Drivetrain Clevis FEA
FEA analysis of front clevis of bolted motor mount
FEA analysis of rear clevis of shaft motor mount
I performed FE analysis on the 8 clevises to (1) ensure that the clevises can handle the maximum theoretical load and (2) provide justification to the competition’s judges. These clevises attach the 2 motor mounts and 2 differential mounts to the car’s chassis. The flat side of the clevis will be welded to the chassis tube, while the bolt holes will house the 5/16” bolts.
Highlights
Thanks to the FEA, I notice that the stress on one of the clevises exceeds the yield stress of the material. Thus, by increasing the thickness of the clevis’ wall to 0.3” (from 0.2”), the stress is reduced by 30% and the clevis achieve a safety factor of 2.
These clevises will be machined in November 2022 and will be welded onto the chassis in December 2022. I will do some of the machining and assembly of the clevis to the chassis.
Tools
SolidWorks | ANSYS Mechanical | Milling Machine
The tree of clevises in ANSYS where many analyses use the same data.
The position of the shaft motor mount’s clevises where additional thickness is added to the clevis’ wall, to spread the load over more volume of material