Research Paper

Designing Space Frame Race Car Chassis Structure Using Natural

Frequencies Data from Ansys Mode Shape Analysis
Mohammad Al Bukhari Marzuki
Mechanical Engineering Department
Sultan Azlan Shah Polytechnic
Behrang Stesyen, 35950 Behrang
mohammad@psas.edu.my

Mohd Arzo Abu Bakar

Mechanical Engineering Department
Sultan Azlan Shah Polytechnic
Behrang Stesyen, 35950 Behrang
mohd_arzo@psas.edu.my

Mohammad Firdaus Mohammed Azmi

Mechanical Engineering Department
Sultan Azlan Shah Polytechnic
Behrang Stesyen, 35950 Behrang
firdaus_azmi@psas.deu.my

Abstract
Designing and fabricating space frame chassis structure requires a certain set of knowledge
especially in design, material selection and metal joining and fabrication which will result in rigid,
sturdy and competitive chassis design. The outcome of the design will reflect the success of chassis
especially if the chassis design is used for racing competition. This study focuses on the analysing
the initial chassis design using mode shape analysis and the mode shape frequencies and
characteristic produced from the analysis are studied. The modelling and the finite element model
of the chassis structure are carried out using coordinate system in ANSYS Design Modeller and
ANSYS APDL Version 13 respectively. The main objective of this analysis is to establish the natural
frequency and mode shape characteristic corresponds to the natural frequency from the chassis
structure to ensure that the ride comfort is beyond the unhealthy frequency range. Result from the
study can be used to study the dynamic behaviour and to improvise the overall dynamic response
of the chassis structure.
Key Terms:
1.

Mode shape, vibration, natural frequency, space frame, ANSYS

Introduction

Car racing competition usually involved in racing driver race each other, either
competing who gets the fastest time or who complete the course first. Car racing comes in
several category which include opened-wheel Formula Series, production car Rally Series,
highly modified production car Japan GT Series and a few other car-based racing competition
which being held locally and internationally. In opened-wheel car racing competition divided
into a number of levels, this may include entry level kart racing and highly advance Formula 1
Championship. There are also racing competition tailored made for university or college student
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can participate. Among the well-known university level race car competition are Formula SAE,
organised by the Society of Automotive Engineers and Formula Student, organised by the
Institute of Mechanical Engineers UK. Locally, there are also a number of competitions for the
local universities student can take part, the majority of the competition are organised by a
university and also car manufacturers in Malaysia, i.e. PROTON and PERODUA. Most of the local
racing competition loosely based on the Formula SAE standard and the regulation are modified
to suit local competition requirements. The chassis structure specification for this study is based
on regulation of UniMAP-MODENAS Racing Challenge specification which only allowed the
participant to construct a space frame race car platform. The advantages of using space frame
chassis construction are the mass of the structure is lesser and cost effective than other types of
chassis but due to complicated manufacturing process, space frame chassis platform is only
used for high performance and niche market cars.
The main chassis structure is divided into several segments, which are the Main Hoop,
Front Hoop, Side Impact Protection and Crush Zone. The Main and Front Hoop is tasked to
protect the driver in the event if the car rolls over. The Main Hoop protects the upper part of the
drivers body while the Front Hoop protects the drivers arm and hand if rollover occurs. As for
the Side Impact Protection section, this section is created to protect the driver from side in the
event of any collision from the either side of the car. As part of the chassis, the Crush Zone is
located at foremost section of the chassis. This section is specially made to absorb energy in case
of a head-on collision. The main sections of the chassis are illustrated in Figure 1.

