386 6.

1 Stress concentration and related issues

.. Multiaxial stress

In a moment I will explain why ductility is so

important in relation to stress concentrations but
first you should be aware that some situations can
partly negate the effect of a ductile material.
Undercuts, circlip type grooves and welds pro-
9 duce what are termed bi-axial (two-dimensional)
and tri-axial (three-dimensional) stress situations .
8 This has the same effect as severely reducing
s
J3
7
6
ductility and we already know that isn't good.
Referring to Fig 6. 7, when a material is stressed
in tension in one direction it not only extends but
........8 5 also contracts laterally . This creates both longitu-
dinal and lateral strain. The lateral strain, typi-
b 4 \ cally one third of the longitudinal strain, is special
= 3 \ in that no stres s is associated with it. This is rare.
=0 2 \ ,.........._
Thermal expansion is another example, the strain
being due to temperature and not stress.
fll
fll 1 However , if we apply a biaxial tensile stress ,
h
00
0
the lateral component will restrict the lateral
strain that would be due to the original uniaxial
0 2 4 6 8 10 stress . A triaxial situation (bottom diagram ) is
even worse. The material cannot deform as nor-
d/L mal and in such circumstances a ductile material
will fail in a brittle manner , ie with little or no
Fig 6.6 Crack s can produce massive stress concentra-
deformation (though failure stress will be higher
tions and are very dangerous in brittl e material s or tho se
with low Fracture Toughness . than the Tensile Strength).

Solutions Below. Fig 6. 7 From the top: Uniaxial, biaxial and

triaxial stresses in a bar.
Table 6.1 on pages 388 and 389 indicates the less
than ideal situations found on motorcycles and
suggests ways of improving them.
You can envision the severity of many stress
concentrations by treating the material section as
if it was a duct carrying fluid . Imagine how the
fluid might flow from the larger section to the
smaller one and the greater/more sudden the
disruption to these streamlines , the worse the
stress concentration will be.
This clearly demonstrates why 6mm thick en-
gine mountings welded directly to tubes with
lmm walls are not a good idea, indeed any sudden
change of stiffness is a potential problem. By
simply taking account of these things and at-
tempting, to reduce or avoid the problems you can
make a real difference to the life of the bike. Some
of the smallest changes give the biggest improve-
ments , especially in the case of screw threads . It is
definitely worth the effort.
 6.1 Stress concentration and related issues 387

This situation frequently occurs on bikes. Grooves

and undercuts can be very detrimental. They not
only generate high stress concentration factors
but also create tri-axial stresses. The effect of a
notch is shown in Fig 6.8.
There is only one external load on this part, the
axial load W. As the small diameter is stretched
axially it also wants to contract but the sides of the
notch restrict this by exerting a lateral constraint
in all directions. As a result of this constraint,
triaxial stresses are produced.
This is why impact tests normally use notched a) Break up long welds as shown (right) .
specimens. The triaxial stress condition produced
by the notch makes limitations of the material
more obvious. Similarly, parts that have good
fatigue life when un-notched can fail very rapidly
when even a mild notch is added.

Welds

Welding is also a common cause of tri-axial stress.

The first thing to appreciate is that a bulky weld
offers considerable constraint along its axis, espe-
cially if it joins thin material. If the weld run is a
long one it should be interrupted periodically to
allow some axial flexibility - Fig 6.9 (top).
The next example in Fig 6.9 shows a mounting
lug, eg engine or suspension, attached to a cross CD
tube . When load W is applied tensile stress CD is
created directly . But the cross-tube is bent and b) Load stress CD combines with bending stress @
thus tensile stress@ is also created at right angles and constraining stress ® to create triaxial
to the previous stress. This biaxial stress is bad stress at the weld.

Below. Fig 6.8 The sides of notches create triaxial

stresses by constraining radial contractions.
.,,.,.,,,.,.,">
Right. Fig 6.9 Generation oftri -axial stresses around
mounting lugs. Refer to text.

Don't weld here

w
-
I
I
-- -,
L
t,-I
- - - -I
w
•
I
I
I
I
...
I
I
!... ---
I
- -

c) This arrangement is better, especially if lug I half

Stress caused by constraint tube are machined from solid .
388 6.1 Stress concentration and related issues

Feature Modifications to reduce stresses

fJ·-l-·6- If you just need a shoulder,

keep it narrow and blend in
as shown.

-t)-[f 6--
Increase lug width relative to

i tension link. Extend shear out

area as shown. Break all edges
on hole, ensure good finish.

'- D
Blend all section changes

/ /
I§!! -;::? \ /
Fitm<nt reduc" b•nding .
Ensum b=k" '' at '"""
angle as the load.

Split clamps. Increase

-&: it-
clamped diameter to allow
blend . If not, at least radius
the clamp edges.

Split clamps. Provide a distance

piece to protect against over-
tightening of clamp bolts.

Shrink fits . Increase diameter to

-f allow blend. Add relief undercut

as shown.
 6.1 Stress concentration and related issues 389

Feature Modifications to reduce stresses

r = O. lD . guides as reqd. Ensure radius at

/
? '. -F-flIE· .--t-
rootdia
_ _
1

_ .
/

thread root. Rolled

threads are infi -
nitely better than
\=D /
r = O.SD cut t h read s.

!-- Never use threads as a

bearing area

1;1:: 1- Enlarge tube section at thread .

Avoid welding thick

D heavily loaded lugs

directly to thin tube.

Flattened tube lugs , bent at sharp

angles, are not a good idea. Use a
boss as shown.

Design multi-tube joints so that

all centrelines meet.

17 JI 2 ZS
Spiggot bosses into thin plate
rather than butting together.

Table 6.1 Features

'
used to reduce stress concentration
390 6.1 Stress concentration and related issues
enough but the weld constrains the lateral con-
tractions associated with these stresses and gives
rise to tensile stress@. Under these triaxial con-
ditions the material behaves as if it was brittle.
The next diagram shows an improvement. The
lug load is separated from the cross-tube 's tensile
stresses by adding a half tube and welding it onto
the neutral axis of the cross tube. If you weld the
end s you will re-create the original problem.
Although we have made a big improvement,
this design still has the high stress concentration
factors associated with the lug welds. An even
greater improvement is therefore possible by
machining the lug/half tube from solid and using
a really nice fillet radius. This method is com-
monly used on race frame s made from aluminium
alloy and certainly helps to avoid many of the
problems associated with fabrications .
There are many other examples of these prob-
lems, notably around the swinging arm pivot.
Bronze welded joints cope better with this than
fusion welded ones but don 't use that as an excuse .
Try not to weld lots of bits together at one place,
unless that place is a node in a triangulated
structure. Bending induced stresses will be low
there.You can 't always cure every problem and get
what you want but it is worth giving it a bit of
thought . It all helps to avoid failures.
Gussets and finger plates
I discussed these in Chapter 2.5 and the reasons
for taking care with them are now becoming more
apparent . Many combine sudden stiffness transi-
tions , rough weld surfaces and triaxial stresses all
in one place. It is hardly surprising that they can
be sources of failure.
Static loads and stress concentrations
I have painted a gloomy picture of stress concen-
trations. On a motorcycle you should assume the
worst and try to improve it, but it can get better.
It all depends on the type of load and material.
As far as static or slowly changing loads are
concerned, it is possible to protect yourself almost
completely and ensure that any apparent stress
concentrations have little if any effect on product
life. The key is ductility.
At a stress concentration the stress value may
easily exceed the strength of the material which,
if brittle, will simply crack. This can happen long
before the nominal stress becomes a problem. The
crack produced is an even worse stres s concentra-
tion than whatever caused it and total failure can
be almost instantaneous, especially if Fracture
Toughness is low (Panel 4, Chapter 3.2 ).
A ductile material does not respond like this. In
the ductile case , as the localised rising stress
reaches the elastic limit of the material, the mate-
rial starts to flow plastically at that pinpoint
location. The effect of the plastic flow is to redis-
tribute the localised load at that point and effec-
tively reduce the stress concentration that is there .
Given good ductility and a reasonable ratio of
Tensile Strength to Yield Stress , the ductile mate-
rial may well be capable of reducing the stress
concentration factor close to unity, assuming the
material is not constrained in the manner just
described. The highly localised plastic flow of
metal largely cancels out the concentration and
the part survives .
As a result, engineer s do not worry too much
about stress concentrations ifthe material is suit-
ably ductile and the load is static or slowly chang-
ing. Unfortunately , most of the load s on a bike are
not like this.
Fatigue loads
In a fatigue environment, where loads are con-
stantly changing, different materials re spond dif-
ferently to stress concentration. The factors I have
been using are geometric factors , ie size/shape
related and they do not take account of how well ,
or how badly , a material can cope with them.
Any geometric source of stress concentration is
commonly referred to as a 'notch' and the materi-
al's ability to deal with this in fatigue depends on
what is termed Notch Sensitivity.
Notch sensitivity
For a bike , which operates in a fatigue environ-
ment , a realistic assessment of the effect of stress
concentrations is best found by fatigue testing
identical parts with and without a notch in them .
When this is done, it becomes clear that the full
effect of the stress concentration factor (Kt ) does
 6.1 Stress concentration and related issues
not always apply. Ifit does, the material is said to
be highly notch sensitive. If the notch has very
little effect on the fatigue properties then the
material is not notch sensitive.
There are some expected results and some sur-
prising ones. A strong steel with limited ductility
is highly notch sensitive and so the entire effect of
Kt applies. Throughout, I have discouraged the
use of such materials on a rolling chassis .
A somewhat weaker steel with good ductility is
much less notch sensitive, hence my constant
emphasis of this property. A Kt value of say 1. 7
might only manifest itself as perhaps 1.2 under
such circumstances .
Aluminium alloys, some of which are relatively
soft and ductile, have lower notch sensitivity than
steels, but once you move up to the strong alloys
like 7075 T6 , the difference s are marginal when
compared to steels of similar strength . Unfortu-
nately , the Fracture Toughness is then low so if
the crack does get started sudden failure is likely
if the high stress is maintained.
In virtually all cases except hard, strong steels,
the full value ofKt does not apply but I suggest you
ignore this and assume that it does . Prevention is
a lot better than cure and by assuming the worst
(and doing something about it) you will get a more
reliable bike .
One of the real surprises is that many cast
materials are not particularly notch sensitive .
This is because they contain so many internal
stre ss concentrations that an external one makes
little difference to the fatigue performance.
Cast magnesium alloys do exhibit notch sensi-
tivity , particularly if the notch is sharp, so make
sure there are no sharp corners or hacksaw nicks
in parts made from them.
Notches and composites
Composite laminates generally have very good
fatigue characteristics . The problem here , and the
reason I am not going to dwell on it, is that this all
goes to waste if the laminate is poorly put together
or fibres are not correctly orientated to load paths .
They are also very sensitive to changes in mean
stress level.
In the broadest terms, we can say that com-
pared to many metals the notch sensitivity is low
and stress concentrations are therefore less sig-
nificant . I am not altogether happy saying thi s
391
here because so much depends on detail but it is
correct if the job is professionally done .
In all cases, an over-riding fact is that the
laminate is not one homogeneous unit, so the
failure of individual fibres does not automatically
transmit to other fibres. In a glass fibre laminate,
the actual fibres themselves are very brittle and
we would therefore expect high notch sensitivity
and a brittle failure in tension . In practice it
doesn 't work like this.
The first stage of damage is not actually visible .
There are no resin cracks but some fibres will start
to separate from the resin and small resin cracks
will eventually start to form. Once resin cracks do
occur, they are often blunted by the fibres. Equally,
if fibres near the crack debond fully from the resin
they can no longer encourage a crack to propagate.
As a result , this material with its extremely brittle
fibres does not behave as you might expect . It
suffers a loss of stiffness , and a redistribution of
local stress that can be very effective in negating
stress concentration. Other fibres give very simi-
lar effects .
However, the structure is certainly damaged. If
a bike with carbon fibre wheels or structural
chassis parts takes a big knock , then even if the
parts look OK, their stiffness characteristics should
be checked by the manufacturer . If not , they may
fall to bits next time out .
Photoelastic methods
I think it is worth mentioning how the nature of
stress concentrations, rather than just their ef-
fect , can be evaluated experimentally . One of the
most commonly used methods , apart from compu-
ter simulation , involves shining polarized light
through a model of the component concerned.
This model is made from a transparent solid
termed a photoelastic material. Glass is an option,
but clearly not a very practical one, and all sorts of
specialised plastics now exist for this purpose .
Alternatively, instead of making a model , you
can buy photoelastic material in the form of film
that will bond directly to flat areas of the structure
and show the areas of greatest stress. You can
even brush coatings onto irregular parts like cast-
ings to do the same thing.
When polarized light pas ses through such ma-
terials its plane of polarization is rotated by an
amount proportional to stress. This produces bands
392 6.1 Stress concentration and related issues

