Applied Composite Materials 1: 247-258, 1994.

247
(~) 1994 Kluwer Academic Publishers. Printed in the Netherlands.

Composite Monocoque Frame for a Mountain

Bicycle: Testing and Calculation

L. CASTEJON, A. MIRAVETE, J. U L L O D and E. LARRODI~

Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Zaragoza, cl Mafia de Luna, 3, 50.015
Zaragoza, Spain

(Received 16 March, 1994; accepted 15 May, 1994)

Abstract. The present paper shows the way in which a monocoqueframe of a mountain bicycle made
of carbon fiber and kevlar laminate, a poliurethane foam core and different metallic stiffeners were
analyzed. The study was performed in two parts, namely, a first part in which the bicycle was tested
considering several static and dynamic cases and a second part carried out by using the EE.M., from
which vibration frequencies and modes were obtained, as well as the foam optimization to be used
in the core. It was also possible to compare the results obtained in both parts.

1. I n t r o d u c t i o n

,An accurate design of a monocoque frame of a mountain bicycle is necessary (as

stiffness, strength, comfort and security depend on that) to ensure the satisfactory
behaviour of the resulting set.
The common material for the construction of bicycle frames has always been
carbon steel, while light materials such as chrome-mo steels, titanium alloys or alu-
minium alloys which observe good mechanical properties have only been applied
to bicycles of high cost. However, composite materials are an altemative to metal-
lic materials for applications like this due to their good engineering properties and
low density. In fact, different bicycles whose frame are made of this material have
succesfully passed several international sport competitions. However, due to the
difficulty of working with a non-isothropic material the design and analysis are
more complicated than it would be with metallic materials.
The model of the present paper is a monocoque bicycle frame, made of carbon
fiber and kevlar on its surface, poliurethane foam in its core and some metallic
stiffeners in critical points.
The design of this frame was carried out considering the stiffness, strength and
toughness requirements, and so carbon fiber was used to provide the frame with
adequate strength and stiffness, while kevlar is essential because for a mountain
bicycle it is very important to have good toughness in case of impact.
The model geometry is represented in Figure 1, with its most important dimen-
sions.
248 L. CASTEJON ET AL.

562

L 431 "2
1045

Fig. 1.

Several static and dynamic testings were carried out in a specially built testing
machine, in order to measure the stiffness and the strength of the structure. After-
wards, a theoretical analysis by computer was performed, using the EE.M., was
performed and so, the validity of the experimental results was checked with the
theoretical ones. Besides, natural frequencies and modes were calculated and the
optimum foam density was found through this numerical model.

2. Testing
The model of bicycle frame presented in this paper was subjected to five different
load cases (four static and one dynamic) to measure displacements and stresses
in several key points. These load cases were chosen according to real working
conditions.
A testing machine was specially constructed in order to make the realization of
the test possible. The testing machine was formed by hollow rectangular beams of
100 x 50 x 5 mm weld-joined, and steel plates of 20 mm to withstand the hydraulic
cylinders.
The tools for fastening the bicycle frame to the testing machine were designed
bearing in mind stiffness and strength criteria versus static and dynamic loads, as
well as boundary conditions in the fastening and load points.
The testing machine structure was made in order to place the bicycle frame
upside down.
COMPOSITE MONOCOQUE FRAME FOR A MOUNTAIN BICYCLE 249

Fig. 2. First load case with deformed frame in dashed line,

Fig. 3. Second load case.

Strain gauges 0 °, 120 °, - 1 2 0 ° were used. These gauges were oriented in such
a way that one of the measuring directions of every strain gauge should coincide
with any of the preferred woven directions.

2.1. L O A D CASES

The load static cases which were tested are:

1. Falling from 1,5 m high over the pedals.
2. Falling from 1.5 m high over the seat.
3. Uphill pedalling.
4. Total Braking.

The load and boundary conditions scheme of these cases together with the
deformed frame with a magnification factor of 8 in dashed line is showed in the
next Figures 2-5.
Moreover, a fifth dynamic case was calculated with the following conditions:
- Fastening conditions as in case 2.
250 L. CASTEJON ET AL.

Fig. 4. Third load case with deformed frame in dashed line.

60 daN

160 dan
Fig. 5. Fourth load case with deformed frame in dashed line.

- Senoidal load.
- Amplitude: 75 daN.
- Frequency: 2 Hz.
- Number of cycles: 10 6.
- Load point: Pedal axis in vertical direction.

The aim of this fifth load case was to subject the bicycle frame to a dynamic
load case. After that, the same static cases were tested again and the displacements
were compared with the previous ones.
The results indicated that the structure stiffness had been maintained, and from
this, it was concluded that there had been no damage points.

2.2. D I S P L A C E M E N T MEASUREMENTS

The displacements were measured in the points listed below by using dial indicators
of 0.01 cm clearance attached to the testing machine by means of a magnetic
system.
A. Rear wheel axis.
B. Middle point of direction axis.
C. Higher point of seat axis.
COMPOSITE MONOCOQUE FRAME FOR A MOUNTAIN BICYCLE 251

Fig. 6. First case.

D. Front wheel axis.

E. Pedal axis.

In some cases it was necessary to put T shape pieces joined to the sides of
the frame to guarantee that the measuring surfaces were perpendicular to the
measurement line of the comparer.

