DESIGN and ANALYSIS of a Baja vehicle

chassis
Sunnel Daniel1, Saurabh Bhandare2, Kaushal Joshi3, Ajinkya Bhonge4
Ajay Kashikar5
1234

Final Year Students of ,Lokmanya Tilak College Of Engineering ,

Asst. Prof , Department of mechanical engineering, Mumbai University
ajinkya.bhonge6@gmail.com4

ABSTRACT :- This project aims at enriching

student's knowledge on the basic systems and
components of an all terrain vehicle. Their uses and
importance is unique to the vehicle quite different
from a normal automobile. It will also enrich student
knowledge concerning various softwares like Pro-E,
NX, Nastran, Ansys, etc that would help in better
design and analysis of the all-terrain vehicle and thus
improve the overall statistics of the vehicle making it
better in terms of handling, durability, serviceability,
accessibility and detecting and troubleshooting .
Keywords-CAD of chassis,CAE of Chassis,Design of
Baja Vehicle

1.0 Introduction
The need for travelling in different types
of terrain has laid the development of the all terrain
vehicle which would help man travel in many
different types of terrain where a normal passenger
car would not be able to function at its optimum
level. The different types of terrain would include
sand, mud, rocks, jungle terrain, grass, concrete,
etc. The vehicle would need an in-depth design and
analysis of the chassis considering the adverse
conditions which would affect the vehicle during
its functioning.

2.0 Objective
The objective is to achieve an optimized
design after testing so that an entire vehicle can
be designed for surviving the off-road
challenges such as bumps, steep climbs, mud
and dust terrain, sand dunes, etc. The chassis
should be at an optimum while designing and
fabricating an off-roader. There are different
types of excitation frequencies that would be
offered by the road and the chasis should be
able to resist and absorb all the vibrations. This
will help in better handling of the car, it will
have improved stability, and will also protect
the car from any damages during functioning.
Various other specifications and hard points
would have to be decided that would help in
better functioning and surviving of the car.
Various softwares like ANSYS, NX
NASTRAN, Pro-E would be used for designing
and testing the finalized designs of each
assembly and components. Validation methods
would be used to analyze, recheck the actual
performance of each system In real life . The
design of the chassis will be done on the basis
of SAE BAJA norms, which will help us to go
realistic way in the designing of terrain vehicle.

3.0 Material Selection

3.1 The requirement

FIG(1)Rendering

Roll cage must be space frame of tubular

steel as per the SAE BAJA norms. The material
used for the Primary Roll Cage Members must be:
A. Circular steel tubing with an outside diameter of
25 mm (1 in) and a wall thickness of 3 mm (0.120
in) and a carbon content of at least 0.18%. OR B. A

steel tube with bending stiffness and bending

strength exceeding that of circular steel tubing with
an outside diameter of 25 mm (1 in) and a wall
thickness of 3 mm (0.120 in) and a carbon content
of 0.18%[1]. The wall thickness must be at least
1.57 mm (0.062 in)[1], regardless of material or
section size. Calculations must be presented at
Technical Inspection which proves sufficient
bending stiffness and bending strength. All
calculations must be in SI units. Invoices or other
evidence of the properties of the roll cage materials
must be attached to the calculations. Calculations
must be performed using three significant figures to
the nominal tube sizes as specified by the invoice.
The bending stiffness and bending strength must
be calculated about a neutral axis that gives the
minimum values. Bending stiffness is considered to
be proportional to the product EI Where: E:
Modulus of elasticity (205 GPa for all steels) I:
Second moment of area for the structural cross
section Bending strength is given by: SyI/C Where:
Sy : Yield strength (365 MPa for AISI 4130
Steel*)[2] C: Distance from neutral axis to
extreme fiber *Bending Strength of AISI 4130
Steel (for tube dimension of Sec. 3.6.1 A) = 387.38
Nm

