STRUCTURAL OPTIMIZATION OF GO-KART CHASSIS BY GEOMETRICAL MODIFICATIONS BASED ON MODAL ANALYSIS

Abstract

A chassis houses various key components such as the power-train, suspension system and the bodywork of an automobile. Thus, the chassis must be robust enough to absorb the static and dynamic forces generated by these components to assure safety and superior rideability of an automobile. In this work, efforts were made to improve the static and dynamic characteristic of a Go-kart chassis by using the modal analysis. The results of the modal analysis were carefully examined and the members are geometrically modified on the basis of excessive deformation. At the termination of the of this analysis, it was observed that geometrical modification has not only improved the dynamic characteristic by 17.5% but also shown improvement in the stiffness and crashworthiness of the chassis.