EML 4905 Senior Design Project

A B.S. THESIS
PREPARED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE
REQUIREMENT FOR THE DEGREE OF
BACHELOR OF SCIENCE
IN
MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

SHELL ECO-MARATHON:
PANTHER RAGE G2
Final Report
Eduardo Espina
Stephanie George
Cesar Rivera
Advisor: Dr. George S. Dulikravich

April 11, 2012

This B.S. thesis is written in partial fulfillment of the requirements in EML 4905.
The contents represent the opinion of the authors and not the Department of
Mechanical and Materials Engineering.

Ethics Statement and Signatures

The work submitted in this B.S. thesis is solely prepared by a team consisting of STEPHANIE
GEORGE, EDUARDO ESPINA, and CESAR RIVERA and it is original. Excerpts from others
work have been clearly identified, their work acknowledged within the text and listed in the list
of references. All of the engineering drawings, computer programs, formulations, design work,
prototype development and testing reported in this document are also original and prepared by
the same team of students.

Cesar Rivera

Eduardo Espina

Stephanie George

Team Leader

Team Member

Team Member

Dr. George S. Dulikravich

Faculty Advisor

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Table of Contents
LIST OF FIGURES ........................................................................................................................ 7
LIST OF TABLES ........................................................................................................................ 11
ABSTRACT .................................................................................................................................. 12
1

INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................ 13
1.1

Problem Statement ......................................................................................................... 13

1.2

Motivation ...................................................................................................................... 13

1.3

Literature Survey ............................................................................................................ 15

1.3.1

2011 Car Design ..................................................................................................... 15

1.3.2

Improvements for 2012 Car Design ........................................................................ 17

1.3.3

2011 Steering System ............................................................................................. 18

1.3.4

Electric Steering (Drive by Wire) ........................................................................... 19

PROJECT FORMULATION................................................................................................ 20
2.1

Overview ........................................................................................................................ 20

2.2

Project Objectives .......................................................................................................... 20

2.3

Design Specification ...................................................................................................... 21

DESIGN ALTERNATIVES ................................................................................................. 23

3.1

Overview of Conceptual Designs Developed ................................................................ 23

3.2

Design Alternative 1....................................................................................................... 23

3.3

Design Alternative 2....................................................................................................... 24

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3.4

Feasibility Assessment ................................................................................................... 25

3.5

Discussion ...................................................................................................................... 26

PROPOSED DESIGN .......................................................................................................... 27

4.1

Body Shell ...................................................................................................................... 27

4.2

Brake and Wheel Configuration ..................................................................................... 28

4.3

Steering System .............................................................................................................. 28

PROJECT MANAGEMENT ................................................................................................ 30

5.1

Overview ........................................................................................................................ 30

5.2

Breakdown of Specific Tasks ......................................................................................... 30

5.3

Organization of Work and Timeline .............................................................................. 31

ANALYSIS AND STRUCTURAL DESIGN ...................................................................... 32

6.1

Overview ........................................................................................................................ 32

6.2

Chassis Frame ................................................................................................................ 32

6.3

Body Shell ...................................................................................................................... 40

6.4

Steering System .............................................................................................................. 44

6.5

Wheels / Tires / Brakes .................................................................................................. 48

6.6

Power System ................................................................................................................. 51

COST ANALYSIS................................................................................................................ 52
7.1

Estimated Cost Analysis................................................................................................. 52

7.2

Actual Cost Analysis ...................................................................................................... 54

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MANUFACTURING OF VEHICLE ................................................................................... 55

8.1

Chassis Frame ................................................................................................................ 55

8.2

Body Shell ...................................................................................................................... 60

8.3

Steering System .............................................................................................................. 69

8.4

Wheels / Tires / Brakes .................................................................................................. 77

8.5

Power System ................................................................................................................. 81

INSPECTION / TESTING ................................................................................................... 83

9.1

Overview ........................................................................................................................ 83

9.2

Dimensions ..................................................................................................................... 83