Figure 1: An example of space frame race car chassis structure based on Formula SAE specification

The dynamic behaviour is one of the important aspects in designing a car. Dynamic
characteristic of a structure can be analysed either through modal or harmonic analysis which
can be carried out from experiment or simulation. In reference to He et al. (2001), the car
chassis is tested experimentally by suspending the chassis structure with springs to simulate
free-free boundary condition and the chassis is excited using a shaker so that the mode shape of
the chassis can be derived. Experimental modal analysis studied by Wenlin et al. (2010) utilised
Land-Wind X6 chassis to study the dynamic behaviour through modal analysis. The tests are
conducted using data acquisition system and an input hammer which generated eleven mode
shapes with the frequency below 150Hz and later verified with Modal Assurance Criteria (MAC)
method for data validation. Another notable experimental modal analysis is conducted by
Naveen et al. (2014). The result illustrated from two wheeler chassis derived from Operation
Deflection Shape (ODS) analysis produced 6 experimental mode shapes, which includes torsion,
lateral bending and vertical bending in different modes. The result from Naveen et al (2014)
later can be used for further strengthening the chassis to minimise the deflection caused by
natural frequencies.

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Finite element method is a computational technique to extract mode shapes of a

structure where the rigidity of the structure can be analysed and the resonance vibration could
be avoided. There are several software that can be used to analyse dynamic characteristic,
computer-based finite element analyses ANSYS APDL is one of the commercial computational
aided engineering software that extract mode shapes from chassis structure. Dynamic
characteristic response can be obtained using variety of vibration and structural design
analyses method accessible in the software as explained by N. Lin et al. (2012) and Wang et al.
(2010). A further study by Riley (2002) utilising computational method, a tubular frame car
chassis produced four different mode shapes which are all below 15Hz and the displacement of
every mode shape is recorded for chassis improvement purposes. Modal analysis also can be
used to determine the human response against structure vibration. A research conducted by
Nissar (2003), presented a result from motorcycle chassis mode shape analysis showed that
large displacement at handlebar position could cause the rider discomfort and the first two
frequencies obtained lies in the human discomfort region (0-100 Hz). Thus, Nissar (2003)
conclude that further study and improvement is needed to bring the motorcycle chassis
vibration within the human comfort zone. In the ISO 2631-1 state that the frequency range
consideration for health and comfort is between 0.5 Hz to 80 Hz which in relation to human
health and comfort, the probability of vibration perception and the incidence of motion sickness
as stated in a study lead by Agostoni (2009).
Although there are various studies on car chassis structure vibration analysis both in
experimentation and simulation, but most of the research are not fully address modal analysis
specifically on space frame race car chassis for students race competition. Apart from that, the
ride and comfort of the race car driver usually is not being take care of and winning the
competition or race is the only motivation for any particular racing team. Therefore, the
purpose of this study is to design a space frame race car chassis structure based on the natural
frequencies and shape characteristic obtained from the mode shape analysis simulated using
ANSYS software package. The study is performed as a first step to improve vibrational
characteristics of the initial chassis structure design and to ensure that the natural frequencies
are beyond the human unhealthy and discomfort frequency range.
2.

Finite Element Model

The race car chassis is designed and fabricated according to the Formula SAE design
criteria as stated in the UniMAP-MODENAS Racing Challenge 2014 Regulation. There are three
types of tube frame specification is used in the chassis, with all the different specification are
intended for the specific purposes of the chassis structure. A 27 mm diameter tube with wall
thickness of 2 mm is used for both hoops construction. Other tube frame construction such as
the side beam and front beam is constructed by using a 25 mm with 1.6 mm wall thickness tube
as shown in Figure 2. The thicker tube is selected for both hoops sections since it withstand any
rolling impact in case the car rolls over. The wishbone which is assumed as not part of the
chassis construction since it is not permanently fixed to the chassis structure. The entire tube
specifications and thicknesses are entered to the section geometry data (SECDATA) option in
the ANSYS APDL.

