Thin walled beams warp under torsional and longitudinal loads. Warping restraintproduces high longitudinal stresses.This is an analysis of the stress distribution in the side members of commercialvehicle chassis frames under the effects of the previously little studied longitudinalloads which may act on a truck chassis through spring hanger brackets. The structureanalysed is a model chassis frame consisting of channel section side members andfour cross members with different joint connections.The developed theories are incorporated into a special purpose finite element programwhich may be used in the preliminary stages of chassis frame design. Although theprogram is only used for the longitudinal load case in this thesis, it is generallyapplicable for other chassis load cases, including torsion, bending,... etc andcombination of these.The theoretical results obtained from the program and the finite element analysis oncomplete chassis frame models are validated against experiments performed on astrain-gauged chassis frame model constructed with the same dimensions andconstructional details as the finite element models with the appropriate loading andboundary conditions.Suggestions for the optimum design and attachment positions for components such asspring hanger bracket which may apply longitudinal loads to the side members of thechassis frame are discussed from the point of view of longitudinal loadings.
展开▼
