Design of a safe 3wheeler chassis with a variable crash box

Abstract

There have been many efforts by many investigators to improve the fuel efficiency of automotives through a variety of methods which include better engine managements, hybrid system or augmentation of the efficiency of individual mechanical parts. But, these methods require a lot of time, costs, and efforts. The most simple and certain solution are decreasing mass of vehicle. However, small and light vehicles may not be able to provide enough the passenger safety due to insufficient crash room. In this study, an ultra light 3wheeler with active safety system which is called a variable crash box is studied and developed. By adapting the 6061 aluminum frame, the mass of the vehicle is reduced to only 250kg. And, the crash box and the chassis are analyzed by using a crash simulation tool like LS-DYNA to demonstrate the safety of the ultra light 3 wheeler with a variable crash box. The variable crash box is designed based on elastic buckling theory and several beam corner pattern are studied to maximize the absorption of crash energy. The designed ultra light vehicle with a unique safety system is expected to meet the goal of high fuel efficiency and safety at the same time. Also, the vehicle can be produced at a reasonably low cost.