called fringes. Starting with no load on the part, as

you start to increase the load a fringe will appear,
see Fig 6.10, top illustration. This first fringe
appears at the point of highest stress so far.
As the load increases new fringes appear. These
now represent the areas of highest stress (at the
current load) and the earlier fringes get pushed
towards areas oflower stress. This continues until
you have a whole range of fringes (top diagram to
bottom diagram in Fig 6.10).
If you note the order of appearance, you effec-
tively have a map showing the distribution of
stress. When viewed through a proper polari-
scope, the bands take on different colours related
to the stress involved. Unfortunately , you cannot
see this on a black and white page like this one but
I have put one example on the cover of the book.
Note how localised the stresses are in this particu-
lar example (meshing gear teeth). Numerous
fringes will occur whenever point contact exists
and this is particularly evident in parts like gear
teeth and roller bearings.
Point contact is always a potential disaster
area and this is why you often have no choice but
to have a very hard and strong surface, with good
material support below it. In bearings and engine
parts this tends to be obvious but chassis parts
also suffer.
To minimise contact stresses in the chassis, all
suspension mounting bolts, pivots, linkages, spin- Above. Fig 6.10 Generation of fringes in an aluminium
dles etc should err on the large size and be hollow, component with a photoelastic coating. The part is
rather than going for smaller diameters. Where loaded in tension (across the page). Top diagram :At low
items are clamped, eg fork stanchions, or rear load only one or two fringes are visible. Other diagrams:
wheel mountings, always radius the clamp edges . Increasing load (top to bottom ) generates more fring es.
Note how stress concentrates near the centre of the curve
Sharp edges will give line contact under stress.
as the load increases .
Socket cap screws will also do this if they are being (Images courtesy of Vishay Intertechnology Inc).
used to resist serious loads . In such cases, hard-
ened washers should be used with them to spread
the load over a greater area.
Right. Fig 6.11 When actual stresses are taken into
Detailed stress analysis like this often reveals account, many parts can be lightened considerably and
that some of the material is making little contri- it is clear that on some parts much of the material is
bution to strength and the shape can be further doing very little. Also compare the PFM aluminium
optimised to save weight. In recent years, a lot alloy disk carrier shown in Fig 5.55, Chapter 5.5, with
more attention has focused on this in motorcycle a solid one.
circles. It is particularly evident in relation to rear
sprockets and footrest hangers, though some foot-
rest hangers have gone too far and now have an expensive polariscope is required to supply the
inadequateJateral and torsional stiffness for good colour information that determines stress values,
rider feedback. Fig 6.11 shows how these areas finding where the highest stresses are (without
have developed. their values) is much easier. Further information
It is quite possible for the amateur to use these can be obtained from Measurements Group UK or
methods of experiment in critical cases. Although Vishay Measurements Group Inc. in the USA.
 6.1 Stress concentration and related issues 393

Past Present

Left: The footrest hanger on this Vinr:ent is typical of the period. Compare it with the hanger on a 2003 Aprilia 125cc
GP bike (right) and it is clear that conside rably less material can be used. You do of course ha ve to allow for the
lower material strength available in the past. (Vincent photograph courtesy of Mortons Motorcycle Media Ltd).

Left: Sprockets were often solid. Some were riddled with round holes (right) which, while removing weight, are far
from ideal. The sprocket on the far right has been sculptured more in line with actual stress distribution but the
best examples I have seen are the AFAM Superlight series which have obviously had some serious analysis.

Measuring forces ment that is securely bonded to the structure.

Finally, you may find yourself in situations where
problems keep on occurring, even if analysis fails
to identify them . In such cases, and many others,
it often pays to measure the stresses actually
there, rather than keep assuming they are there.
This can often be done using relatively straight-
forward strain gauge installations. A strain gauge
is (usually) a sensitive metal foil resistance ele-
When the structure is loaded during use the ma-
terial is stressed and therefore strained slightly.
The strain is applied to the gauge and this changes
its resistance - Fig 6.12 overleaf.
By recording these resistance changes, values
of stress at the surface of parts can be found . If you
are looking for forces, as opposed to stresses, the
gauges need to be placed in positions where it is
relatively easy to determine force from stress. In
394 6.1 Stress concentration and related issues

all but the simplest cases a group of gauges (called

a rosette) is required in one place to ensure that
the true maximum stresses are determined.
Think before mounting strain gauges because
as soon as you change the design of the bike being
tested everything will alter. To get a general
picture of external loading it is better to record a) Strain gauge element considerably enlarged.
loads in things like front/rear suspension, fork The two solid areas are solder pads for
stanchions, headstocks etc. These are broadly attaching leads. Actual length 2mm.
transferable to other designs of similar weight
and power.
If you need to measure stresses, The Strain
Gauging Company in Basingstoke specialise in
motor sport applications (Tel 01256 320666).
The use of accelerometers can also be very
revealing since force is directly proportional to
acceleration (force = mass x acceleration). Accel-
eration is not confined to the forward direction
and measuring vertical and lateral accelerations
as well is essential.
Even small bumps and potholes produce quite
dramatic values, albeit of short duration. I do
appreciate that these things are somewhat alien
to many people but it is not at all difficult to add
accelerometer inputs to normal data logging sys-
tems. Indeed, they are a standard fitment on
many systems.
b) Strain gauges installed on an engine mount to
see exactly what is happening. Gauges are
Summary protected by a resin coating.

I have attempted to explain the source and sever-

ity of stress concentrations, along with one or two
other important ideas . This should provide fur-
ther insight and emphasise the need for previous
recommendations.
Avoid all sudden changes in stiffness where you
can. Keep the whole structure in proportion as far
as stiffness is concerned and make the changes
you want fairly gradually. Be careful with gussets
and any other situation that creates triaxial stress.
Focus on the detail. No sharp corners (inside or
outside) , clean up/radius the edges of all holes
carefully, avoid sudden localised changes in sec-
tion that create stress concentrations.

Right. Fig6.12 Strain gauges can be used to determine

actual stresses as opposed to predicted stresses. c) Strain gauges attached to a spring retainer on a
(Photographs courtesy of The Strain Gauging Com- damper, effectively creating a load cell to
pany, tel 01256 320666) . measure the force being transmitted.
 6.1 Stress concentration and related issues
Hacksaw nicks and scriber or file marks are obvi-
ously bad news, especially on thin, strong mate-
rial. A rough finish is effectively like a series of
circlip grooves (see next chapter).
All bending, whether of tube or sheet, should be
performed on the largest possible radius. Never
bend sheet against a sharp edge or the vice jaws.
Screw threads are a subject in themselves. If the
thread root is sharp rather than rounded the
stress concentration can be very high.
Stress concentrations are probably more likely
to decide whether the bike stays in one piece than
the basic material sizes . If you have followed
convention, used decent materials and provided
reasonable stiffness, that aspect is almost cer-
tainly OK All we can do now is look at additional
processes to improve what we have created.
Software for structural analysis
Imagineering . The Paddock, Pringle Way, Little
Stukeley, Huntingdon , Cambs. PE28 4BH.
Tel 01480 458760, fax 01480 453465,
www.iuk .co.uk
Product : Strand 7. A popular Australian pack-
age designed for the PC . Basic linear (elastic )
analysis system about £3250 , plus £1000 for
automatic mesh generation . Other modules
available including composites .
JG Design Services. 76 Gartcows Road,
Falkirk, FKl 5EQ.
Tel 01704132 3177, fax 0870 7416226 ,
www .femdesigner.co .uk
Product: FEM designer. A very inexpensive
system for individual parts that runs efficiently
even on older PC's. Elastic version £149, full
version £495 , solid model importer £495.
WildeFEA. Brindley Lodge , Adcroft Street,
Stockport, Cheshire, SKl 3HS .
Tel 0161474 7479, fax 0161474 7492 ,
www.wildefea.co.uk
Products: Many, including the long established
ANSYS range, eg ANSYS Design Space at
around £4000- £8000, through to ANSYS Pro-
fessional starting around £13000. WildeFEA
also supply the ESACOMP software . This
analysis package for composite structures was
produced by the European Space Agency and is
currently very inexpensive at 3000 Euro.
395
nCode International. 230 Woodbourn Road,
Sheffield, S9 3LQ.
Tel 0114 275 5292, fax 0114 275 8272,
www.ncode .co.uk
Products: nCode is a state of the art module for
fatigue analysis. It works with the m,itput of
well established FE packages . Runs on a PC
under Windows 98 or later . Approx £20,000 but
available on a lease .
Analysis by Firth . Suite 101A , The Standish
Centre , Cross Street, Standish,
Wigan, WN6 OHQ.
Tel 01257 427667, fax 01257 427209,
www .abyf.co .uk
Product: MSCvisual NASTRAN. This is a PC
version of the long established NASTRAN
software. Basic 3000 node systems start at
around £3800 .
Analytical Engineering Services Ltd.
Bucklerburn House, School Road, Peterculter,
Aberdeen, AB14 ONP.
Tel/fax 01224 735143, www .aes-uk.com
Product : Use and sell FS2000 2D and 3D frame
analysis/welded joint design software. Prices
start around £1000 and software runs on PC,
Windows 98 or later.
Cenit Desktop. Evenlode Court, Main Road,
Long Hanborough, Witney, Oxon, OX29 8SZ .
Tel 01993 883555, fax 01993 883201,
www .cenitdesktop.com
Products: COSMOS M (starting around £2100)
and COSMOS Design Star (around £4500).
Grape Software Inc. RR2 Grp210 Box2 , Winni-
peg, Manitoba, Canada, R3C2E6.
Tel 204 489 9327, fax 204 489 0056,
www.grapesoftware.mb.ca
Product: Grape software for tubular space
frames and structures. Lots of people have and
use this package. Download from the internet.
Useful analysis references
SAE Paper 891776:
Development of CAET, Computer Aided Engi-
neering System for Frame Design of Motorcycle.
Toshio Tsuta and Shozo Suehiro, Kawasaki
Heavy Industries Co., Akkashi, Japan.
396 6.1 Stress concentration and related issues
SAE Paper 930227:
Drop Test Simulation Model for Motorcycles.
Shigeo Naito and Shigeru Sugiyama, Yamaha
Motor Co. Ltd.
SAE Paper 891774 :
Practical Application of CAE to the Design of
Motorcycles. Shouichi Yoshimura, Shunji Asano
and Toshitaka Kouga , Yamaha Motor Co. Ltd .
SAE Paper 911887:
Bump Simulation Model for Motorcycles .
Shigeru Sugiyama and Shigeo Naito, Yamaha
Motor Co. Ltd.
SAE Paper 1999-01-3279/JSAE 9938034 :
Analysis of Motorcycle Structural-Resonance-
Induced Fatigue Problems. LeRoy Patrick and
Peter D. Gunness, MTS Systems Corp.
SAE Paper 790261 :
Simulation of Off-Road Motorcycle Ride Dynam-
ics. Stephen H. Black and Dean L. Taylor .
SAE Paper 891994 :
Application of Vibration Simulation method s to
the Design of Motorcycles. Takashi Kosugi and
Tetsuya Seino, Yamaha Motor Co. Ltd .
SAE Paper 951817:
Evaluation Method of Motorcycle Fatigue
Strength Using Road Simulator. Shokichi
Harashima , Honda R & D Co. Ltd.
Stress Concentration Factors
Design Factors For Stress Concentration,
Parts 1 to 5 by R.E . Peterson. Published in 1951
by Penton Publishing, Cleveland, Ohio , USA.
Formulas for Stress and Strain by R.J. Roark ,
published in 1954 by McGraw Hill.
Photoelastic analysis products
Vishay Measurements Group Inc . PO Box
27777, Raleigh, NC, 27611-7777, USA.
Tel 919 365 3800 , fax 919 365 3945,
www .vishay .com.
Measurements Group UK Ltd. Stroudley Road ,
Basingstoke, Rants . RG24 8FW.
Tel 01256 462131 , fax 01256 471441 ,
www .vishay .com
Strain gauging contacts
The Strain Gauge Company. Loddon Business
Centre , Roentgen Road , Daneshill, Basingstoke,
Rants. RG24 8NG .
Tel 01256 320666 , fax 01256 332332 .
(motorsport specialist . Contact Steve Gough )
Measurements Group UK Ltd . Stroudley Road,
Basingstoke , Rants. RG24 OFW.
Tel 01256 462131 , fax 01256 471441 ,
www .vishay .com
Accelerometers
Inertial Aerosy stems UK Ltd. Unit la/b,
Thorpe Industrial Estate,
Crabtree Road, Thorpe TW20 8RN.
Tel 01252 782442 , fax 01784 4 73032,
www.inertial.co.uk
Kistler Instruments Ltd . Alresford House, Mill
Lane , Alton , Rants. GU34 2QJ .
Tel 01420 544477 , fax 01420 544474,
www.kistler.com
Hero Electronic s Ltd. 10 Doolittle Mill Business
Park , Froghall Road , Ampthill MK45 2ND .
Tel 01525 405015, fax 01525 402383,
www .heroelec.co .uk
Analog Devices Ltd . Walton House, Station
Avenue, Walton-On-Thames,
Surrey, KT12 lPF.
Tel 01932 266000 , fax 01932 247401 ,
www .analog.com
Spectris plc. Station Road, Egham ,
Surrey, TW20 9NP .
Tel 01784 4 704 70, fax 01784 4 70848 ,
www.spectris.com

