Design and Simulation of Wheel Rover

Table of Contents
Objective .................................................................................................................................. III
Selected Material Properties .................................................................................................... III
Carbon Fiber ........................................................................................................................ III
Aluminum Alloy .................................................................................................................. III
Titanium Alloy .....................................................................................................................IV
Methodology/Procedure ...........................................................................................................IV
Modelling .................................................................................................................................. V
Design I ................................................................................................................................. V
Design II................................................................................................................................ V
Design III .............................................................................................................................VI
Base/Ground ...................................................................................................................... VII
Simulation ............................................................................................................................. VIII
Result .................................................................................................................................... VIII
Design I ............................................................................................................................. VIII
Design II...............................................................................................................................IX
Design III .............................................................................................................................. X
Comparison ..............................................................................................................................XI
Mass Comparison.................................................................................................................XI
Parameter Comparison .........................................................................................................XI
Recommendation ................................................................................................................... XII
Appendix ............................................................................................................................... XIII

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 Table of Figures
Figure 1: Carbon Fiber Properties............................................................................................ III
Figure 2: Material Properties of Aluminum Alloy ..................................................................IV
Figure 3: Material Properties of Titanium Alloy .....................................................................IV
Figure 4:Prototype I Design in Solidworks .............................................................................. V
Figure 5: Prototype II Design in Solidworks ...........................................................................VI
Figure 6:Prototype Design III in Solidworks ......................................................................... VII
Figure 7: Rectangular Base .................................................................................................... VII
Figure 8: Constraints to Wheel Rover in ANSYS ................................................................ VIII
Figure 9: Total Deformation Design I .................................................................................. VIII
Figure 10: FOS of Design I ......................................................................................................IX
Figure 11: Total Deformation of Wheel II ...............................................................................IX
Figure 12: FOS of Design II ..................................................................................................... X
Figure 13: Total Deformation of Design III ............................................................................. X
Figure 14: FOS of Design III ...................................................................................................XI
Figure 15: Sketch of Plate of Prototype I.............................................................................. XIII
Figure 16: Sketch to Make Grooves on Surface of All Prototypes....................................... XIII
Figure 17: Sketch of Wire Shaped Pattern in Prototype III .................................................. XIV
Figure 18: Base/Ground 2D Sketch ...................................................................................... XIV

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Objective
The primary goal of this project was to create a new lightweight wheel rover. The final design
model will be optimized by enhancing overall design, lowering overall weight, and meeting
specified design requirements. The model must have a safety factor of at least 1.5-2 for static
and fatigue testing, among other design characteristics. During testing, the final design must
have an unlimited cycle life. Solidworks was used to build the cad models, and ANSYS will
be used to do finite element analysis (FEA) to produce simulations for each test specified
above, in order to offer correct data for testing. Finally, the cost of producing the new carbon
fiber, aluminum and titanium alloys wheel must be examined and kept as low as possible.

Selected Material Properties

Carbon Fiber
The material properties are shown below which are taken from ANSYS which shows properties
as well as SN curve of the material:

Figure 1: Carbon Fiber Properties

Aluminum Alloy
The Aluminum was already present in the ANSYS and so, properties were taken from there
and shown below:

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 Figure 2: Material Properties of Aluminum Alloy

Titanium Alloy
The properties of the titanium alloy are shown below:

Figure 3: Material Properties of Titanium Alloy

Methodology/Procedure
The main aim of the project is to find the design of wheel rover which is light weight,
sustainable and market competitive with low cost. The following are the procedure of this
design and simulation of wheel rover:
• First of all, find the load which will be put on the hub and nut of wheel which is already
found value of 489 lbf in negative y-direction or in the direction of the ground
• Design the base/ground as a rectangular box on which wheel rover will be mounted and
assign the structural steel material to it

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 • Design three different prototypes of wheel rover on SolidWorks
• Select material in ANSYS workbench which is carbon fiber, aluminum and titanium
alloys and check the mass of the wheel rover
• Select the material which will give the light weight amount of mass to each wheel rover
• Then each wheel rover will undergo simulation with that material
• Assign constraints to apply loads on hub and nuts section. The load must be in direction
of ground with direct amount of force
• Check the total deformation and factor of safety of each material so that the sustainable
wheel rover will be selected
• Compare each prototype to show which is best design for wheel rover

Modelling
Design I
The protype is designed by drawing a sketch, then apply extrude, mirror and cut extrude
command in Solidworks. The different circles are drawn to reduce the mass on plate and surface
of wheel. 0.19in in diameter circle are engraved all over the circular surface of wheel The 3D
model is shown in the below figure and the drawing of sketch is shown in appendix:

Figure 4:Prototype I Design in Solidworks

Design II
The prototype is quite similar to prototype design I but the circular removal material is changed
to flower petal shape. The shape is 11in in length and the hub and wheel nut is on same size.
The 3D design of prototype II is shown below in figure:

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 Figure 5: Prototype II Design in Solidworks

Design III
The prototype III design is entirely different but with same surface shape of wheel with same
size of hub and wheel nut area. The middle area is removed and wire shaped pattern is drawn
which is repeated 18 times with circular mirror command. The sketch is shown in appendix
and the 3D model is shown below in figure:

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 Figure 6:Prototype Design III in Solidworks

Base/Ground
The base is actually a rectangular bar which is 6x4x2 inch in dimension and 3D model is shown
below:

Figure 7: Rectangular Base

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Simulation
The carbon fiber is giving the minimum mass value for each material. So, we simulate each
design with carbon fiber. The fixed support is attached to the base and force of 480lbf is
directed towards the ground and the below figure explain constraint to the all prototype (just
showing design I as all are facing same constraints)

Figure 8: Constraints to Wheel Rover in ANSYS

Result
Design I
The maximum total deformation is 0.00273inches which is shown below:

Figure 9: Total Deformation Design I

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The FOS of the design I is shown below

Figure 10: FOS of Design I

Design II
The total deformation of design II is ranges from 0.00084 to 0.007539 inches which is shown
blow in the diagram:

Figure 11: Total Deformation of Wheel II

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 Figure 12: FOS of Design II

Design III
The maximum deformation of wheel rover design III is 0.176 which is maximum in all design
which is shown below in figure with FOS in next figure:

Figure 13: Total Deformation of Design III

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 Figure 14: FOS of Design III

Comparison
Mass Comparison
The below table compromise of mass of each prototype
Material Carbon Fiber Aluminum Alloy Titanium Alloy

Design I 9.359 lbm 14.403 lbm 24.022 lbm

Design II 9.0271 lbm 13.892 lbm 23.17 lbm

Design III 10.088 lbm 15.524 lbm 25.89 lbm

The material carbon fiber is selected as it is obvious from the table, it is light weight

Parameter Comparison
The below table compare different parameter
Parameter Max. Deformation FOS
(in)
Design I 0.00273 15
Design II 0.00753 15
Design III 0.176 15

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Recommendation
The Design I is most optimized design in all above prototypes as it gives the minimum total
deformation and light weight. Moreover, the carbon fiber is cost efficient related to the other
material. So, design I with carbon faber as material is the best among all.

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Appendix

Figure 15: Sketch of Plate of Prototype I

Figure 16: Sketch to Make Grooves on Surface of All Prototypes

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Figure 17: Sketch of Wire Shaped Pattern in Prototype III

Figure 18: Base/Ground 2D Sketch

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