MECHANICS OF MATERIALS

FINAL PROJECT

PRANJIL JAIN
Details of the Component

The component I took is from a fail

ed Scott bicycle. It has a frame whic
h is failed and broken. The website s
ays the frame made of Chromium M
olybdenum Steel.
The purpose of the frame is to carr
y the weight of the rider and connect
the other parts of bicycle.
The frame was damaged, as in the image.
So, I am going analyzing the flaws of the frame.
Formulation of FBD
So, in order to simplify the calculatio
ns I am taking only the damaged por The dimensions of the frame section
tion of the frame. is given in the figure.
7.5”

5.0”

So, the damage comes from a collisi

9.5” on of the bike with the cement post.
 Formulation of FBD The FBD of the frame
portion is shown.
The collision from the cement post on the FB
frame was huge so that all other forces can
be neglected (forces like weight of the
rider).
So, from the diagram the top bar was F1
assumed to be fail in tension because of
the lower bar buckled. FA

At the instant the lower bar buckled, the

axial force in the upper member increased,
tearing the bar precisely at the welded
area.
 Calculations
So, now the force of impact is found, the reaction forces in the two damaged
members can be obtained using the following equations:

∑ ⃗𝐹 𝑥=0
 

  (eqn. 1)

∑ 𝑀 𝐴=0
 

1.75in)
  + (4in) (eqn. 2)

There are 2 equations and 3 unknowns. In order to estimate the

force of impact, the assumption that liner momentum was
conserved during the collision.
NOW,

 𝑡 2 𝑣2

∫ ⃗𝐹 ⅆ𝑡=∫ 𝑚ⅆ ⃗𝑣
𝑡𝐼 𝑣1

 𝐹1 ( 𝑡 , − 𝑡 2 )= 𝑚 ( 𝑣 2 − 𝑣 1 ) Assumption v2 = 0 was made as bicycle

came to rest after collision
  (eqn. 3)

Assuming the speed to be maximum (i.e. 45.5 ft/sec) and distance like 1ft,
the time will be 0.022 sec.
Now each member of force is found, these can be used to find stresses:
𝐹
  𝑚𝑎𝑥 , 𝑎𝑥𝑖𝑎𝑙 = 𝐵 A = area = 0.9817 in2
For upper 𝜎
𝐴
tube:

For lower  𝜎 𝑚𝑎𝑥 , 𝑏𝑢𝑐𝑘𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑔 =

𝑃 𝑐𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙
𝐴 Where E = Young’s
tube:
Modulus
 𝑃𝑐𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙 = 𝜋 𝐸𝐼
𝐿
2
E = 2.9*107 lbf/in2
I = 0.199 in4
L = 9 in
R0 = 0.75 in
Ri = 0.5 in
Results
So, now the maximum stress due to axial loading, is assumed the maximu
m stress in the upper bar. The maximum stress due to buckling that the low
er tube can withstand, so it is assumed the maximum stress in lower bar.
The critical load, if surpassed it will buckle.
So, from the previous slides

𝜎
  𝑚𝑎𝑥 ,𝑎𝑥𝑖𝑎𝑙 =6 1000 𝑝𝑠𝑖  These results confirm how the frame actually
𝜎 failed. exceeds , therefore the lower tube
  𝑚𝑎𝑥 ,𝑏𝑢𝑐𝑘𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑔 = 228000 𝑝𝑠𝑖
buckles. Also the material cannot adjust the
 𝑃𝑐𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙 =2 2400 𝑙𝑏
disturbance and fails.
Conclusion
To sum up the table, the forces in the lower member of frame exceeds the
critical buckling force. Thus, the lower tube buckles. All of the stresses in th
e above table exceed the yield strength of the frame material. Thus , the str
ess values verify that the frame fails under the given conditions.

In attempt to avoid failure to the frame we can give a new geometry, addin
g suspension and other methods can also be followed.
THANK YOU

SUBMITTED TO
-Dr. Venkata Timmaraju Mallina