6.2 Minimising fatigue failures
S-N curves
A fatigue failure is one which is caused by repeti-
tive loads being applied to the component. Many of
the loads imposed on a motorcycle come into this
category. What makes fatigue particularly impor-
tant is the fact that failure may occur at relatively
low stress, much lower than that which could be
tolerated continuously (static load).
Investigation shows that the real culprit in
fatigue failure is changing tensile stress so any
form of test must create these conditions.
The simplest way of doing this is to apply a
constant load to a rotating specimen of material.
At any particular point in the material, the stress
will then change from a peak tensile value to a
peak compressive value during each revolution.
Failure zone
-Jr Bearing
11 Specimen
Motor
spindle
+ compressive value. For constant speed of rotation the
' Maximum stress
I'll
E
I'll
....
00
Maximum stress
Mean stress
Minimum stress
0 Time
397
At a constant speed of rotation, the stress varia-
tion is sinusoidal with a mean value of zero stress,
see Fig 6.13 . Maximum stress occurs at the sur-
face of the material.
This is hardly representative of all the loads on
a bike but it is a repeatable starting point from
which to test and compare different materials .
To perform the test, a relatively high load is
applied (giving high maximum stress), the speci-
men is set into motion (rotating) and at some point
it will break. The test is then repeated with a
slightly lower load and it should last a bit longer.
Fig 6.13 The 'rotating cantilever beam' is one of the
simplest fatigue tests.Other bending arrangements are
used, as are tensile I compression and torsion tests.
1. A material sample is fixed into a motor spindle and
a load applied at the free end. The specimen is
shaped to produce failure in a known place along the
specimen. The motor is started and runs at constant
speed until the sample breaks or the test is
terminated. Revolutions are counted and this gives
the number of stress cycles to failure.
2. Point A is a point on the specimen surface. When it
is at the top, the stress is a maximum tensile value .
When it is at the bottom , the stress is a maximum
stress varies sinusoidally as shown. Maximum
tensile stress = maximum compressive stress and the
mean stress value is zero. This is fully reversed
bending and the stress ratio R = minimum stress I
maximum stress will be quoted as R = -1 (because
compression is taken as negative)
3. Other types of test are used to create a non-zero
mean stress as shown. This has considerable
influence on the fatigue life. However, most
published data relates to fully reversed bending with
equal tensile and compressive values. The stress
value normally used to plot graphs is the alternating
value, ie (max.stress - min . stress) I 2. Again note that
compression is taken as negative.
398 6.2 Minimising fatigue failures
After numerous tests you will have sufficient data
to draw a graph like that in Fig 6.14. This is called
an S-N curve (stress vs number of cycles) and the
example shown is for a dead smooth and highly
polished specimen of mild steel.
The first thing to realise is that even under
these idealised conditions there will be a great
deal of scatter in the results. The smooth graph is
just the best statistical interpretation of the data .
Also note that nothing on the bike is exactly like
this. If you want to apply these data directly, there
is still a long way to go.
At low stresses , S-N curves can go to hundreds
of millions of cycles. This is one advantage of the
rotating beam test . You just let it run and run,
counting revs until the sample breaks.
On a graph it is less convenient. If a scale goes
from 1 to 100,000,000 cycles across a page you will
struggle to decide on a particular N value . This is
partially overcome by using a logarithmic scale for
the number of cycles .
The logarithmic scale gives equal gaps from 1 to
10, 10 to 100, 100 to 1000 and so on. It obviously
changes the shape of the graph somewhat but this
highlights some features we need to look for . An
example for 4130 steel is shown in Fig 6.15.
Fig 6.14 Test results for a highly polished specimen of
mild steel. The graph records the peak value of the
changing stress against number of stres s cycles to fail-
ure. The line is that which best fits the data and the
scatter of individual values can be substantial.
a-a 250
-z
r:tJ
r:tJ
225 \
....f
r:tJ
........=
=
e
200
175
150
'
.... 0 2
<
Life in millions of stress cycles
Endurance Limit
Like the curve for mild steel, the S-N curve in
Fig 6.15 shows that there is a peak value of
alternating stress below which this particular
material will not fail , no matter how long the test
is continued. This value is called an Endurance
Limit and it is obviously a nice thing to have.
The bad news is that the Endurance Limit is
rarely more than 50% of the Tensile Strength and
it can be much less ifthe Tensile Strength is high.
For the steels discussed in previous chapters,
the Elastic Limit is typically 80% of the material's
Tensile Strength . Although a suitable safety mar-
gin has to be allowed, we could in principle utilise
this level of material strength on the bike .
The Endurance Limit is clearly much lower
than the Elastic Limit and if we want to stay below
it we can no longer capitalise fully on the strength
available for dealing with static loads . In effect,
we have to use more material and lower stress in
order to prolong life.
Materials with an Endurance Limit include
mild steel, most low alloy steels , pure aluminium ,
some aluminium-magnesium alloys and most ti-
tanium alloys.
Fatigue Strength
Sadly, the heat-treatable aluminium alloys com-
monly used for bikes do not have an Endurance
Limit - Fig 6.16. Some of the stronger alloys
4 6 8
 6.2 Minimising fat igue failures 399

650

-aa 600

" ""
550

...
-z
500

"'
450

400 "-.
350
I Endurance Limit I"
300

250
103 104 105 106 107 108

Cycles to failure

Above. Fig 6.15 S-N curve for4130 steel. The logarith-
mic horizontal scale not only accommodates the wide
range of values, it also tends to straighten out the curve
and highlight the point where an Endurance Limit is
reached (see text).
Below. Fig 6.16 Heat treatable aluminium alloys do
not have an Endurance Limit . Fatigue Strength is
therefore quoted as the peak stress associated with a
particular life, measured in number of stress cycles.

I 7075 T6
I
.-.a
400
"""
a 300

-z
lllilo.....

-..............
200 Fatil(Ue Streni @ 10 7 cycles I ---............
-
100

0
104 105 106 107 108

Cycles to failure
400 6.2 Minimising fatigue failures
produce S-N curves that fall off very rapidly and if
you want long life in a fatigue situation, the
permissible stress is likely to be very small.
Without an Endurance Limit, defining strength
is somewhat arbitrary . A Fatigue Strength figure
is given but it can be taken at any number of
cycles. For obvious reasons, the number of cycles
must be stated. The Fatigue Strength at one
million cycles (10 6 ) might be far higher than at 100
million (10 8 ).
Either way, the Fatigue Strength eventually
falls to zero (or close to it) and the sample breaks .
This raises a lot of issues but let's continue with
the basic ideas for now.
Variations
S-N curves are extraordinarily sensitive to seem-
ingly minor changes. If, instead of rotating bend-
ing, we extend and compress the sample axially,
thereby simulating the sort of fatigue loading that
a bolt or conrod might experience, the allowable
stress for a given life is likely to drop substan-
tially, perhaps by 25%. The whole curve drops
downwards.
Similarly, if we insert a constant element of
loading so that the mean stress is no longer zero
the curve will shift again. If the mean stress is
tensile, the fatigue strength reduces - Fig 6.17.
It is becoming clear that applying these data
directly to a motorcycle is a non-starter for most
people and I therefore see no point in presenting
numerous curves. It is sufficient to note that the
only way to get really reliable data is to test actual
parts under real conditions of use .
So, is this all a waste of time for the home
constructor armed with a calculator and a welding
torch? It most certainly is not but we need to move
away from the analytical approach. Instead, it is
better to use S-N curves to demonstrate the ways
in which we lower the fatigue life of the bike and
to suggest ways of getting it back again . Trying to
correlate any clinical test data to real loading
spectra is best left to experts.
Right. 6.17 The general effect of non-zero mean
stress on S-N curves. Note that if the mean stress is
tensile, the S-N curve moves down, ie strength is less·
and I or life is shorter.
How and why
Performance in fatigue is influenced by numerous
things but even 'perfect' highly polished test sam-
ples fail. Why?
Fundamentally , the answers lie within the ma-
terial structure. Aluminium alloys provide clear
evidence of this since pure aluminium and some
non-heat treatable aluminium-magnesium alloys
have an Endurance Limit while the heat treatable
alloys do not.
In some cases fatigue life can be extended
significantly if exceptionally close control is ex-
erted during manufacture of the material but
most people have to accept what they get in this
respect. Cost really escalates when you start lay-
ing down the law on melt procedures, chemical
analysis etc.
Nevertheless, the problems do start within the
material. Viewed with high magnification, metals
look more like cement than smooth shiny objects
and the nominal stresses we think we have turn
out to be wildly inaccurate in certain areas of the
structure. This is, in effect, stress concentration
within the material's microstructure.
High localised stresses, possibly in areas no
wider than a human hair, can set off a variety of
potentially damaging reactions. Highly localised
yielding can occur. This may come to nothing, it
;
a
a
c§
rtJ
rtJ
f
rtJ
.;
Cycles to failure
 6.2 Minimising fatigue failures 401