9.3

Braking System .............................................................................................................. 84

9.4

Turning Radius ............................................................................................................... 85

9.5

Safety Harness Test ........................................................................................................ 86

9.6

Emergency Evacuation ................................................................................................... 87

9.7

Visibility ......................................................................................................................... 87

9.8

Power System and Chassis Structure ............................................................................. 87

9.9

Efficiency / Results ........................................................................................................ 89

10

FUTURE IMPROVEMENTS .............................................................................................. 92

11

CONCLUSION & RECOMMENDATIONS ....................................................................... 97

12

REFERENCES ..................................................................................................................... 98

APPENDICES ............................................................................................................................ 100

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Appendix A: Chassis Load Calculation ................................................................................. 100

Appendix B: Fork Load Calculation ...................................................................................... 101
Appendix C: Participant Handbook ....................................................................................... 102
Appendix D: 2012 Shell Eco-marathon Result Sheet ............................................................ 123

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LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1: Panther Rage Body Shell [1] ........................................................................................ 15
Figure 2: Aerodynamic Drag of Various Shapes [2] ................................................................... 16
Figure 3: Powertrain Layout of Panther Rage Vehicle [1] .......................................................... 17
Figure 4: Design Alternative 1 ..................................................................................................... 24
Figure 5: Design Alternative 2 ..................................................................................................... 25
Figure 6: Proposed Body Shell Design ........................................................................................ 28
Figure 7: Fortis Saxonia Team Steering System [3] ..................................................................... 29
Figure 8: Gantt Chart ................................................................................................................... 31
Figure 9: Chassis Frame............................................................................................................... 33
Figure 10: Fixations and Force Locations of the Front Chassis .................................................. 34
Figure 11: Fixations and Force Locations of the Back Chassis ................................................... 35
Figure 12: Stress Analysis ........................................................................................................... 36
Figure 13: Displacement Analysis ............................................................................................... 37
Figure 14: Strain Analysis ........................................................................................................... 37
Figure 15: Factor of Safety .......................................................................................................... 38
Figure 16: Roll Bar Fixations ...................................................................................................... 39
Figure 17: SolidWorks Body Shell .............................................................................................. 41
Figure 18: 3-D Analysis ............................................................................................................... 42
Figure 19: Velocity Profile .......................................................................................................... 42
Figure 20: Pressure Distribution .................................................................................................. 43
Figure 21: Bottom-View Body Shell ........................................................................................... 43
Figure 22: Assembly & Components of Body Shell ................................................................... 44

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Figure 23: Drag Calculation......................................................................................................... 44

Figure 24: Front Bracket Displacement ....................................................................................... 45
Figure 25: Front Bracket Factor of Safety (FOS) ........................................................................ 46
Figure 26: Fork Displacement ..................................................................................................... 47
Figure 27: Fork Factor of Safety (FOS) ....................................................................................... 47
Figure 28: Comparison of Rolling Resistances for Tire Width [8] ............................................. 49
Figure 29: Front Brake Assembly ................................................................................................ 50
Figure 30: Back Wheel Brake Assembly ..................................................................................... 51
Figure 31: Pipe Numbers ............................................................................................................. 56
Figure 32: Horizontal Band Saw.................................................................................................. 57
Figure 33: End Mill ...................................................................................................................... 57
Figure 34: Notched Aluminum Tubes ......................................................................................... 58
Figure 35: Jig ............................................................................................................................... 58
Figure 36: TIG Welding............................................................................................................... 59
Figure 37: Completed Chassis Welding ...................................................................................... 60
Figure 38: Overall Profile Image ................................................................................................. 62
Figure 39: Nose Cross Sections ................................................................................................... 62
Figure 40: Body Cross Sections ................................................................................................... 63
Figure 41: Back Body Cross Sections ......................................................................................... 63
Figure 42: Back Cross Sections ................................................................................................... 64
Figure 43: Hotwire Machine ........................................................................................................ 65
Figure 44: Body Shell Foam Mold .............................................................................................. 65
Figure 45: Bottom and Top Piece of Body Shell Foam Mold ..................................................... 66

