A study on structural behaviour and vibrational characteristics of a go-kart chassis

Abstract

A go-kart is a four-wheel drive that lacks a suspension system and differential unit due to the very low ground clearance usually employed for Formula E or Formula 1 racing. Due to the absence of a suspension system, the chassis of the go-kart should be rigid and strong enough to withstand the impact loads, as well as other support equipment. The present research focused on the design, material selection, and structural and vibrational analysis on the go-kart chassis. For this, the chassis is designed with suitable dimensions and materials. In this, the chassis is modelled by using CATIA V5 software and performed static structural and vibrational analysis by using Finite Element Analysis (FEA) ANSYS software. The chassis was designed with Circular pipes with a diameter of about 26.4 mm with a 4 mm pipe thickness made of AISI 1018, AISI 1026, AISI 4130, and structural steel were chosen due to their superior mechanical properties to perform the finite element analysis to find the total deflection, equivalent stress, factor of safety and first six mode shapes of the chassis configuration.