Determination of The Cross Types to be used in a Trailer Chassis by Finite Element Method

Abstract

Cargo transportation is done by airway, railway, maritime line and highway according to time and cost criteria. Trailers are widely used in highway transportation which is one of these cargo transportation types. Depending on the amount and variety of loads, the trailers vary among themselves. In addition to this diversity, it is desirable that a trailer should be lightweight and at the same time strong as far as transport safety and transport costs are concerned. When all these factors come together, serious research and development activities are required from the design stage to the final stage of manufacturing. One of the R&D phases is computer aided engineering analyzing. Without requiring material, labor and time, a design can be tested in virtual environment under certain boundary conditions before physical validation. Crosses, which are the one of the main carrier components in a trailer structure, between the longeron (main beam) and the frame, that exist perpendicular to these components, has been investigated in this study by taking into consideration of 1 g static loading, 0.8 g braking and torsion scenarios. In this study, the essential criteria are displacement and stress values of these crosses which have different geometries (cross-sections). Comparisons were made according to the results and in the light of these information, the finite element analysis results of the combination of the chosen crosses to be used in the production of the trailers were evaluated.