Bounce, Pitch, and Roll Modal Analyses of Electric Trike
Robby Dwianto Widyantara (a), Djati Wibowo Djamari (b), Farid Triawan (b), Bentang Arief Budiman (a,c*)

(a) Faculty of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Institut Teknologi Bandung, Jl. Ganesha No. 10, Bandung 40132, Indonesia
*bentang[at]ftmd.itb.ac.id
(b) Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Technology, Sampoerna University, Jl. Raya Pasar Minggu No. 16, Jakarta 12780, Indonesia
(c) National Center for Sustainable Transportation Technology, Institut Teknologi Bandung, Jl. Ganesha No. 10, Bandung 40132, Indonesia


Abstract

To provide comfort and ease of control for its passengers and driver, a ride and handling analysis of a three-wheeled electric vehicle called E-Trike is required. This work aimed to improve E-Trike ride and handling by analyzing the bounce, pitch, and roll frequencies which eminently represent E-Trike dynamical performance. We developed a simplified mathematical model of E-Trike consisted of front suspension, body, and rear suspension. Modal analysis was performed on the model to find the bounce and pitch frequencies of E-Trike at empty and fully loaded conditions. A finite element model of the swingarm assembly was developed to analyze its torsional stiffness and determined the E-Trike roll frequency. The results showed that the bounce and pitch natural frequencies were too far from each other, which increase the risk of resonance. Meanwhile, the roll frequency was too high, causing a low roll-damping ratio which makes the E-Trike oscillates a lot during a turn. Setting the total stiffness of 54 N/mm and 60 N/mm for the front and rear suspensions, respectively, and changing the bushing material of the swingarm from nylon to rubber were suggested to improve E-Trike stability and lower the roll frequency.

Keywords: Electric vehicle, Modal analysis, Vehicle ride and handling, Suspension system

Topic: Symposium on Advance of Sustainable Engineering

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