depends on the material structure, but it can also

lead to the nucleation of a crack. This is not the
sort of crack you can see with a bench magnifier.
An electron microscope is more appropriate. But if
this crack stabilises, a new story can begin.
In tension, material normal to the load experiences
tensile stress (A). But material inclined to the load is
Crack propagation sheared. Maximum shear stress occurs at 45° (B) and is
half the tensile stress. Materials weak in shear, eg wood,
Let us suppose that cyclic loads are present and often fail in shear when loaded in tension.
these create tensile stress. You do not need an
obvious tensile load to do this. Stresses are compli-
cated things and almost any real loading situation
on a bike is likely to produce some element of
tensile stress within the material. -
A c
i --
Fig 6.18 gives some examples of the less obvious
stresses created by simple loading.Note that each
example includes a tensile component.
When the tensile stress rises in the region of our
-_f_L
tension
H:filt
compression
-
t
micro-crack, the crack opens up and advances
slightly. When the stress is removed, or becomes
compressive, it stops. There is a fascinating, but In bending, the concave surface is in compression (A)
complicated, mechanism whereby the crack tip and the convex one is in tension (B). The stress varies
goes through cycles of blunting and sharpening. across the section (C). But the entire beam is. also in
I usually describe this as being like cutting with vertical and horizontal shear (D). The shear is a maxi-
tinsnips on a microscopic scale. You have to keep mum at the neutral axis (centre) and zero at the top I
opening the snips for the cut to progress. In the bottom surface. This causes some sections to twist when
same way, the tensile stress has to keep changing bent and beams can fail in shear .
for the crack to propagate. A constant tensile
stress does not give the same effect.
Once this really takes hold, the crack advances
more rapidly and literally 'burrows' through the
material. It takes on a definite orientation at right
angles to the stress propagating it but even at this
stage it is difficult to spot.
The crack is only a very short hairline and
because it is propagating at stresses belOw the
Elastic Limit there is no permanent deformation
to give it away. On a bike, you will not notice this
stage of events without a magnaflux check or
something similar. Under coats of paint there is Twisting produces both radial and longitudinal shear
no chance whatsoever. stress . But on a 45° helix there is tension and comp res-
What happens next is largely a matter of time sion . Strong shafts often fail along this plane, either
and luck. Given sufficient time in the presence of directly or in fatigue. Thin wall tubes buckle along it.
the changing stress, the crack will become one you
might spot if you look very carefully - Fig 6.19
overleaf. But eventually there is insufficient
uncracked material to resist the peak stress ap- Fig 6.18 Stress is not as simple as it first appears. These
plied and the part suddenly breaks in two. examples show just how many stresses can be caused by
very simple external loads.
If this happens on the track it's bad news and it
is nice if you manage to spot the crack in the pits
or worksho p. Careful inspection is never more
402 6.2 Minimising fatigue failures
Fig 6.19 Typical of the breed, this fatigue crack is barely
visible. By the time it becomes really obvious, the struc-
ture may have failed . In stronger aluminium alloys
there is also the danger that this may initiate a fast
fracture failure due to low Fracture Toughness.
important than on the chassis of a racing motorcy-
cle. Our problems are considerably increased by
the fact that the materials used tend to be thin .
Fatigue cracks work their way across 200mm
steel shafts. A O.Smm tube wall is no problem .
This is the basic mechanism. In materials like
mild steel and low alloy steels the structure is such
that the process won't get started at stresses
below the Endurance Limit.
In heat treatable aluminium alloys there is no
Endurance Limit to provide protection. Basically,
you choose between lower stresses (more weight)
and shorter life. On a road bike the manufacturer
chooses low stress and hence long life. On a race
bike it is all a question of compromise. Most
production race bikes are designed to give many
years of racing. Some factory designs are thrown
in the bin at the end of a season. Whatever the
material, it is all a question of compromise.
One final point. What I have been discussing is
termed high cycle fatigue and it relates to failure
when the material is repeatedly stressed below its
Elastic Limit.
Low cycle fatigue is what you get when you
repeatedly stress material above the Elastic Limit.
Hopefully this does not apply to a bike, since if it
does your structure is being permanently bent
with every stress reversal.
You will soon know. Put a bit of thin aluminium
in the vice and bend it permanently one way then
the other. It won't take long to cause failure.
Reducing risk
Accurately predicting stress is not easy. Accu-
rately predicting fatigue life is considerably more
difficult and beyond the reach of most people .
Don't be deceived by inexpensive FEA fatigue
programs that claim to solve everything. The
serious ones usually have four zeros in the price
tag. Analysis is beyond the scope of this book.
However, there is good news for those restricted
to the more practical aspects of this. There are
many things that you can do to extend fatigue life.
Having identified the mechanism, it is clear that
all of the following can help.
•Using materials that are inherently
good at resisting fatigue failure.
• Reducing sources of stress concen-
tration, since these are the most
likely triggers of fatigue failure.
• Eliminating or reducing tensile
stress, especially on the surface of
parts . Processes that do this are
particularly beneficial and can be
used by everyone.
Material properties
For the steels we use there is an Endurance limit
which is typically 45% of the Tensile Strength.
This implies stronger is better but that only ap-
plies up to a certain point and under certain
idealised conditions.
At very high levels of strength the percentage
starts to reduce but more importantly for us the
steel becomes much more notch sensitive once you
get much above Tensile Ranges T to V. This is
partly because ofreduced ductility.
Motorcycles are riddled with stress concentra-
tions and subjected to fatigue loads so increased
notch sensitivity is very dangerous. This is why I
have previously suggested that Tensile Range R is
a good starting point for welded frames while
Tensile Range T is fine for spindles. In some
situations you can push up to range V but the
detail/finish needs to be good and parts should be
shot peened (see below).
Aluminium alloys are very different. Sadly,
whatever the Tensile Strength, there are few
 6.2 Minimising fatigue failures 403

aluminium alloys with a Fatigue Strength that is

much above 154N/mm 2 (10tonf/in 2 ) at 500 million 800
cycles (reversed bending) .
Relative to their static strength, the fatigue
properties of strong alloys like 7075 T6 are poor.
7475in T7351isinfinitelybetterthan 7075T6 but
you are unlikely to find it in stock. 7475 is still a
specialised aerospace alloy , rarely found at com-
mercial sources.
The stronger aluminium alloys are also very
sensitive to heat treatment. For example, 2014A
T6 has a higher Tensile Strength than 2014 T4 but
the latter gives better fatigue life when parts have
localised stress concentrations (notches).
These are the fundamental reasons why the
apparent density advantage of aluminium alloys
never fully materialises in motorcycles. It is easy
to say that 7075 T6 is stronger than mild steel but
in fatigue it certainly isn't if you want a long life 200
(compare Figs 6.14 and 6.16, remembering that
the 7075 curve continues to fall).
One of the gems among commercial aluminium
Cycles to failure
alloys in terms of fatigue life is 5083. This alu-
minium-magnesium alloy is one of very few to
have an Endurance Limit and it is a good one. At
108 cycles it out-performs alloys like 6082, 2014
and 7075. The welds are also much stronger and I

-- -JI
think Foggy Petronas made a good choice when
they used it for the FPl frame and swinging arm.
An introductory text like this cannot cover all ss .....t1l
such details but you should be aware that differ- 00 "'C
ences exist and ask pertinent questions when
your requirements get serious.
If you are going to work in aluminium alloy, you \_ 0.8mm radius
either need to keep plenty of safety margin (follow
conventional sizes/sections) or get into methods of
stress analysis and shape optimisation that will Fig 6.20 Top: The effect of a notch on the fatigue
allow you to minimise any stress concentrations. characteristics of a steel shaft. Bottom: The notch in-
volved is only shallow. There are much worse effects on
a motorcycle chassis . Kt= 1. 76 in this example.
Stress concentration

Once a material has been chosen, the number one surface of parts where stress due to loading is
fatigue problem with motorcycles is the stress usually highest. If you are going to encourage
concentration or notch. As Fig 6.20 illustrates, the crack formation, this is the worst place to do it.
effect of stress concentrations on fatigue strength Refer to the previous chapter.
can be dramatic.
This very mild and finely finished notch in the
test specimen drops the Endurance Limit of the
steel used by about 36%. There are much worse
features on a bike and many can be avoided. These
effects, and many others listed below, are on the
404 6.2 Minimising fatigue failures

Ductility
\! 500
I have constantly emphasised the need for good f/J
f/J 400
ductility. Without it the material will be more
notch sensitive and real structures, ie those with f/J 300 j
section changes, welds etc, will be unable to deal
with even minor stress concentrations . Fatigue
... \
.!
f/J 200 I
= \
,,..J
fractures may be of a brittle nature but ductility is E-t 100
still vitally important to reduce notch sensitivity ........
/
'
and minimise stress concentration effects. 0

l
'
f/J
f/J

.bf/J 100
Residual stress

Residual stress is the term used to describe any

...>
f/J
f/J
200
300
stress that is present in a material when no l j
external load is applied. \ 400
I
Contrary to what you might expect, residual
stresses can be substantial, often approaching the
Yield Stress of the material. Casting, machining ,
u
0
.. v
500

grinding, cold forming, welding, heat treatment,

plating , anodising etc can all produce re sidual
stress. Heavy machining , especially intermittent
cutting with negative rake tools, can be particu-
larly damaging. Section 2 commented on the re-
sidual stresses left by cold bending.
Another potential problem area is cold drawing
or indeed any heavy cold working . Fig 6.21 shows
the residual stress produced by cold drawing a
steel bar. This is the longitudinal stress, ie that
which will be added to any tensile stresses created
by loading the bar in bending. Think about this
when you make parts out of bright drawn bar .
Another surprise area is grinding which, if not
done very carefully , can induce very high tensile
stresse s at the surface. Fig 6.22 gives an example .
In these situations the stress distribution is
always balanced in some way. For example , a high
tensile stress in one place may be balanced by a
lower compressive stress that exists over a larger
area. The material is therefore in equilibrium and
under normal circumstances shows no obvious
signs that it is stressed , though some di stortion
may occur over a long period of time .
Our interest here is fatigue . Fatigue is essen-
tially a tensile stress problem, since it is tensile
stress that propagates the cracks . Both examples
given indicate that the res.idual stress is tensile
near the component's surface and that is precisely
where the problem is likely to start.
The maximum stresses produced by bending
and twisting occur at the surface . Stress concen-
Surface Centre of bar Surface
Fig 6.21 Residual longitud inal stress (NI mm 2) across
a section of cold drawn bar after a 20% area reduct ion.
There is a high tensile valu e on the surfac e, whil e the
core is in compr ession . Not e the large value s.
trations associated with sharp corners , poor finish
or welding are also at the surface. This is a very
bad place to have a residual tensile stress . The
effect is to add to load related stresses and thereby
initiate a fatigue failure that would not have
occurred were the residual stress absent .
Residual stress is most critical in parts that are
highly stressed by external loads, especially if
load cycles are rapidly accumulated. Thus while a
chassis is generally quite lightly stressed as a
result of meeting stiffness criteria and may be
cycled at a relatively low rate, most engine parts
are not. If a fatigue crack nucleates in a highly
stressed connecting rod or crankshaft it is likely to
fail catastrophically. Similarly, wheel spindles
and suspension mountings/linkages can rapidly
accumulate stress cycles .
 6.2 Minimising fatigue failures 405

700 ,....
'
I \
600 I ..
I \
\! 500 I \

-a ....==
1:-1 0
l:IJ
400
II
\
'·
'
_§ Qi 300 I \ Normal grinding

-
z
rn
rn
s...
200

100
•
!I• ,/
\ grinding \\ V
' ..
....., "
-== ....=
rn
o'
' L
\.
-.
'L ..... , __
I"

"C -100
0
i Gentle
v'
•l"I
rn l:IJ
l:IJ
grinding
Qi
-200
""
ll.
a0 -300
0
-400
0 0.05 0.10 0.15 0.20 0.25 0.30
'°'
Depth below surface (mm) ¢

Fig 6.22 Residual stress produced by surface grinding a harden ed steel (4340 at 50HRc) . Again note that the stress
close to the surface is tension, unless very gentle grinding is used. Even with good practice , it is essential to ensure
adequate coolant supply if high surface stresses are to be avoided (with thanks to Metal Improvement Company ).

Stress relieving values, especially the tensile stress at the surface.