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Figure 46: Application of Wax onto the Foam ............................................................................ 66

Figure 47: Application of Resin to Fiberglass Cloth ................................................................... 67
Figure 48: Fiberglass on Top Shell Foam Mold .......................................................................... 68
Figure 49: Top Shell without Foam ............................................................................................. 68
Figure 50: Final Product of the Top Shelf ................................................................................... 69
Figure 51: Final Product of the Bottom Shell .............................................................................. 69
Figure 52: New Heim Joint .......................................................................................................... 70
Figure 53: Previous Year's Heim Joint ........................................................................................ 70
Figure 54: Tie Rod Assembly ...................................................................................................... 71
Figure 55: Motor Mount .............................................................................................................. 71
Figure 56: Attachment of Motor Mount & Hub Motor ............................................................... 72
Figure 57: Steering Mechanism ................................................................................................... 73
Figure 58: Pulley System Diagram .............................................................................................. 73
Figure 59: Clamping Cable .......................................................................................................... 74
Figure 60: Steering Handle .......................................................................................................... 75
Figure 61: Tension Pulley ............................................................................................................ 75
Figure 62: Pulley Example 1........................................................................................................ 76
Figure 63: Pulley Example 2........................................................................................................ 76
Figure 64: Pulley Modification .................................................................................................... 77
Figure 65: Michelin Tire Specification ........................................................................................ 78
Figure 66: Vehicle Tires and Wheels........................................................................................... 79
Figure 67: Front Wheel Braking System ..................................................................................... 79
Figure 68: Back Wheel Braking System ...................................................................................... 80

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Figure 69: Single-Point Mechanism for Front & Rear Brakes .................................................... 81
Figure 70: Rear Electric Hub Motor Wheel ................................................................................. 82
Figure 71: Lithium Iron Phosphate (LiFePO4) Battery................................................................ 82
Figure 72: Weight Check ............................................................................................................. 83
Figure 73: Vehicle Weight ........................................................................................................... 84
Figure 74: Braking Test ............................................................................................................... 85
Figure 75: Turning Radius Course ............................................................................................... 86
Figure 76: Safety Harness Testing ............................................................................................... 87
Figure 77: Emergency Shut-off Switch ....................................................................................... 88
Figure 78: Battery Management System (BMS) & Battery Fuse ................................................ 89
Figure 79: Overall Rank for Prototype Electric Battery Vehicles ............................................... 90
Figure 80: US University Rank for Electric Mobility Vehicles .................................................. 91
Figure 81: Parabolic Graph .......................................................................................................... 93
Figure 82: Monte Carlo Integration [5] ....................................................................................... 94
Figure 83: Sobel Sequence Points [5] .......................................................................................... 95
Figure 84: 1st Run for Panther Rage G2 .................................................................................... 123
Figure 85: 2nd Run for Panther Rage G2 .................................................................................. 124

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LIST OF TABLES
Table 1: Aluminum Pipe Diameter Options ................................................................................ 35
Table 2: 0.75 inches Outer Diameter, 0.083 inches Width Simulation Results........................... 39
Table 3: 0.75 inches Outer Diameter, 0.065 inches Width Simulation Results........................... 39
Table 4: Actual Cost Analysis of Project ..................................................................................... 54
Table 5: Aluminum Pipe Purchase List ....................................................................................... 55

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ABSTRACT
The purpose of this design project is to design a fuel efficient vehicle and participate in
the 2012 Shell Eco-marathon Competition. Panther Rage G2 used the previous teams Panther
Rage vehicle as a guideline to improve the efficiency and acquire a higher rank in the Electric
Mobility Prototype category. While abiding with the rules and regulations of the competition,
the team designed, manufactured and tested an aerodynamic shell by reducing the weight and
drag coefficient of the previous vehicle.

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