2.3. STRESSES

The stresses obtained during testing were in all cases below the failure values, and
so the critical design criterion in the bicycle was not the strength, but the rigidity.

3. FEM Calculation

A monocoque frame meshing was made in order to analyze vibration frequencies

and modes, to compare the FEM results with the testing results and to obtain the
optimum foam density to be used in the core.

3.1. DESCRIPTION OF THE MESH

The meshing used was composed of 570 elements of 20 nodes and quadratic dis-
placements function. The total number of nodes was 3038. The frame was divided
252 L. CASTEJONET AL.

Fig. 7. Dynamic case.

Fig. 8. Detail.

into the following three different zones depending on the materials constituting
each part.
COMPOSITE MONOCOQUE FRAME FOR A MOUNTAIN BICYCLE 253

Fig. 9. Detail.

- A Zone: Composite material

- B Zone: Poliurethane foam
- C Zone: Aluminium tube

At the same time, the A zone was divided into 25 sub-zones according to the
laminate orientation with regard to the fixed coordenate system.
In the model definition, an optimum relation between exactness and computering
time has been sought. Some little geometric details were neglected because the CPU
time used increases with the number of elements.

3.2. VIBRATION MODES

In this point, the first five vibration modes were calculated. The structure was
considered to have the following external restraints:
- The rear wheel axis displacements were restrained in the horizontal and ver-
tical directions.
- The direction axis was pinned.

Figures 13-17 represent the first five vibration modes with a magnification
factor of 85,4. The undeformed structure is drawn in dashed line and the deformed
frame is shown with continuous line.
254 L. CASTEJON ET AL.

Fig. 10. Zone A.

Fig. 11, Zone B.

3.3. STATIC CASES

The created meshing used to calculate the vibration modes was applied to static
cases in order to verify the exactness of the previous testing results.
The results of the EE.M, analysis were the following:
- The difference between the testing and EE.M, displacements was lower than
20%.
- The stresses obtained both in the EE.M. analysis and in the experimental one
were always lower than the failure values.
COMPOSITE MONOCOQUE FRAME FOR A MOUNTAIN BICYCLE 255

Fig. 12. Zone C,

>,

J
~ S VT.LIICIll $ o l O | ~T'CI |4',~CT-II1 T,14CI I ~ l t | l l 4 1 B ~ I IIl~ll~qr.leT !

Fig. 13. First vibration mode,

3.4. STRUCTURE SENSIBILITY ANALYSIS VERSUS DIFFERENT FOAM DENSITIES

In the first design of the bicycle frame a poliurethane foam of 150 kg/m -3 density
was used, which represented 33% of the total weight of the frame.
A later analysis proved that if the density was decreased until 50 kg/m -3, the
structure would be dynamically improved; besides, a considerable reduction in
weight would be achieved since the structure total rigidity would decrease less
than the mass would.
256 L. CASTEJONET AL.

Fig. 14. Second vibration mode.

Fig. 15. Third vibration mode.

4. C o n c l u s i o n s

After the execution of the tests and the finite analysis, it can be stated that the
studied bicycle frame presents a good behaviour both in strength and in stiffness.
COMPOSITE MONOCOQUE FRAME FOR A MOUNTAIN BICYCLE 257

Fig. 16. Fourth vibration mode.

Fig. 17. Fifth vibration mode.

However, in this case, the design criterion has been the rigidity, as from the strength
point of view, the frame was oversized.
258 L. CASTEJONET AL.

TABLE I. Natural frequencies versus different foam densities

Density 1a-Natural 2a-Natural 3a-Natural 4-~Natural 5~-Natural

foam frequenc, frequenc, frequenc, frequenc, frequenc.
150 1.0344 2.2134 2.9872 3.9851 5.4400
125 1.0658 2.2658 3.0947 4.1091 5.5796
100 1.0876 2.3006 3.1708 4.1812 5.6671
75 1.1246 2.3596 3.3000 4.3293 5.8046
50 1.1502 2.3976 3.3915 4.4073 5.8719

The tests endured b y the bicycle were chosen bearing in mind the m o s t extreme
w o r k i n g conditions, which ensures the adequate later b e h a v i o u r o f the frame in
n o r m a l conditions.
T h r o u g h the c o m p u t e r analysis, the first vibration m o d e shapes were obtained.
This is interesting because it helps us to understand the b e h a v i o u r of the frame.
Besides, a low density f o a m was found to be the o p t i m u m for the core.

Bibliography
1. Miravete, A. and Tsai, S.W.: 1988, Dise~o y and/isis de mater/ales compuestos, Revert6.
2. Zienkiewicz, O.C.: 1980, El m~todo de los Elementos Finitos, Revert&
3. Tsai, S.W.: 1964, Structural Behaviour of Composite Materials, NASA Report CR-71, 1964.
4. Ofiate, E., Alonso, E., and Casteleiro, M.: 1982, Aplicaci6n del m~todo de Elementos Finitos en
ingenieria, Revert6.
5. Jun, E.J., K/m, B.S., and Joe, C.R.: 1993, 'Composite Monocoque Frame for Bicycles, the Design
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