Table 6.2 overleaf shows typical tempering tem-
For steel spindles and the like, I have suggested peratures used by the manufacturer for 605M36
starting with materials such as 605M36 (En 16) (En16), 708M40 (En19) and 817M40 (En24) when
and 708M40 (En19) in T condition. Material pro- supplied in various Tensile Ranges. By re-heating
duction details depend on bar size but for typical the material to about 40°C below these tempera-
spin dle sizes in bright bar the sequence might be tures and allowing it to cool slowly, you will
as follows. remove most of the residual stress without de-
The wire is produced in the form of a coil. It is grading the basic properties.
then hardened and tempered as a coil to give It doesn't need to soak long at temperature, an
properties at the very bottom of, or slightly below, hour shoul d do it. There may, or may not, be some
the grade required (Tin this example) . The wire is distort ion. You will have to experiment. However,
then shot blasted, de-coiled and drawn, typically as a general rule the following procedure is best :
with 10% area reduction.
Heat treatment invokes residual stress but it is •Rough machine the material as
mainly the cold drawing that raises residual stress supplie d.
406 6.2 Minimising fatigue failures

Pre-stressing
Steel Tempering Stress relief
and temperature temperature Many manufacturing processes create residual
Tensile Range (oC) (oC) tensile stress near the surface of the material. If
we can reduce this, or even better convert it into
En16S 640 to 670 600 compressive stress, it will offer a substantial im-
provement in fatigue life. There are several ways
En16T 620 to 640 580 of doing this but the method most relevant to
motorcycle applications is shot peening.
En16U 580 to 610 540

En16V 530 to 560 490 Shot peening

En19T 640 to 680 600 It is perhaps unfortunate that shot peening has an
apparent similarity to sand blasting and other
En19U 610 to 640 570 metal cleaning processes, since the only common
factor is that the surface of a part is bombarded
En19V 580 to 620 540 with hard particles. In reality, shot peening is a
highly specialised and scientific process. Giving
En24T 670 to 690 630 parts to your local beadblaster will often result in
reduced fatigue life, not increased fatigue life.
The basic idea of shot peening is to stretch and
En24U 630 to 660 590
flatten a thin layer of surface material. In doing so,
a compressive residual stress is produced in this
En24V 600 to 630 560
region. Many parameters have to be optimised in
order to create what we really need. Rather obvi-
Table 6.2 Tempering temperatures used for 605M36 ous things include the shot size, its hardness, the
(En16), 708M40 (En19) and 817M40 (En24) steels dur- velocity it strikes at and the coverage. It is abso-
ing manufacture. Values apply to sizes in the range lutely essential that the peening equipment is
12mm - 20mm diameter. Stress relieving temperatures correctly calibrated before work begins.
should be about 40°C below the lower tempering figure. Residual stresses always remain in balance so
Data courtesy of Kiverton Park Steel Ltd. the effect of having compressive stresses at the
surface is to generate tensile stress in other parts
of the cross section . An important aim of the
• Stress relieve it. peening specification is therefore to limit the rise
of tensile stress that occurs in the core.
• Finish machine (small cuts/light Fig 6.23 shows two residual stress profiles
grind only). created by shot peening, one in a 7075 T6 alu-
minium alloy part and the other in heat treated
The process of stress relieving requires good tem- 4340 steel. Note however that these profiles vary
perature control. If the temperature is too low, the considerably according to the application.
stresses are not relieved. If they are too high for Fig 6.24 shows how this artificially imposed
the steel and temper concerned mechanical prop- residual stress interacts with the tensile and
erties will be degraded. It is always best to discuss compressive stress created by simple bending.
your stress relieving requirements with heat treat- Although compressive stress is increased, the criti-
ment specialists. cal tensile stress on the convex surface is reduced,
Before looking at other processes that reduce often substantially. It is the tensile stress that
fatigue life,! will consider some more of the meth- propagates fatigue cracks.
ods that can be used to improve fatigue life. It then The maximum value of compressive stress in-
becomes possible to combine the two and see just duced by shot peening is largely dependent on the
how worthwhile the extra care and effort involved Tensile Strength of the material being peened. If
can be. the shot is as hard as, or harder than, the compo-
 6.2 Minimising fatigue failures 407

What to peen
0 J,,,,,,.--
Basically, any part that is in a fatigue situation
-140 I will benefit but for strong steel parts it is particu-
larly beneficial. The Endurance Limit of dead
-280 I smooth highly polished steel test specimens is
typically 45 to 50% of the Tensile and
-420 v this relationship is maintained up to about 35HRc,
roughly the top of Tensile Range V.
Above that, the Endurance Limit starts to drop
-560
off, even if the sample is perfectly finished. But
0 0.25 0.5 0.75
real parts, which invariably have numerous stress
concentrations due to all the reasons described
Distance below surface (mm) previously, are very different. For these parts, the
ratio of Endurance Limit to Tensile Strength falls
quite rapidly once above about 32HRc, roughly

/
/ - the top of the T range.

Below. Fig 6.24 How residual stress combines with

-700 / applied stress during bending . Top: Residual stress due
to peening alone. Centre: Stress due to bending alone.
........... /
Bottom: Peened part in bending . Note reduction of the
-1400 tensil e stress that initiate s fatigue failures.

-2100
0 0.25 0.5 0.75

Distance below surface (mm)

Fig 6.23 Examples of the residual stress profiles Tension Compression

induced by shot peening . In both cases a negative stress
value indicates compression. Top: Shot peened 7075 T6
aluminium alloy . The Tensile Strength of this material
is approximately 550N I mm 2 . Bottom: Shot peened 4340

(
steel (heat treated to 51HRc) . Thi s material has a Ten-
sile Strength of 1730N I mm 2• Data courtesy of Metal
Impro vement Company .

nent the peak compressive stress will be at least

Tension
· --

Compression
1
50% of the component 's yield strength. Details of
the peening specification are best left to experts.
Organisations like Metal Improvement Company /

have considerable experience . They are used to

working with parts from aerospace, Fl and motor-
cycles so provided you explain your aims, material
and heat treatments clearly they will select suit-
able peening parameters. What is more important
here is to show the effect on fatigue life in a variety
( )
of cases. Tension Compression

-- - - -- -·
408 6.2 Minimising fatigue failures
This situation is illustrated in Fig 6.25. The graph
also shows that the effect of optimal shot peening
is to allow the nominally constant relationship
between Endurance Limit and Tensile Strength
to continue to a very high level of strength. This is
why I have previously suggested that all critical
parts which are heat treated to above T Range
should be shot peened. Provided you shot peen the
part, some very strong steels can be used in fa-
tigue situations.
All the metals we use can be shot peened. In
some cases specialised methods like dual peening
(high intensity followed by low intensity) can be
used to advantage. In one example, using dual
peening extended the fatigue life of 6Al-4V tita-
nium parts from 7 .1 million cycles (single peen) to
18.8 million cycles (dual peen).
Top of the list for peening are gears, connecting
rods, coil springs, crankshafts, wheel spindles and
suspension pivots. Though generally less conven-
ient to do, weld areas on critical chassis parts can
also improve dramatically .
Fig 6.25 Endurance Limit us Tensile Strength for
carbon steels. Dashed line represents an Enduranc e
Limit= 50% of Tensile Str ength. Note difference between
smooth and notched samples and the effect of shot
peening either. Data courtesy of Metal Improv ement
Company, Newbury, Berks.
500 1000
Tensile Strength (N/mm 2 )
Shot peening is also ·used to offset the negative
effects of plating and hard anodising on fatigue
life. I Will deal with this in a moment.
Another major area of application is in the
prevention of stress corrosion cracking. This re-
sults from the presence of tensile surface stresses
in a corrosive environment. We are not at great
risk here , assuming the sort of maintenance nor-
mally associated with a racing motorcycle, but
many products are, especially those in the chemi-
cal and petrochemical field. ·
Shot peening can improve fatigue life substan-
tially. A simple part may now become one that is
rough machined , hardened and tempered, stress
relieved , finished to size and shot peened. It takes
time and it costs money but it is the only way of
getting the best results .
You may assume that this sort of care has been
lavished on most critical parts used in Fl or bike
GP's , hence my earlier warnings that their sizes/
sections were not something to follow until expe-
rience had been gained .
Shot peening does bring pitfalls for the unwary.
Firstly, if you grind and polish parts that were
previously shot peened you will remove the peened
layer. Secondly, once a part has been shot peened,
elevated temperatures will eventually relieve the
residual stress induced. Table 6.3 gives a selection
peened
1500 2000 2500
¢
 6.2 Minimising fatigue failures 409

rods had failed when the fatigue test was eventu-

Material Max. temperature ally terminated at 2.5million cycles.
The other parts which should not be polished
Conventional steels 246°C are of course those which have already been shot
peened. Since the results of peening are not read-
Stainless steel 398°C ily visible to the eye, you need to be ,careful with
this. If in doubt, polish and re-peen.
Aluminium alloys 93°C For everything else, Table 6.4 indicates the sort
of degradation you can expect by turning out
Magnesium alloys 93°C rough and ready work and leaving it unpeened.
Note that the stronger the original material, the
Titanium alloys 315°C greater the degradation associated with poor sur-
face finish.
Machining operations like gear hobbing leave a
Nickel alloys 537°C
surface which, while pleasing enough to the eye,
contains many minute stress raisers. Peening
Table 6.3 Maximum service temperature for parts that with the right size of shot and coverage can work
have been shot peened. Data courtesy of Metal Improve- wonders. It should be noted that in some cases the
ment Company/MIL-S-13165C . effect of peening on surface finish, as well as the
induced compressive stress, also plays an impor-
tant role in improving the fatigue life.
of maximum temperature values taken from Mili-
tary Specification MIL-S-13165C. The tempera-
tures are not particularly high so take care when Table 6.4 How surface finish affects fatigue life. Endur-
carrying out other processes. In most cases, shot ance Limit or Fatigue Strength have to be multiplied by
peening should be the last operation. the tabulated values. Thus in T range, which I have
Having discussed shot peening, I will now look suggested for many chassis parts, a reasonably well
at some of the more detrimental manufacturing machined surface will downgrade the mirror finished
processes and show how shot peening can help to laboratory sample by about 15%-20%. The stronger the
recover the drop in fatigue life they produce. steel, the greater the implication of poor surface finish
will be.

Surface finish
Finishing Endurance Limit correction
The effect of surface finish is very important.
Fatigue test samples are dead smooth and mirror
process T Range VRange
polished. Anything worse than this degrades the
fatigue life so almost everything should be fin- Mirror polish 1.0 1.0
ished to the best of your ability.
There are two exceptions, the first of which is Fine grind 0.9 0.86
forged parts like connecting rods. Contrary to
popular belief, simply polishing a forged conrod Fine tum 0.85 0.82
will gain little if anything in fatigue life. Indeed it
may reduce it because the untouched surface of a Rough tum 0.8 0.75
forging has a somewhat hardened skin (see effect
of surface hardening below).
General m/c 0.72 0.66
However, ifthe forged rod.is shot peened, with
or without polishing it, then its fatigue life will
extend dramatically. In one test, two forged rods
were polished . Both failed in fatigue at under
250,000 cycles . Three identical rods (as forged and
not polished) were then shot peened. None of these
410 6.2 Minimising fatigue failures
Grinding
Perhaps ironically, you can degrade fatigue life
when trying to improve it. I have already shown
the sort ofresidual stress that heavy grinding can
produce. Fig 6.26 gives one example of how this
can affect the 'Endurance Limit. It also shows how
shot peening can help.
On the sample with low fatigue strength the
grinder has used cuts that are too heavy and not
enough coolant. As a result, metal under the
wheel has overheated and microcracks have been
formed on cooling. You don't have to initiate a
crack at the track, it's there ready to go.
Surface treatments
Electroplating can have a lot of consequences.
Acid often gets into parts and causes corrosion.
Hydrogen released during the process can find its
way into the metal and cause embrittlement ,
though thermal treatments can be used to negate
this effect. Use them .
These are potential problems, but the real prob-
lem is that plating, especially chromium, is a hard
brittle material. It contains , or develops, tiny
cracks and those cracks will be propagated into
the base metal by changing tensile stresses. This
can seriously degrade fatigue life, especially when
applied to parts made from stronger steels. The
example in Fig 6.27 shows a reduction in Endur-
Fig 6.26 Grindin g can improve fatigue life by improv-
ing surfa ce finish. However , as thi s example shows, care
must be tak en not to overheat the work . Shot peenin g
afterward s helps consid erably .
750
650
z
.._,
I'll
550
450
I'll
....
00.
350
250
104 105 106 107 10s
Cycles to failure
ance Limit of around 4 7%. For this reason, chro-
mium plating of stressed parts has been banned in
Formula 1 for many years.
I appreciate that plating allows for easy clean-
ing and cracks are more easily spotted but the fact
is that you pay a price for that. Softer platings like
cadmium or zinc are far less troublesome .
On something like a frame, where the hardness
is usually 30HRc or less, the effect is not as
dramatic as it is for high tensile components .
However, the material will have a higher Endur-
ance Limit if it isn't plated. There is no point in
saying that you haven't had any problems with
plating because ifthat is the case you can almost
certainly use less material. When frames get down
to 20 s.w.g. thick in high tensile steel tubes, hard
plating is the last thing you should do.
Someone may try to convince you that 'baking'
after plating will entirely cure the problem what-
ever the material strength but this is not so. The
chromium plating in Fig 6.27 was baked.
There are only two ways round this problem on
highly stressed parts. The first is to not use plat-
ing . The second is to employ shot peening. Note
that the parts are shot peened before plating, not
after. Similar effects can be found with other
materials and surface treatments . Fig 6.28 re-
lates to the hard anodising of an aluminium alloy
while Table 6.5 shows the likely effect of various
surface treatments on the fatigue life of moder-
ately strong titanium alloys such as 6Al-4V. Note
that the part is peened prior to anodising it.
Fig 6.27 Hard plating (chromium or nickel ) affects
fati g ue life, parti cularly that of stronger part s. Dia -
gram s show the effect of plating 4340 steel that has been
hea t treated to 52-53HRc, with and without shot peening.
750
-
I 650
eS I
..._ 550
I 450
I'll
I'll
.... I 350
00.
250
1041 1051 1061 1071 108
I I I
Cycles to failure
 6.2 Minimising fatigue failures 411

