Taguchi methods and finite element methods in reliability based crashworthiness and risk analysis of motorcycle frame

Safety measures in vehicles have been given prime importance by manufacturers and customers. In terms of sales, the market share of motorcycle is very high amongst different types of automobiles. Deaths due to accidents involving motorcycle is also high compared to other vehicles. Considering the impact of improving the crashworthiness of motorcycle frames on safety of the riders, this paper addresses crashworthiness of motorcycle frame under frontal impact force. Modeling and analysis of the motorcycle frame is performed using ANSYS LS-DYNA whereas optimization of simulation results was carried out using Taguchi methods. The diameter and thickness of front members of the frame and material of the frame are considered as random variables. The response variables studied are mass of the frame, deformation at the front end and frame reliability. The reliability of the frame is evaluated with respect to limit state of deformation. The outcome of this study is the designs of the frame which satisfy mass, deformation and reliability criteria. With the optimal combination of variable obtained from optimization study, risk analysis is carried out on the frame in order to understand the relation between deformation and cost of exceeding deformation in monetary terms.

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