Structural performance evaluation of an electric vehicle chassis

Abstract

Electric vehicle (EV) production is pivotal in achieving environmental sustainability by reducing greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution Since the weight of electric vehicles directly influences the energy consumption and driving range of the vehicle, innovative engineers face a significant challenge in designing an optimized vehicle chassis that remains robust under complex loading conditions. This paper focuses on the dynamic analysis of an EV chassis subjected to transient suspension forces due to hitting speed bumps and proposes a load factor between static and dynamic loads. A quarter vehicle model was adopted and solved using MATLAB Simulink to simulate the transient force transmitted to the chassis under different bump dimensions and vehicle speeds. The load was implemented into three different dynamic analysis studies: Front Loading, Rear Loading, and Torsional Loading. Subsequently, static and dynamic analyses were performed using Finite Element Analysis (FEA) with SimSolid software. The results obtained from the dynamic analysis studies showed that the maximum stress was 288 MPa with a safety factor of 1.12, while the maximum stress in the static analysis was 64 MPa with a safety factor of 5.69. Additionally, a load factor of 4.44 between static and dynamic loads was revealed. Based on these findings, the chassis experiences only elastic deformation and is considered safe for practical use.