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Figure 2: The complete fabricated race car chassis structure complete with wishbones

The material selected for the chassis construction is based on the rules and regulations
required by the race organiser. In the regulation, there is a single type of material that can be
used for constructing the car chassis, which is ferrous material. For the analysis purposes, steel
is selected with the material properties include material density of 7860 kg/m 2, a Poissons
Ratio of 0.3, and Youngs Modulus of 200 GPa.
The finite element model in ANSYS APDL is assumed to be made from tube frame in
which PIPE288 element is selected to represent the chassis structure. PIPE288 element is
chosen because the element is suitable for analysing short pipe structures which based on the
Timoshenko beam theory with shear deformation effect are included (ANSYS, 2010). PIPE288 is
a 3-D linear, quadratic two-noded pipe element which has six degrees of freedom, making the
element suited for linear, large rotation and strain nonlinear application (ANSYS, 2010) as
shown in Figure X (element pic). Key point is created by using the dimension according to the
actual chassis construction and then the key points created are connected using lines option and
the lines are meshed using mesh tool in ANSYS APDL. The model is meshed using mapped
element with equivalent mesh size on every line. A total of 5875 nodes and 5900 elements are
created. The total number of nodes and elements created are sufficient to produce an acceptable
result, the simplified finite element meshed model is illustrated in Figure 3 - 6.

Figure 3: Isometric view of the simplified race car chassis model in ANSYS APDL interface

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Figure 4: The main hoop, protects the driver during roll over

Figure 5: Front section of the chassis

Figure 6: Rear section, housing the engine and transmission of the race car

There are no weight is carried by the chassis, therefore there are no loads are applied in
ANSYS vibration analysis with all degree of freedom are free to evaluate the natural response of
the chassis structure. For the analysis purposes, damping coefficient is ignored for modal
analysis.
3.

Finite Element Mode Shape Analysis

Frequency Response Function utilises measurement techniques of Fast Fourier

Transform (FFT), which is widely used in analysing structural dynamic especially in automotive
design and engineering field to establish vibration characteristic i.e. mode shape, natural

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frequencies of vehicle model (Mehdi et al., 2014). The equation of motion for undamped system
is formulated from;
(1)
Where m, q and k is the constant which describe the mass, displacement and stiffness of
the system and Equation (1) equal to zero if there is no force applied to the system. q is
displacement for a linear system, which in harmonic form will be;
(2)
Where

is the amplitude of mode shape of the ith natural frequency i , therefore;

(3)

The solution from Equation (3) gives Eigen values, which is the square root of the
natural frequencies and the Eigen vectors are the amplitude of the corresponding natural
frequencies. The natural frequencies gathered from the modal analysis can be used to provide
information on critical mounting points for vibration sourced component i.e. engine,
transmission, suspension system, electric motors and etc.
Block Lanczos method is selected to analyse the mode shape from the structure. Block
Lanczos method has been widely used in studies for extracting mode shapes and natural
frequencies in a structure (Wang Hai-fei et al. 2014, Rao et al. 2014, Samrudhi et al. 2014). Five
mode shapes is selected in the mode shape extraction option in ANSYS. Five mode shapes is
assumed to be adequate since the most important result from modal analysis is the first-five
mode shapes as it represents the lower range of natural frequencies of the race car chassis. End
frequency of the analysis is selected at a maximum of 1000Hz where these options enable
ANSYS APDL to search the mode shape of the car chassis from 0Hz to 1000Hz and will stop
searching beyond the stipulated range. A simple single axis support is applied at the 4 point
where the bracket holding the both right and left, front and rear wishbone to simulate the
chassiss actual resting position.
4.

Finite Element Mode Shape Result

This study utilises Modal Analysis to generate the natural frequencies and mode shapes
of the space frame chassis structure. Result from Modal Analysis is important as it can predict
the response of structural parameters under dynamic loading condition. Mode shapes simulated
from Modal Analysis can provide the information of how the chassis structure will naturally
displace. ANSYS APDL Mechanical is used as pre-processor, solver and post-processor for the
modal analysis. Utilising Block Lanczos method, 5 mode shapes are obtained between 0 - 1000
Hz range. Table 1 illustrates the first five natural frequencies for the corresponding mode shape
which are important to the study. Mode shapes frequencies and characteristic are tabulated in
Table 2.

