been obtained seeking to maximize mechanical performance, maximum weight reduction and a compromise between these features and the cost of the hybrid material. To evaluate the chassis with the different materials and configurations, FEM tools have been used that will help us understand its performance and behavior subjected to different loading situations. The results obtained will guide us to configure a hybrid material suitable for use as a structural material in the manufacture of a motorcycle chassis.