POLITECNICO DI MILANO
Automotive and motorsport engineering
Master of Science (MS) degree in Mechanical Engineering
Course of Advanced dynamics of mechanical systems - Prof. Corradi, Dr. La Paglia
A.Y. 2023 – 2024
Group members:
- Erfan Yadegari
- Vishavmeet Singh
- Vera Carvalho
- Pedro Pessoa
- Guilherme Assunção
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Assignment 2
In-plane Finite Element Model of a bike frame
Contents
A. Material Properties and Structural Parameters (Part
1) ................................................................................................................................................................. 4
• Definitions and values of material properties (E, density)
• Geometric parameters of the structure (dr, db, dg, tr, tb, tg)
• Calculations for cross-sectional properties (Ar, Ab, Ag, Jr, Jb, Jg, mr, mb, mg, EAr, EAb,
EAg, EJr, EJb, EJg)
• Maximum allowable length for each section (Lmaxr, Lmaxb, Lmaxg)
B. Structure Assembly and Visualization (Part
1) ................................................................................................................................................................. 5
• Loading input file and assembling the structure
• Drawing the structure using the provided functions
• Assembly of mass and stiffness matrices (M, K)
C. Mass and Stiffness Matrices (Part
2) ................................................................................................................................................................ 5
• Definitions and calculations for added masses and stiffnesses (M1, M2, M3, M4, KA, KB)
• Overall mass and stiffness matrices (Mtot, Ktot)
D. Eigenfrequency Analysis (Part
2) ....................................................................................................................................................... 5, 6, 7
• Calculation of natural frequencies and mode shapes
• Visualization of the first four mode shapes
E. Forced Response Analysis (Part
3) .................................................................................................................................................................. 7
• Definition of input force at a specific degree of freedom
• Frequency response function (FRF) calculations for vertical and horizontal
displacements and accelerations at specific points
F. Vertical displacement and acceleration Analysis (Part
3a) ................................................................................................................................ 7, 8, 9, 10
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• Vertical displacement and acceleration at F
• Horizontal displacement and acceleration at H
G. Shear Force, Bending Moment, and Axial Force Analysis (Part 3b)
10, 11, 12
• Calculation and visualization of shear force, bending moment, and axial force in a
selected element
H. Point Force Analysis (Part
3c) ........................................................................................................................................... 13
• FRF analysis for a point force applied at a specific degree of freedom
• Magnitude and phase diagrams for the response
I. Constraint Force Analysis (Part
3c) ........................................................................................................................................... 13
• Analysis of constraint forces in the structure
• Magnitude and phase diagrams for constraint forces
J. Modal Superposition Analysis (Part
4) ....................................................................................................................................14, 15, 16
• Calculation of modal matrices (Phi) and modal forces (Fmod)
• Modal superposition approach for forced response analysis
• Comparison of results with the direct analysis
K. Harmonic Analysis of Road Excitation (Part 5) .......................................................... 16, 17
• Definition of road profile and input force
• Frequency response analysis of the structure under harmonic road excitation
• Plotting the magnitude and phase diagrams
L. simulating the steady-state response of a bike riding on a road with a given profile
(Part 6) .................................................................................................................................... 17
• Parameters and frequency Domain Setup
• Dynamic Analysis
• Plotting
M. Static Analysis
(Part7) ..................................................................................................................................... 18
• Static loading conditions and calculation of static deflection
• Visualization of the static deflection
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A. Part 1
The objective of this assignment is to create an in-plane finite element model of a bike frame
and analyze its vibration in the frequency range 0 - 200 Hz.
The bike frame consists of 9 nodes and 10 beams with varying properties.
Figure 1: Bike frame model
The maximum allowable length of each element in the mesh depends on the properties of the
material, as well as on the input frequency range to be considered. The relationship between
the maximum length and these parameters is described by the following equation:
By limiting the maximum
length of each element we ensure that each finite element is working in the quasi-static region
for all input frequencies within our desired range.
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B. Part 1
Then, we need to Load input file and assemble the structure and draw the structure using the
provided functions. In this step, we are going to get the bike frame model (figure 1).
We have also assembled the mass and stiffness matrices (M, K).
C. Part 2
Now, we got the definitions and calculations for added masses and stiffnesses (M1, M2, M3,
M4, KA, KB) and Overall mass and stiffness matrices (Mtot, Ktot).
D. Part 2
This section calculates the mode shapes (modes) and natural frequencies (omega) of a system
using the eigenvalue analysis. MFF and KFF are the mass and stiffness matrices of the system,
respectively. The frequencies are then converted to hertz (f). Then, we have sorted the natural
frequencies in ascending order and rearranged the mode shapes accordingly. The code iterates
over the first four modes. It scales the mode shape by a factor of 1.5 and then visualizes it using
the diseg2 function. The following are the first 4 mode shapes of the structure:
Figure 2: The first mode shape
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Figure 3: The second mode shape
Figure 4: The third mode shape
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Figure 5: The fourth mode shape
E. Part 3
We are computing the Frequency Response Functions (FRFs) for the mechanical system. FRFs
represent the system's response at different frequencies when subjected to a harmonic force.