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First mode shape 150.39 Hz

Second mode shape 203.15 Hz

Third mode shape 389.10Hz

Fourth mode shape 515.66Hz

Fifth mode shape 759.38Hz

Table 1: Mode shape

Table 1 outlines the first natural frequency for the chassis is at approximately 150.39
Hz. The mode shape of the race car structure is critical because resonance usually occurs in
these frequencies. The second modal frequency is vibrated at 203.15 Hz, the third modal
frequency vibrated at 389.10 Hz, fourth modal frequency at 515.66 Hz and the last modal
frequency within 0 - 1000 Hz range vibrated at 759.38 Hz.

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Mode Shape

Frequency (Hz)

1
2
3
4
5

150.39
203.15
389.10
515.66
759.38

Mode Shape Characteristics

Rear section downward bending along Y-axis
Torsional in middle section
Bending in middle and rear section
Torsional in front section
Torsional at rear and bending at front section

Table 2: List of mode shape frequencies and characteristic

The 5 mode shapes are produced by ANSYS illustrates different modal frequency
characteristic. The first mode shape generated a bending behaviour, occurred at the rear section
of the chassis. If the bending behaviour is animated in ANSYS, it produced a flapping-like
animation resembling a bird flapping its wing, as called by Wenlin et al. (2010). The result from
ANSYS solver shows large deformation caused by the modal frequencies and can be magnified,
that in so doing, any small or large deformation can be seen in the result.
5.

Race Car Chassis Structure Improvement

The mode shapes produced from the modal analysis illustrates that different frequency
on each mode shape produced different reaction behaviour. The reaction characteristics include
torsional, bending and combination of torsional and bending. It is important to identify the
mode shape characteristic and the displacement caused by the natural frequencies. It is known
that if vibration caused by external excitation is similar to that of the natural frequencies, this
will result in deflection in the chassis structure. The highest deflection recorded by the Modal
Analysis is located in the third mode shape, with a displacement of 0.375 mm. The response of
the race car chassis structure in the third mode shape is bending behaviour in both middle and
rear section. The highest displacement of the race car chassis structure is located at the side
impact protection sub-frame as shown in Figure 12.

Figure 12: The highest displacement of the race car chassis structure

The side impact protection sub-frame displaced 0.375 mm from its original position
which is the highest shape deformation recorded from the mode shape analysis. High
deformation located at the side impact protection sub-frame is due to lack of support between
the front-end and back-end joint of the frame. This can be improved by mounting a cross

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member frame at the side impact sub-frame to minimise the displacement at the specified area
as illustrated in Figure 12.
6.

Conclusion

The Modal Analysis generates 5 mode shapes, extracted from Block Lanczos method
with the simulated natural frequencies ranging from 150 Hz to 1000 Hz. The first mode shape
recorded the lowest frequency at 150 Hz, which is considered as safe and comfortable for
human application as explained by Nissar (2003). The natural frequencies generated from the
Modal Analysis also are far-off from any critical external source of excitation which is ranging
from 0 Hz to 100 Hz. At this frequency range, the race car chassis structure is likely to be force
exited from external source of vibration i.e. road surfaces, engine unbalance cycle and
transmission vibration. The highest frequency produce by the chassis structure is in fifth mode
shape, vibrated at 759.39 Hz. The fifth mode shape is located at higher frequency range and will
not affected by external nor other source of vibration likely in a car.
The natural frequency in the third mode shape is recorded at 389.10 Hz and a
displacement of 0.375 mm. This frequency caused the highest displacement to the race car
chassis structure. This phenomenon is known as resonance and at this frequency it is likely the
chassis structure will experience excessive displacement and leading to failure. Due to
resonance frequency is vibrated at higher frequency range, therefore it is unlikely that any
external forced vibrational excitation ranging from 0 Hz to 100 Hz could caused resonance
frequency to the chassis structure. To deal with the displacement caused by the frequency,
improvement can be made by mounting a cross member frame on the both side of the chassis
sub-frame, although, the amount of the displacement is considered small. The overall dynamic
characteristic produced is considered safe for human application and adequate to be used in
racing circuits based on the analysis. In general, the result produced from Modal Analysis is vital
in finding the dynamic response of the race car chassis structure. The findings can be utilised as
an initial data before it can be validated from Harmonic Analysis and experimentally.
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