Robert Golmon Advisor: Dr. Lee Instructor: Cris Koutsougeras Et Senior Design Fall 2012

The Baja SAE project is a competition that simulates real-world engineering design projects and their related challenges. Engineering students are given the task to design and build an off- road vehicle that will survive the severe punishment of rough terrain.

The objective of my part of the baja project is to design and construct the chassis/frame of the vehicle from the ground up. Some challenges to are I need to keep the frame both light and strong while I try to keep the cost down. I will need to calculate the proper frame diameter and test the whole design by doing a stress analysis.

To draw my frame I decided to use Inventor professional Similar to auto cad but also has a FEM(finite element method) software built

Add to my design by adding suspension mounts and other suspension components, using approved steering design. Run stress analysis with FEM software on the new frame assembly. After the design is approve I will need to build the frame

Four link suspension uses links to prevent the axle from moving side to side or back or forth while allowing it to go up and down as well as articulate. A well designed and tested four link will provide a superior translation to the ground and higher ride quality.

For the analysis the weight of the driver an the weight of the engine were added where they connect to the frame. I ran the analysis on different tubing sizes ranging from 1x x.065 to find the smallest diameter pipe that would satisfy the max stress for the design factor.

 The tubing that satisfied the conditions and gave use the most weigh advantage was the 1.25x.065  Sy/8.7= /8.7= psi NameMinimumMaximum Displacement in0.014 in Forces Fx lbforce lbforce Fy lbforce lbforce Fz lbforce lbforce Mx lbforce in lbforce in My lbforce in lbforce in Mz lbforce in lbforce in Normal Stresses Smax psi psi Smin psi psi Smax(Mx)0.000 psi psi Smin(Mx) psi psi Smax(My)0.000 psi psi Smin(My) psi psi Saxial psi psi

Material = 1020 Dom 1.25x.065 tubing Weight = 78.7 lbs using 96 ft of tubing Cost=$186.24

September 12- Proposal October 1- have the altered design in cad October 27- have the stress analysis for the new design December 1 – Constructed frame