ME 4140

Design Project 2: Design of a Bicycle Crank Arm

Mark Swartz
Abstract

Problem Description

A steel bicycle crank arm of the following dimensions is to be designed: 6 inches (in) in length

with a 2 in pedal protrusion fixed perpendicular to the end to make an L shape. The

component will be initially designed to have a solid circular cross section of diameter 0.5 in. The

crank arm is visually depicted in Figure 1 below. Upon analyzation the component will be

redesigned with varied dimensions and cross section.

Figure 1: SolidWorks model of the crank arm (left), diagram

depicting crank arm motion (above, cropped from class handout),
and code excerpt (below) describing the force application.

F1 = -100; %lbf (theta 0-90)

F2 = -200; %lbf (theta 90-180)
F3 = 50; %lbf (theta 180-270)
F4 = 25; %lbf (theta 270-360)

The crank arm will be pinned and rotate about point A (as shown in Figure 1 above). A varying

vertical force (detailed in Figure 1) will be applied to point B at every point in the components

rotation.
Analysis

Part I

To begin the analysis, the applied force is quantified and defined at the transition points (0, 90,

and 270). At each transition point, the larger of the two forces is accounted for as the resulting

stress would be larger accordingly. The vertical stress is broken down into axial and tangential

components to easily calculate stresses throughout the components rotation. The axial and

tangential components are given respectively by:

Fa(theta) = F(theta)*cos(theta); %axial component

Ft(theta) = F(theta)*sin(theta); %tangential component

These components were then used to define expressions for normal and shear stresses at each

point in the rotation. To simplify calculations, the following assumptions were made: maximum

Von-Mises stress will occur at a point on the outer surface of the cross section nearest to the

hub, and transverse shear can safely be neglected.

This is justified by noting that the moment applied

by the tangential force component is maximum at

the furthest point, and that the ratio

diameter/length for the member is less than 0.001.

A 0.1 ratio results in approximately 1% error;

therefore, shear can safely be neglected. [1]

Four points on the cross section are of particular interest. These are the points at which

maximum bending stresses due to the two components will occur and are illustrated in Figure 2

(right). The points are:

1. Positive Z-axis surface

2. Negative Z-axis surface

3. Clockwise XY plane surface (note: pedal protrusion is in Z-direction)

4. Counter-clockwise XY plane surface

At each of these points normal stress can be expressed by the following equations:
sig1 = (Fa/A) + (M1*r/I)
sig2 = (Fa/A) - (M1*r/I)
sig3 = (Fa/A) + (M2*r/I)
sig4 = (Fa/A) - (M2*r/I)
Plotting these as functions of theta yields the following plot:
Examination of the data points reveals a higher stress in point 4 at 91 degrees than 90. Using

numerical methods in the MATLAB coding it is determined that the rotational angle yielding

maximum normal stress is 90.5968.

Principal stresses and Von-Mises stress for point 4 at 90.5968 are given by the following

equations:

p_sig4_1 = (sig4/2) + sqrt(((sig4/2)^2)+(-200.*sin(90.5968)*2*r/J)^2)

p_sig4_2 = (sig4/2) - sqrt(((sig4/2)^2)+(-200.*sin(90.5968)*2*r/J)^2)
VM4(n) = (1/sqrt(2))*sqrt((((p_sig4_1-p_sig4_2).^2)+((p_sig4_1).^2)+((p_sig4_2).^2)))
Since there is no out of plane stress in this scenario, the equation for Von-Mises stress can be

simplified by setting sigma_3 equal to zero.

Plotting the Von-Mises stress as a function of distance from the pedal yields the following plot:
Part II

The main objectives of the redesign are to reduce weight, increase factor of safety, and ensure

compatibility with the larger mechanism by not drastically altering dimensions. Hollow tubing

made from high-strength 2024 T3 aluminum alloy was selected for a material.

Analyzing the maximum Von-Mises stress in the redesigned component is easily accomplished

by altering the MATLAB code written for Part I. Namely the values for diameter, area, second

moment of inertia, and polar moment of inertia. It is interesting to note that the maximum

stress is shown to be applied at 91.000 in the redesign.

Results
The numerical results of the initial analyzation are as follows:

Maximum normal stress 97,790 psi @ 90.5968

Maximum shear stress 16,297 psi

Principal Stresses @ 90.5968 100.434 ksi

-2,644.299 psi

Maximum Von-Mises stress 101.782 ksi

Factor of safety (1014 CD steel, Sy = 47 ksi) 0.46 (failure indicated)

Weight of initial design 0.45 lb

Redesign analysis:

Maximum normal stress 36,862.0222 psi @ 91

Maximum shear stress -6,142.156 psi

Principal Stresses @ 91 37,858.228 psi

-996.206 psi

Maximum Von-Mises stress 38,366.033 psi

Factor of safety (2024 T3 aluminum alloy, Sy 1.30

= 50 ksi) [1]

Weight of final design 0.19 lb

Summary and Conclusion

By changing the cross section to hollow tubing and increasing the diameter by 0.25 inches,

weight was reduced by 40.4% and the factor of safety was increased by 282%. Price

information obtained from the McMaster Carr website is included in the table below:

1ft 3ft 6ft

1015 CD Steel $ $ $

2024 T3 Aluminum Tube $19.96 $48.24 $83.17

Appendix