F. Part 3a
Now, it’s time to Extract the vertical displacement (FRFfverticald) and calculate the
corresponding acceleration (FRFfverticala) at a specific degree of freedom, plus plotting the
magnitude and phase of the vertical displacement and acceleration.
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Figure 6
Figure 7
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Similar to the vertical case, extracting horizontal displacement (FRFhhorizontald) and
calculating corresponding acceleration (FRFhhorizontala), plus plotting the magnitude and
phase of the horizontal displacement and acceleration.
Figure 8
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Figure 9
G. Part 3b
This part of the analysis mainly focuses on the midpoint of the GE tube where its displacement
and the corresponding forces after the deformation are examined. The midpoint of the GE tube
is initially defined before and after deformation, and the horizontal and vertical displacements
are calculated. We define this element as element 9 in our load structure. Now we define the
degrees of freedoms of the both nodes i and j for the corresponding nodes 5 and 3. By
extracting the corresponding degree-of-freedom indices for these nodes, the code enables
targeted analysis of the structural behaviour at these specific locations. Shear force, bending
moment and axial force are evaluated in the midpoint of the GE tube and the phase diagrams
and magnitude diagrams are plotted.
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Figure 10
Figure 11
Figure 12
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Figure 13
Figure 14
Figure 15
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H & I. Part 3c
For this part of the analysis we constraint the force in C. A force vector is generated with a unit
amplitude and complex exponential phase at a range of frequencies. Degree of freedom is
defined at this particular node is node 2 for this case. It then calculates the system's response to
this harmonic loading at each frequency, providing insights into the dynamic behavior of the
constrained degree of freedom. The regularization term (epsilon) is introduced to stabilize the
numerical computations. The resulting system responses are stored in the matrix “X” for further
analysis and visualization. Magnitude and phase diagrams are plotted for this analysis.
Figure 16
Figure 17
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J. Part 4
In this part, we've provided a code related to modal analysis and frequency response functions
(FRF) for the dynamic system. The code involves modal analysis, where modal matrices are
calculated and then used to determine the system's response in terms of displacement and
acceleration to applied forces at different frequencies.
As we know, in this analysis, we have only considered the structure’s first two modes.
Therefore, in Plotting the corresponding magnitude and phase diagrams superimposed to those
obtained in item 3a, we are just able to observe the effects of first two modes.
In these plots, we can see the differences between the results from the eigenvalue analysis
(The blue curves) and the modal analysis (The red curves):
Figure 18
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Figure 19
Figure 20
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Figure 21
K. Part 5
In this part of the analysis our focus is on understanding the behavior of displacement and
acceleration at a specific point (Point F) concerning an applied force at another point (Point A).
We define the force at particular nodes where the analysis is carried out which is point A at
node 7 at load structure and these arrays results are initialized to store the results over a
specified frequency range (0-200Hz). Then we compute the displacement and acceleration
responses at Point F, present at node 8, for each frequency using the Frequency Response
Function formula. A small regularization term (epsilon) is introduced to ensure the stability of the
matrix inversion. Magnitude and phase diagrams of the above analysis are therefore plotted.
Figure 22
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Figure 23
L. Part 6
In this part of the analysis our aim is to analyze the steady-state vertical acceleration at point H,
relying on the superposition principle. This analysis is conducted under the assumption that a
bicycle is traveling at a speed of 12 m/s on a road with a sinusoidal irregularity composed of two
wavelengths, 𝜆1 and 𝜆2, with corresponding amplitudes 𝐴1 and 𝐴2 and phases 𝜑1 and 𝜑2. We
start by defining the parameters such as speed of the bike, wavelengths, amplitudes, phases,
time step, and a time vector. The frequency range for analysis is specified, and the
superimposed road profile is used to generate a force vector F acting on the system. The
system's response is then calculated using the Frequency Response Function (FRF) formula,
considering the dynamic characteristics of the system represented by mass, damping, and
stiffness matrices. Following the calculations, the time history of the steady-state vertical
acceleration at point H is plotted. This graphical representation provides valuable insights into
how the bicycle responds to the sinusoidal road irregularity over time.
Figure 24
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M. Part 7
This part of the code is related to applying static loads to the system and calculating the
resulting displacements.
A force vector FG of zeros is initialized with a length equal to the number of degrees of freedom
(ndof). Forces are applied at specific degrees of freedom using the idb matrix. A force of -600 N
is applied at the degree of freedom specified by idb(3,2), and a force of -100 N is applied at the
degree of freedom specified by idb(8,2).
The static displacements xF are calculated by solving the system of equations KFF \ FG, where
KFF is the stiffness matrix. The code then generates a figure (figure()) and calls a function
diseg2 to visualize the static deflection of the structure.
In the end, the Horizontal and vertical displacements of the midpoint are calculated by
subtracting the respective coordinates before and after deformation.
Figure 25
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