3.3 The Calculation

I= /64 X (25.4^4 - 21.4^4)* = 10136.744mm^4 Sy

= 480 N/mm^2 c = 12.7 Bending strength = SyI/c =
(490 X 10136.744)/12.7 = 391.1 N-mm.[7]

Table(1)-Material Selection[10]

4.0 Chassis Design

3.2 The selection

In order to achieve a light weight chassis with
the above mentioned rules the only way is to
reduce the wall thickness of the members[6]. Light
weight roll cage is very important as to have a
better acceleration the car should be as light as
possible. After going through the design data books
we arrived with certain materials which have yield
strength of above 600 MPa. After surveying the
market availability in a tubular cross section pipe
with the required properties we arrived at an
optimized selection of material shown below.Out
of the above mentioned materials AISI 4130 is the
best suitable as it gives the minimum wall thickness
as it has very high yield strength, as it is very
expensive. The other options were SAE 106B[3]
and AISI 4130[4]. The finalization was done with
AISI 4130 as it is cheaper and also a less wall
thickness can be achieved with it.

FIG(2)Basic views of chassis

FIG(3)Side view of chassis

rear, side impact and roll over were carried out in

ANSYS for chassis analysis.[9]
6.0 Ergonomics

FIG (4) Finalized design of chassis

For a comfortable ride, ergonomics plays an

important role in the chassis design of the car. The
ergonomic parameters are set after making a
prototype prior to final manufacturing off the
chassis . the prototype made with PVC pipe can be
seen in fig 9.3 the driver sits in the prototype and
checks the comfort as well as the safety rules meet
or not e.g. 3 inch from all the body part to the
chassis,6 inch between head and RHO.

The chassis finalized design can be seen from

the figure above. The finalization was done after
making three different designs and testing as well
as light weight and ergonomics.
5.0 Roll cage analysis

FIG(7) Prototype with PVC pipe.

FIG(5)Chassis Roll over test: max. stress 306 N/mm2 FOS =

1.7

Conclusion

FIG(6) Chassis Side impact test: max. stress 362 N/mm2 FOS
= 1.43

As per the yield strength of material selected

the F.O.S. was calculated and the loading result can
be seen in the figures. Loading conditions for front,

Fig(8) The actual car after farbrication.

The overall weight reduction in chassis due to

the optimized material selection is the mass of the
rollcage reduced to 40KGS which otherwise would
have been 68KG if we directly selected the material
AISI 4130.
Through this paper we have tried to
produce a clear understanding towards the
fabrication of a baja buggy chasis. Our aim was to
provide a basic understanding towards fabrication
of the rollcage, from the designing phase to the
fabrication of the chassis. It is of atmost
imporatance to fabricate a chasis that is light in
weight but also stands strong against most possible
accidents keeping the driver safe. We also urge our
readers to try and achieve the maximum safety and
prioritise safety over other parameters.
.

References
[1] Baja sae rule book
[2] Design of machine element by v.b bhandari
[3]
Vehicle
Dynamics
Theory
Application[book] / auth. Reza N. Jazar

And

[4]Fundamentals Of Vehicle Dynamics[book] /

auth. by Thomas Gillespie.
[5] Race Car Vehicle Dynamics[book] / auth.
Miliken And Miliken
[6] Paper #: Lawrence m Patrick, Forces on the
Human Body in Simulated Crashes, 650961
[7] Paper #: v.m mundada, Development of 4Wheel Drive Utility Vehicle for Off-Road and
Military Application, 962558

[8] Thornton R. "Design Considerations for an

Electric Car," SAE Technical Paper 700020, 1970,
doi:10.4271/700020.

[9] Bradley L. and Carpenter, M., "Off Track Frame and Suspension Tuning (FAST)," SAE
Technical
Paper
942535,
1994,
doi:10.4271/942535
[10] Lanzavecchia, M. and Radice, P., "Road
Vehicle Robust Design: Chassis and Suspension
Tolerances Impact on the Handling and Stability

Behaviour," SAE Technical Paper 2008-01-0710,

2008, doi:10.4271/2008-01-0710