Welding

Welds are potentially one of the greatest problem

80
Cycles to failure
Above. Fig 6.28 Hard anodising reduces the fatigue life
of an aluminium alloy. If the part is shot peened and
then hard anodised the fatigue life is even better than
that of the bare metal.
areas as far as fatigue is concerned . They degrade
fatigue life by a combination of metallurgical ef-
fects, residual stress and stress co11centration.
Fig 6.29 gives an example.
Problems include sudden changes in section,
cracks, pores (eg due to water vapour in shielding
gas), inclusions (poor cleaning), lack of fusion,
undercuts, lack of penetration, arc strikes , spat-
ter, residual stresses/cooling cracks and tri-axial
stresses. Particular care should be taken over the
starting and finishing of welds.
There are many variables here but the starting
point is of course a sound weld. It must also have
a smooth concave profile and be properly started/
terminated. Goodjoint fit-up will help to minimise
residual stress. Once you can do all this, stress
relief followed by shot peening is the best way to
further improve them .
Fig 6.29 Even good quality T.I.G . welds can be highly
detrimental to fatigue strength. Again, shot peening can
restore the loss.

Below. Table 6.5 Likely effect of surface treatments on 440

the fatigue life of moderately strong titanium alloys . TIG" elded

'
/pluss llotpeen
400 \ \

Process
Reduction in
Fatigue Life 360 ' \(Base '8etal

Anodising (acid or alkaline) Negligible 320 \

Electroless nickel 12% to 60% 280 \ ,,. TIGwe ded

Electroplated chromium 10% to 60%

240
Electroplated soft metals Negligible
200
PVD titanium nitride coating 10% to 30% 104 105 106 107 108

Cycles to failure

-----·- ·
412 6.2 Minimising fatigue failures
Environment
Temperature and atmosphere have massive ef-
fects on fatigue strength. Hot and corrosive is the
worst situation , but on bikes it only applies to
exhaust systems.
As far as the chassis is concerned, regular strips
plus WD40 or similar will deal with all potential
problems. Pay particular attention to metal com-
binations that promote galvanic corrosion. Highly
localised corrosion looks innocent enough but it is
an excellent starting point for fatigue cracks.
Summary so far
The purpose of all this is really to promote aware-
ness . Look at the graphs to see the sheer scale of
the isolated problems. Then imagine what effect
you get from roughly machined parts, riddled with
stress concentrations, badly welded and chrome
plated. It isn 't difficult to explain why some bikes
fall to bits and others last forever.
Shot peening is a powerful tool for overcoming
many of these problems and I am indebted to the
Metal Improvement Company who kindly pro-
vided much of the data used in this chapter .
Hot Isostatic Pressing (H.I.P.)
Castings are an increasingly important part of
motorcycle structure s and , whatever the material
or technique , castings will contain some porosity .
Increased porosity severely degrades ductility ,
making many castings poor in fatigue situations.
The porosity of castings is highly dependent on
the casting process . It is not simply the amount of
porosity that influences fatigue life but also the
shape of the porous areas. These are caused by gas
entrapment and shrinkage effects. Sharp, angu-
lar cavities are much more likely to initiate fa-
tigue failure than spherical ones.
Different casting processes produce different
microstructures due to variations in thermal events
and in general permanent moulds are likel y to
produce castings with the best fatigue life . Tech-
niques like squeeze casting are particularly good
at reducing gaseous porosity. Motorcycle manu-
facturers are now making more use oflow porosity
castings to produce frames , indeed some recent
road bike frames are cast with only a handful of
welds to join the castings together. Like most
things in this book, this is a subject in itself and
the amateur can only use the best option he/she
can afford. Once that has been done, your next line
of defence is to use Hot Isostatic Pressing.
Hot Isostatic Pressing (H.I.P .) can dramati-
cally improve the structural capability of many
castings be they ferrous or non-ferrous. H.I.P . is
the specialism of a company called Bodycote H.I.P.
They have plants all over the world, but UK ones
are in Chesterfield and Hereford.
To H.I.P . a casting, it is placed in a sealed
furnace and heated . Once at the right tempera-
ture it is squeezed by inert gas at extraordinarily
high pressures. As a result , many internal voids
collapse, but the void surfaces also diffusion bond
together to produce a sound dense material.
Because the pressure is equal at every point of
the casting the shape does not distort. There will
be slight size changes but these are normally well
within a sensible machining allowance.
The results can be extremely effective, so much
so that the properties of some steel castings can
approach those of forgings . These benefits are
being exploited in all sorts of areas where forging
once dominated, eg connecting rods , crankshafts,
rocker arms etc .
Aluminium alloy castings are similarly treated
with a process called 'Densal' and examples of the
improvement in mechanical properties are shown
in Table 6.6. Densal can have a very significant
effect on the fatigue life of castings.
H .I.P. methods are widely used in motorsport
and aerospace , as well as motorcycles . Critical
cast parts like fork yokes should have H.I .P . treat-
ment , especially if cast in commercial alloys. Cyl-
inder heads, barrels and any castings subjected to
thermal fatigue will also benefit .
For castings destined for use in welded struc-
tures there are further benefits. The relative free-
dom from porosity associated with HIP allows a
much better weld to be produced. The heat af-
fected zone will still have somewhat degraded
properties (peen it ) but the bulk of the casting will
retain its H.I.P. enhanced properties.
The cost of applying H .I.P . is not high but for
obvious reasons it may be necessary to wait until
viable quantities of parts in similar materials to
yours are being treated. For more information
contact the companies listed.
 6.2 Minimising fatigue failures 413

What I do want to mention here are the fatigue

As cast After implications of surface hardening. When you want
Material
performance DENS AL a wear resistant surf ace for bearings to run on, it
usually needs a hardness of around 60-63HRc .
Tensile Strength Tensile Strength This represents a Tensile Strength of2200N/mm 2
= 310N/mm 2 = 351N/mm 2 (142tonf/in 2 ) and that will be serious!y brittle.
0.2% Proof Stress 0.2% Proof Stress To overcome this, the steel is only hardened on
Ll55
= 221N/mm 2 = 229N/mm 2 the surface and the core is left at a much lower
Elongation Elongation hardness, usually in the range 28-40HRc. This
=4 % =8 % ensures adequate toughness and ductility.
Tensile Strength Tensile Strength
These differential properties can be achieved
= 258N/mm 2 = 275N/mm 2
using case hardening, nitriding, tufftriding, flame
0.2% Proof Stress 0.2% Proof Stress hardening and other specialist treatments.
= 211N/mm 2
Tufftriding is a variation of nitriding.
= 215N/mm 2
L99 Elongation Elongation
The depth of hardened layer varies according to
(356) requirements. A gudgeon pin might have 0. 7mm,
= 1.9% =4 %
cams, crankpins, big ends etc typically 1-l.2mm ,
Fatigue life at Fatigue life at
heavy duty gears l.5mm or possibly more. The
137N/mm2
depth and its hardness can require much experi-
137N/mm 2
= 2 x 105 cycles
ment to optimise in critical applications. Even a
= 6 x 105 cycles
couple of points on the Rockwell C scale can be
crucial for parts like crankpins and gears.
Table6.6 EffectofDensalH.I.P. treatment on two sand The designer is also faced with the problem of
cast alloys (both heat treated) . Note elongation and choosing between a higher core strength or a
fatigue figures. Data courtesy of Bodycote H.I.P. thicker hardened case as applications become
more arduous.
In the present context this detail is of little
Surface hardening interest. Merely asking someone to 'case harden' a
swinging arm pivot will usually be adequate un-
Most home constructors have limited involvement less the pivot tube is particularly thin.
with heat treatment until they start making en- Even a case depth of O. lmm will stop many
gine/gearbox internals. An entire rolling chassis items wearing and an adequate result can often be
can be built from stock material purchased in a achieved at home with a proprietary case harden-
suitable condition. For example, steel spindle ing compound (eg Trojan; I believe the much loved
material might be supplied hardened and tem- Kasenite is no longer available).
pered to Tensile Range T, aluminium extrusions Even a low carbon mild steel pivot will show a
may already be heat treated to T6 and so on. significant rise in fatigue life when it has been
Subsequent heat treatment may be desirable properly surface hardened. It does so because all
after fabrication but rarely takes place. One-off these processes introduce high compressive
heat treatment can be expensive or alternatively stresses into the outer (har d) surface, just like
you have to wait until the contractor is processing shot peening does .
something similar. Most bikes survive without it. Nitriding and Tufftriding are particularly ef-
However, at some point heat treatment will fective in this respect and can thereby improve
become a major issue . Once inside the engine/ fatigue life considerably - Fig 6.30 overleaf. Like
gearbox there are gears, crankpins, conrods, shafts, shot peening, they are particularly good at offset-
gudgeon pins, cams, cam followers all with broadly ting the effects of unavoidable stress concentra-
similar requirements. I am not going to cover this tions. In contrast, the process of through harden-
here since I cannot do it justice. ing (ie hardening and tempering the whole part ) is
As far as the rolling chassis is concerned, the likely to generate significant tensile stresses near
problem of surface hardness for bearing tracks is the surface unless the section is extremely thick .
easily solved by using standard needle roller inner It should now be clear that there is more to
sleeves or existing motorcycle parts. surface hardening than providing a wear resist-
414 6.2 Minimising fatigue failures
Tufftrided
1000
z
900
' Shot peening
'-'
CIJ
CIJ 800
' Metal Improvement Company, Hambridge
"=t
700
.... Tufftrided
600
500
104 105 106
Cycles to failure
Fig 6.30 Nitriding and Tufftriding are very good at
improving the fatigue strength of steel parts. The depth
required for best results depends on material thickness
and shape. Talk to heat treatment specialists .
ant zone. Professionally done , it is another weapon
in our war on fatigue, even if we don't need the
wear resistant surface. Once you find yourself
considering steels hardened and tempered to Ten-
sile Range V, it is time to move away from through
hardening in a fatigue environment.
I think this is all I want to say on this subject.
This book does not deal with engine components
though I have strayed into that area occasionally
to illustrate certain ideas, including those above.
One final caution. There is much more to heat
treatment than getting things hot and putting
them in buckets of water. If the parts are critical,
get them properly heat treated.
Overall, I hope I have demonstrated just how
variable the fatigue strength of real structures
actually is. Any constructor can influence it by
attention ,to detail and the application of the
processes described.
Once you have decided to use good quality
materials, these are things that decide whether or
not the bike survives. Reams of numbers are
unlikely to help and that is why I have not in-
cluded any. For those who need them, hundreds of
formal engineering texts are available.
Lane, Newbury, Berkshire, RG14 5TU.
Tel 01635 279 600, fax 01635 279 601.
Also branches at Derby, Clwyd
and throughout Europe.
Metal Improvement Company Inc. 10 Forest
Avenue, Paramus, New Jersey 07652, USA.
Tel 001 201 843 7800, fax 001 201 843 3460,
www.metalimprovement.com.
Branches throughout the United States.
107
Bodycote Heat Treatments Ltd. Austin Way,
Great Barr, Birmingham ,
West Midlands, B42 lDL.
Tel 0121 358 7266, fax 0121 358 0478.
Hankoe Motors port. 823 Yeovil Road,
Slough, Berkshire, SLl 4JA.
Tel 01753 522779, fax 01753 539320.
Hot Isostatic Pressing
Bodycote H.I.P. Ltd, Sheffield Road,
Sheepbridge, Chesterfield, S41 9ED .
Tel 01246 260888, fax 01246 260889.
Bodycote IMT Inc, 155 River Street,
Andover, MA 01810, USA.
Tel 001 978 470 1620, fax 001 978 475 2951.
Heat treatment contacts
The Surface Engineering Association will put
you in touch with suitable companies.
The Surface Engineering Association,
Federation House, 10 Vyse Street, Birmingham,
B18 6LT. Tel 0121 237 1123, fax 0121 237 1124 .
www.sea.org .uk
For free advice use 0121 233 0121.

