Durability Assessments of Motorcycle Handlebars

Ken-Yuan Lin, Jung-Ming Chang, Jui-Hung Wu, ChihHuang Chang Automotive Research and Testing Center Shun-Hui Chang, Jiun-Ren Hwang National Central University Chin-Ping Fung Chung Cheng Institute of Technology

CONTENT
Introduction Objective Theory Methods Results and Discussion Conclusion
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INTRODUCTION
Motorcycle Industry is one of the most important industries in Taiwan. Fatigue Cracks of motorcycle structures are sometimes found to initiate at welded regions during structural development. It is necessary to understand what fatigue analysis approach is suitable for this product.

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OBJECTIVE The purpose of this study is to characterize fatigue behavior of the motorcycle handlebar, and develop a suitable durability analysis approach for it.

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THEORY

Influence of Fatigue Life of the Welded Joint : Geometric Shape, Material Property, Residual Stresses and Weld Defects. BS 5400 : Part 10 Standard Nine Classes : Load Type, Weld Geometry and Location of Potential Crack Initiation.
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THEORY
BS 5400 :
When Nf 107, the correlation between fatigue life and nominal stress is:

Log N f = Log K z m Log S n

where Nf : fatigue life, K : constant relating to the mean-line of the statistical analysis results, z : number of standard deviations below the mean-line, s : standard deviation of Log Nf, m : inverse slope of mean-line log S Log Nf curve, Sn : nominal stress.
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THEORY
When Nf > 107, the equation is:

Log N f = Log K z ( m + 2 ) Log S n

Gurney modified equation was to consider thickness effect. The modified equations are as follows: When Nf 107,

Log N f = Log K z m Log

When Nf > 107, t : thickness (mm)

Sn 0.25 ( 22 ) t
Sn 0.25 ( 22 ) t

Log N f = Log K z ( m + 2) Log

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METHODS
1. Target Component and Target Track 2. Stress Analysis 3. Data Acquisition of Field Test 4. Road Simulation 5. Durability Tests 6. Evaluation of Fatigue Life
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METHODS
1. Target Component and Target Track

The vehicle used in this study was a 150c.c. scooter type of motorcycle. We selected motorcycle handlebar as the target component.

The motorcycle handlebar

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METHODS
1. Target Component and Target Track

The Belgium (Pave) road

The target track is the Belgium (Pave) road of the proving ground in ARTC (Automotive Research and Testing Center in Taiwan).
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METHODS
2. Stress Analysis The MSC.Nastran finite element software was adopted to carry out the stress and strain analysis and to find out possible failure locations.
Stress distribution of the motorcycle handlebar (loading angle 26 o)

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METHODS
3. Data Acquisition of Field Test The Field Strain : Measurement from the Belgium road Speed : 30 km/hr Sampling Rate : 1 kHz Data Recorder : IMC-CRONOS
Field test on the Belgium (Pave) road

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METHODS
4. Road Simulation
Servo Hydraulic Actuator

To obtain the load history in the durability test. Strain - remote parameter control (RPC) technique Controller - IST-8800 Software - RS-SPiDAR
Motorcycle Handlebar

Force input of the durability test

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METHODS
5. Durability Tests (1x) Strain History : up to 800 hours (3x, 3.5x, 4x and 4.5x) : within 48 hours Durability Test : Single Actuator Periodical Initiation Inspection : Crack
Setup of the durability test

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6. Evaluation of Fatigue Life S-N Approach Stress-Life Curves : Estimated

Stress range (MPa)

METHODS

Life cycles

Estimated stresslife curve of JIS S25C steel

BS 5400 Approach : the class, thickness, probable failure of welded joint BS 5400 standard with the

Gurney thickness modification approach

Rainflow cycle counting Miners damage accumulation
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Stresslife curve of BS 5400

2005-01-0801 Rainflow cycle counting

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

1. Analysis of Loading Angle and Failure Location When the force downward at an angle of 26o from the horizontal, the crack was produced in the welded region (area A), where the handle was welded to the main pipe.

Stress distribution of the motorcycle handlebar (loading angle 26o)

A

26

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Failure location of motorcycle handlebar in o) 2005-01-0801 durability test (loading angle 26

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

1. Analysis of Loading Angle and Failure Location If the angle of force input was increased to 36o from the horizontal, The actual cracks would initiate at the welded region - area B.

Stress distribution of the motorcycle handlebar (loading angle 36o)

36

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Failure location of motorcycle handlebar in o) durability test (loading angle 362005-01-0801

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

1. Analysis of Loading Angle and Failure Location

In conclusion, the loading direction of the servo hydraulic actuator for the follow-up durability tests was defined at 26 from the horizontal.

Failure location of the handlebar in the full vehicle durability test

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RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

2. Evaluation of Fatigue Life

Response strain history in the durability test (3x magnification)

A portion of original and reproduced strain histories (3x magnification) reproduced by remote parameter control technique
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RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

2. Evaluation of Fatigue Life
Number of Magnification of Strain History R.M.S. of Original Strain ( g ) ` 3 279.2 R.M.S. of Reproduced Strain ( g ) ` Error (%)

275.6

1.29

3.5

325.7

321.3

1.35

372.2

366.9

1.42

4.5 Note: R.M.S. (root mean square)

418.8

412.5

1.50

Results of road simulation

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RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

2. Evaluation of Fatigue Life

The failure location at welded region and the G class of BS 5400 standard
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RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

2. Evaluation of Fatigue Life

Specimen No. 1 2 3 Average

Ultimate Strength (MPa) 537.9 532.5 548.2 539.5

Yield Strength (MPa) 506.8 507.4 521.7 512.0

Elongation (%) 14.8 17.0 15.8 15.9

Results of tensile tests for motorcycle handlebar are: ultimate strength = 539.5 MPa, yield strength = 512.0 MPa, elongation = 15.9%.
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RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

2. Evaluation of Fatigue Life
Fatigue Life (blocks) Strain History (Number of Magnification) Traditional S -N Approach BS 5400 Standard BS 5400 with Gurney Thickness Modification 19374 2126 625 396 265 263

Experiment

1 2 3 3.5 4 4.5

1418 756 395 129

56612300 424982 51703 24616 13120 8625

3426 389 115 72.8 48.6 48.3

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CONCLUSION

By the CAE analysis and experimental results, the loading

direction of the servo hydraulic actuator for the

durability test was defined at 26 from the horizontal.

? BS 5400 standard with the Gurney thickness

modification approach? is suitable to assess the durability of motorcycle handlebars, the difference between experiment and prediction is within 2.5 times.

In the future, this approach could be applied to the

durability assessment for weldments of automobiles.

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Thanks for Your Attention!!

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