Design and Analysis of Electric Bike Chassis Using Glass Fibre Composites

Abstract

Electric motorcycles and scooters are alternates for the existing Internal combustion engine which eliminates emissions and greenhouse gases. The frame is a critical part of any vehicle bolsters an objective in its construction and protection for integrated parts within the vehicle. The weight of the frame contributes to 40% of the total curb weight of the vehicle. Hence, the main objective of this paper is to design, analyze and validate an electric bike frame to decrease the weight and replace the existing conventional material which will also lead to an increase in efficiency of an E-bike. Glass Fibre with Epoxy resin is reinforced individually with Eggshell and sugarcane as these materials are quite economical and easily accessible. A three-dimensional model of a Naked sports bike frame is made using Catia V5 software. Structural analysis is performed for static boundary conditions using Ansys 18.2 software. Based on the analysis results, GFRP and GFRP with Eggshell has less deformation and strain other than steel. GFRP and GFRP with Eggshell are fabricated and experimented for Tensile, flexural strength, and impact test. On the outcome of results, GFRP has better Tensile strength of 288 N/mm2, flexural strength of 15 N/mm2, and Impact energy of 12 joules whereas GFRP with Eggshell has a Tensile strength of 139 N/mm2, flexural strength of 6 N/mm2 and Impact energy of 4 joules. Theoretical simulation and experimental results suggest for alternate replacement of steel which reduces the weight of the frame by 45% for the modelled structure.