7.1 Introduction to stiffness
Introduction
Chapter 1.3 outlined the difference between
strength and stiffness. From a practical point of
view the key points are as follows.
• Strength does not affect the behav-
iour of the bike but it determines
the limits of loading that can be
used without damage . Stiffness
characteristics can have a major
effect on the behaviour of the bike.
• Strength can only be evaluated by
testing components to destruction,
or at least until permanent defor-
mation occurs. Stiffness can be
tested without damaging the struc-
ture since it is a property of the
elastic behaviour. Stiffness is a
measure of the relationship be-
tween load and deflection.
• Like strength, stiffness is only easy
to calculate in simple cases. The
analysis of complete structures is
much more difficult, though this
obviously depends on the type of
structure . Software assistance is
virtually essential once you get
beyond simple, single , sections.
No component or structure can be truly rigid.
Everything will flex when loads are applied to it
and it is really just a question of how much flexure
we get when the bike is in use . Now, I am fully
aware that stiffness isn't at the forefront of many
riders' minds. A high percentage of riders will
never give it a thought.
Nevertheless, the fact of the matter is that
structural stiffness is highly influential. It is all a
question of degree, since it is clear that an extreme
lack of stiffness is a problem. Even the slowest
rider would struggle to cope with a rubber chassis.
Production bikes have evolved over more than 100
years and are now extremely sophisticated. As far
as Mr Average is concerned, their stiffness charac-
teristics are probably perfect.
415
But when you can go really fast, the more subtle
effects of stiffness become very obvim,is. Indeed,
chassis stiffness is so influential that if it isn't in
the right ballpark then you might as well not
bother at top level. The bike will not be competi-
tive until stiffness is refined to a point where the
rider feels comfortable pushing it close to the limit
at every part of the race track .
As usual, there has to be a bit of compromise . No
chassis is going to be ideal for every corner of every
track and a lot depends on the tyres available. A
good example of this is the current 250cc Aprilia
production GP bike . The standard swinging arm is
aluminium alloy but the kit version is a stiffer
composite structure . Rider opinions always vary
but the general agreement is that the aluminium
structure provides much more rider feedback on
slow corners but the stiffer composite structure is
infinitely better on fast corners. This is not sur-
prising and perhaps in the future we will have
materials that can change their stiffness to suit
the corner concerned. At the moment you have to
compromise.
These effects will not be obvious to the majority
and we are talking about the highest levels of
racing. If you haven't really thought about this
issue, the first thing you need to do is to experience
the difference chassis stiffness can make. It is
difficult to entirely isolate stiffness changes with-
out making several frames for the same bike,
however here is a simple test to get you started. It
does not require you to corner like a GP rider .
Chassis response
You need two bikes, one with a modern stiff
chassis (the RS250 Aprilia is an excellent choice of
roadbike to try) and another of similar weight,
tyre section etc but with a spindly single loop
frame. Such frames usually have very limited
stiffness though they are more than adequate for
many applications.
Get up to a reasonable speed, say lOOkm/hr
(63miles/hr) and, with obvious space and safety
considerations, give a very hard momentary pull
on the left handlebar. The stiff chassis will imme-
diately lean right.
 416 7.1 Introduction to stiffness
On a bike like the RS250 Aprilia, the reaction is
extremely sudden, just as if something rammed
you from the left. I will explain the mechanics of
this reaction shortly.
Riders used to much older bikes will find the
response very disturbing at first. As one friend,
used to BSA's and the like, said to me after trying
it: 'I'll swear it leaned before I did anything. It was
more like being knocked off. Scary really'.
Now do the same on the other chassis that has
lower stiffness. It will feel totally different. It
leans but takes far longer to do so, the bike taking
more time to settle down and complete its change
- of direction. The whole event is far less precise
though it may well be familiar and more to your
liking . However, it will not allow the sort of corner
entry rates that are required at top level.
The difference you are detecting here is prima-
rily due to chassis stiffness. It is also influenced by
the inherent damping characteristics of the chas-
sis material since, as stated in previous chapters ,
oscillations in the aluminium alloy chassis decay
relatively quickly.
The 250cc Aprilia is extremely stiff - Fig 7 .1.
Even if both the roadbikes tested had the same
geometry and suspension you would still get the
same effect, though the altered bike may now deal
with it differently. There are four fundamental
problems associated with a lack of stiffness, though
many more transpire from these. The basic prob-
lems are;
• Lack of stiffness allows the tyre
contact patches to move in un-
wanted ways. Since this steers the
bike, you get directional instabili-
ties and lack of precise control.
• Lack of stiffness allows the struc-
ture to flex by larger amounts. In
doing so it absorbs energy which
will eventually be released in the
form of vibrations/wobbles.
• Lack of stiffness creates time delays
in the response of the bike. It then
takes too long to stabilise.
Fig 7.1 The chassis of the Aprilia RS25(} road bike is
exceptionally stiff by any standards. Aprilia give tor-
sional stiffness values of 162kgf-m I <)eg (1173lbf-ft I deg)
for the swinging arm and 197kgf-m/deg (1427lbf-ftl
deg) for the main frame.
 7.1 Introduction to stiffness
• If it lacks stiffness, the structure
will fall prey to numerous gyro-
scopic reactions that seek to distort
it in various ways .
The more rapidly you try to change direction, ie by
pulling harder on the handlebar, the worse the
reaction of the flexible bike and the more rapid the
response of the stiff bike .
Top riders turn into corners at a very high rate
so they need a stiffer chassis than the majority.
Without it the bike will not respond well enough
and having done so it will not stabilise soon enough,
ie the bike won't settle down. You can't follow
precise lines on a bike that is still jumping about
in response to things that happened 50m back
along the track.
Of course, you can go too far. If the structure is
much too stiff the bike simply feels 'dead' and
provides none of the essential rider feedback. That
strange zone where the steering goes light as the
tyres approach the limit will no longer be there
and the first you will know about reaching the
limit is when you pick yourself up off the track.
Clearly there are no universal numbers for the
best chassis stiffness. Everything depends on the
type of bike and the way it is ridden. Within
reason, anything that generates higher forces on
the structure is going to demand more stiffness ,
but only up to a point. Higher forces will be created
by higher corner speeds, rapid changes of direc-
tion, powerful engines, large grippy tyres and
brakes that make your eyes pop out. These all
contribute to the overall effect but that effect is
modulated by rider ability and rider preference.
So, looking for suitable stiffness values on an
entirely theoretical basis is a non-starter . There is
an obvious correlation with weight, power, tyre
size, section and characteristics but no-one out-
side the factories will be in a position to explore it.
If you want to build a bike that performs really
well, the only sensible way forward is to measure
the stiffness characteristics of bikes that win races
in your class and seek to replicate them (assuming
you will be using similar types/sizes of tyres).
For Superbike racing, the obvious starting point
would be the Ducati chassis, but the information
will be of no use whatsoever for 125cc GP. For this
class you would start with the dominant Hondas
and experiment from there. The same applies to
any other category of racing. Chapter 7 .2 dis-
cusses methods for measuring stiffness.
417
Once you have got the necessary information you
then have the problem of reproducing it using
your chosen chassis design. This will not be easy
unless you have relatively sophisticated FEA de-
sign tools. Most constructors will simply have to
make something and see what they g,et.
If the bike fails to perform to expectations it will
have to be modified. Clearly this is not an option
for those who like to race at weekends and then
forget about it. Stiffness development requires
serious commitment and takes time.
Structural stiffness has its greatest influence
when the rider forces the bike to change what it is
currently doing. Directional changes and the stiff-
ness ne1;essary to manage them properly are
greatly affected by the overall level of gyroscopic
reactions that are occurring during this process.
Some explanation of these reactions is necessary
to appreciate how certain loads originate.
Transient periods
The dynamics of motorcycle behaviour are compli-
cated and a detailed discussion will not be given
here. Although the topic is inevitably mathemati-
cal in detail, a non-mathematical coverage is con-
tained in Tony Foale 's excellent book, 'Motorcycle
Handling and Chassis Design - the art and sci-
ence' (new edition).
Whatever the detail, we can reasonably divide
events into two stages, a transient stage and a
steady state stage. The transient stage is that in
which we attempt to force the motorcycle into
doing something entirely new. The steady state
stage is that which follows the transient period.
For example , ifthe bike is upright and acceler-
ating hard in a straight line, that is steady state.
Slamming the brakes on takes it through a tran-
sient period into a new, albeit short, steady state
period , ie braking. It is then suddenly forced into
a new transient period , corner entry, which hope-
fully settles into a period of steady state cornering.
Steady cornering is followed by a further tran-
sient period when we demand that the bike accel-
erates forward as well.
While steady state periods obviously impose
structural demands , it is the transient stages that
tend to tie a bike in knots . This is also the period
when riders are most likely to crash .
Gyroscopic reactions are at their greatest dur-
ing these changes. They are fundamental to the
418 7.1 Introduction to stiffness

stability of the motorcycle but they also place If the rider blips the throttle, thereby accelerating
special demands on structural stiffness. They can the flywheel and increasing its angular momen-
produce a variety of abstract problems and ride tum, you may well see the torque reaction move
characteristics that you may have experienced the chassis . It will rock on the suspension (assum-
when riding hard. ing springs and/or damping are not set really
hard) in sympathy with the flywheel speeding up
and slowing down.
Gyroscopes This is just one example. The spinning masses
on a bike can produce rather more abstract reac-
The term gyroscope is generally attributed to tions which, depending on how the bike is ridden,
spinning tops and specialised instruments that can be much more severe. We need a method of
are used in guidance systems. For our purposes, predicting these and I will base it on the simple
any rotating mass can be regarded as a gyroscope. example just given. You will then have a method
A motorcycle normally has four significant 'gyro- that can be used to predict any type of reaction
scopes', ie the complete front wheel/tyre/disc as- that may interest you.
sembly, the rear equivalent, the engine crank-
shaft and, to a much lesser extent, the clutch/
gearbox internals. Determining torque reaction
Each of these items has mass but in Volume 1
I explained that mass was not an adequate meas- The angular momentum of any rotating mass can
ure of an object's reluctance to be accelerated if be represented by a vector (line) drawn to scale -
rotation was involved. For rotation, we need to Fig 7.4. This line has a length proportional to the
talk in terms of Moment of Inertia (I), which momentum, its orientation is along the axis of
depends on both the mass and where it is located
relative to the axis of spin.
Each rotating mass also has angular velocity Fig 7.2 Gyroscopic effects are related to changes in the
(ro), the magnitude of which is rotational speed, angular momentum of a rotating mass. Key parameters
revs/min if you like. are the Moment of Inertia (I) and the angular velocity
The product of the angular velocity (m) and the (ro). Angular momentum is the product of these, ie Iro.
Moment oflnertia(I) is called the angular momen-
tum of the rotating object - Fig 7.2.
The first thing to note is that higher speeds of
rotation and/or greater masses at larger radii
produce more angular momentum. If you are go-
ing slowly on small tyres/wheels, the angular
momentum is relatively low. Big tyres travelling
fast have relatively high momentum - Fig 7.3.
Similarly, although a crankshaft may be small A small item like a crankshaft can have high angular
compared to a wheel/tyre, it is heavy and it may momentum because its speed is high .
spin at very high speeds (often unrelated to road
speed). It too can have high angular momentum,
but it achieves it more by virtue of speed.
Now, angular momentum doesn't change on its
own . If you want to speed up a crankshaft you have
to apply a torque to it. Similarly, a torque in the
reverse direction is required to slow it down. You
can only apply such a torque ifthere is something
to react against and in our case it is the chassis
that experiences all reactions associated with
changes in angular momentum. A larger item like a wheel can have high angular
Have a look at bikes waiting to leave the pad- momentum by virtue of its large moment of inertia, even
dock, especially big singles with heavy flywheels. if speed is not very high.
 7.1 Introduction to stiffness 419

Above. Fig 7.3 Left: Tyres like this produce substantial

gyroscopic reactions . Progress in engine power has lead Direction related to ro-
to larger, more grippy, tyres and these in turn demand tation by right han d
stiffer chassis structures to cope with the forces gener- screw rule
ated. Right: Rim section emphasises the size.

Right. Fig 7.4 Top:Angular momentum is represented

by the vector shown. The length is proportional to the Iw
value and its orientation follows the spin axis. Direction
is determined from the sense of rotation using a right
hand screw rule. Bottom :Reversing direction of rotation
means vector points in the other direction .

spin and its sense is determined by using a right Orientation Length proportional to angular
hand screw rule. The diagram should make this along spin axis momentum value (!co)
method clear.
Every aspect of this vector is important, not just
its length. If you alter it in any way you are
changing momentum and doing so will require
that a torque is provided for this purpose. To do so
will further demand that an equal but opposite
torque is applied to whatever is supporting the
rotating object. This is the reaction we will get on
our chassis.
To provide a method of working that can be
used for all practical situations, I will use the
simple example of accelerating a flywheel. Vector reverses with direction of rotation
420 7.1 Introduction to stiffness
With reference to Fig 7.5, the flywheel is running
at some speed and has angular momentum vector
<D. When speeded up; it has more angular momen-
tum, now represented by@.
The change in momentum is represented by the
difference®, acting as shown. If you now apply a
right hand screw rule to this vector change, you
will get the direction of the torque required to
bring about the change in momentum.
This gives the torque labelled T, since this
would 'screw' the momentum vector in the direc-
tion it has. The torque direction required to speed
up the flywheel is obvious but bear with me .
Fig 7.5 Determining the direction of torque reaction (T
on a chassis when a flywheel is accelerated. A simple
case, but the method used is valid for the less intuitive
examples that follow.
_/;>,
lte
-.. . . Y> C'\
@ ®• TR
1. This vector represents the angular momentum of
the flywheel at low speed.
2. When the flywheel accelerates, its angular
momentum increases, making the vector longer.
3. This represents the vector change in angular
momentum.
4. Applying the right hand screw rule gives the
direction of torque T required to bring about the
change in angular momentum .
5. The torque reaction on th e chassis is equal and
opposite, ie TR. This acts in such a way that it
tries to rotat e the chassis backwards , lightening
the front wheel.
Torque T can only be applied if it can be reacted
equally. This means that in providing torque Twe
will generate its exact opposite TR on the support-
ing structure. This is why the chassis rocks mo-
mentarily as the flywheel accelerates/decelerates.
On the track, as the engine accelerates, a for-
ward rotating crankshaft produce a reaction
that tends to lift the front of the bike. It is one of
the reasons why some bikes have crankshafts that
rotate backwards, ie clockwise when viewed from
the left. When a crankshaft with this orientation
accelerates, it tends to take weight off the rear,
though that is more than counteracted by the
weight transfer that acceleration invokes :
This seems like a load of work to explain some-
thing obvious but we are now going to apply
exactly the same method to less obvious cases .
First though, a note on the magnitude of the
torque produced. This is equal to the angular
momentum (Ico) multiplied by the rate at which
the vector is being modified.
What this means is that how much you change
the angular momentum is not the main issue here,
it is how fast you do it. One of science's more
interesting results is that even if you change
something small into something not much bigger,
you can still have a massive rate of change. It all
depends on whether you make the change in a day,
a minute, a second or a micro second.
Rapid changes can create very large torques,
albeit of short duration, and going really fast on a
motorcycle is all about making rapid changes.
This is one of the reasons why really fast riders
experience all sorts of problems that don't exist for
the majority.
The bike
The behaviour of a bike is highly dependent on
gyroscopic reactions, especially those of the wheels/
tyres. Left to their own devices, these tend to
stabilise the bike as it travels and at high speeds
it can take considerable rider input to dissuade
them from doing so.
Riders who have ridden at places like Daytona
will tell you that with large tyres and very high
speeds, the angular momentum of the spinning
front wheel is such that it can take almost super-
human physical effort to make the bike begin a
turn at the end of the straight. At these speeds a
motorcycle has far more stability due to gyroscopic
 7.1 Introduction to stiffness
effects than it needs and every attempt is made to
reduce this, eg by employing carbon fibre wheels,
smaller, lighter brake discs etc. While this can
make a very worthwhile difference, we are stuck
with the fact that we need tyres and a tyre is a
significant mass at a large radius.
Here, we are more interested in the reactions
produced when a rider wants to initiate any rapid
change of orientation and somewhat ironically the
same gyroscopic reactions that stabilise the bike
can also be used to de-stabilise it.
Pull hard on the left handlebar and a bike leans
right. Pull on the right handlebar and the bike
leans left . This is how you steer a bike at speed,
though it is usually a subconscious thing learnt at
a tender age. Operating a radio controlled model
motorcycle can reinforce this idea. It's often re-
ferred to as counter steering.
Why does the bike behave like this? Initially, it
does so because of gyroscopic reactions. Fig 7 .6
overleaf follows it though using exactly the same
method as before (for the flywheel). You pull on
the left handlebar. As soon as the wheel turns left ,
even a small amount, it produces a gyroscopic
torque reaction at the wheel spindle. Unlike the
flywheel, this reaction comes from a directional
change rather than a speed change.
The torque reaction is proportional to the rate
of change of direction, not how far it turns, and the
effect of the reaction is to lean the entire chassis
over to the right (first sequence in Fig 7.6).
Think about this. It's a pretty substantial hit
because it flicks you and the bike over to the right.
It also comes in at the spindle, not the tyres. Even
if the bike is wobbling about on flexible tyres and
suspension, this torque hits the chassis direct .
To actually lean the whole bike, the gyroscopic
reaction torque has to be transmitted through the
entire chassis. If the bike is easy to twist (low
torsional stiffness) the result is a disaster . You
will have the front wheel leaning over 30° with the
rear still upright! I exaggerate, but you can see the
likely implications .
Now, as soon as this reaction leans the bike, the
wheel leans with it. Leaning the wheel (as opposed
to turning it with the steering) produces yet an-
other gyroscopic reaction. This one turns the wheel
to the right, (second sequence in diagram), same
method. In a blink, the bike has turned into the
corner, or at least the front wheel has, and the tyre
starts to produce a radially inward cornering force
known as camber thrust.
421
Dragging along behind is the back wheel whose
willingness to follow has much to do with chassis
stiffness. However, any change of direction or lean
that it makes give similar reactions at the rear
spindle, so now we have two rampant gyros, one at
each end, conducting a forceful argument via a
less than rigid chassis . ,
Finally (though this is of course a continuous
process), turning the front wheel to the right
invokes another reaction and this time it tries to
pick the bike back upright. I have not shown this,
you might like to check it out using the method
used for the first two stages.
However, we have now de-stabilised the bike
which is basically falling over due to weight, but in
doing so it has also set itself on a curved path with
a centripetal (towards centre of corner) accelera-
tion. Weight, centripetal force (from camber thrust
and tyre slip) and gyroscopic reactions will even-
tually sort themselves out into the equilibrium
state we know as steady cornering. The bike will
be capable of maintaining this new steady state
position even if you don't do anything. For us there
are three key issues.
• The torque reactions can be very
large and very rapid. It very much
depends on how quickly you bring
about any change in angular mo-
mentum, in other words how hard
the bike is being ridden .
• The torque reactions can be in
seemingly odd directions . Use the
method given to check it out.
• Fast bikes with fat tyres produce
high angular momentum. Changing
it requires more effort. If it changes
rapidly, the results can be dramatic
and a flimsy chassis will not cope .
This is why GP bikes have to be
relatively stiff.
Engine/gearbox
As if this wasn't bad enough, in the middle of the
bike we have the rotating engine/gearbox parts.
They too react to changes in orientation in accord-
ance with the rules and we might also bear in mind
that they can change speed pretty rapidly, espe-
422 7.1 Introduction to stiffness
Vertical
b·
'lrect ·
'Z
This first sequence starts with the bike upright and
shows the reaction produced by the rider momentarily
pulling on the left handlebar.
1. This vector represents the initial angular
momentum of the wheel I tyre.
2. When the rider pulls on the left handlebar, the
vector rotates to this position.
3. This vector represents the change in the angular
momentum produced by the rider's action . Its
direction is from the end of the initial vector to
the end of the final vector .
4. This shows the torque T required to bring about
the change in angular momentum. Direction
comes from the right hand screw rule .
5. The torque reaction on the chassis (Tr) is equal
and opposite. It therefore acts to lean the front
wheel over to the right .
Fig 7.6 Sequence of gyroscopic reactions at the front
wheel during corner entry. In reality they are almost
simultaneous . Left hand column covers lean in, right
hand covers turn in.
Vertical
'-.......
This second sequence represents what happens as soon
as the first torque reaction starts to lean the bike over to
the right.
1. This vector represents the initial angular
momentum. It will actually be shifting to
position 2 in the first sequence but I have drawn
it from the same starting point as before since
only very small movements are required . It is
the rate of movement that determines the
reaction produced.
2. When the wheel starts to lean right due to the
first reaction, the vector rotates to this position.
3. This repesents the change in angular momentum
produced by the lean. Direction is from the end
of the initial vector to the end of the final vector.
4. Torque to bring about the change . Direction
from right hand screw rule.
5. Torque reaction on the chassis is equal and
opposite . Its action is to rotate the wheel to the
right, thereby steering the bike into the turn .
 7.1 Introduction to stiffness 423

cially when slamming down through the gears.
The only 'fixed' parameter in all this is their
moment of inertia. Everything else keeps chang-
ing and generating reactions. Table 7 .1 gives some
examples of the reactions produced. You can use
the methods described to find the direction of
reaction created by other crank orientations.
Engine related reactions are applied in the
middle of the bike and as such try to manipulate
the entire sprung part of the chassis, ie that which
sits on the suspension. The effects of this can be
quite strong but the result is of course entirely
dependent on the suspension set-up. If you have
stiff springs and lots of damping it will arrest
much of the movement but that then places more
onus on chassis stiffness . There simply isn't space
in this book to discuss all such matters but I hope
I have sown a seed. Stiffness is a major player in
the behaviour of any racing motorcycle.
Chassis response
The discussion above explains some of the reasons
why bikes give such different responses. Earlier
on, I suggested you try comparing the effect of a
sudden handlebar movement on an RS250 Aprilia
Table 7.1 Examples of how crankshaft orientation and
rotation affects the gyroscopic reactions produced by the
crankshaft alone. These are derived using the same
methods as in previous examples.
with that on a much more flexible chassis. The
difference you experience when riding the bike is
fundamentally the result of how the stiffer chassis
deals with the sudden gyroscopic reaction that the
steering input creates.
Unfortunately, there are other gyro-
scopic effects on a bike and they are not always
easy to pin down. Nevertheless, they combine to
determine the overall feel and responsiveness of
the bike. Here are some examples.
Hidden problems
The swinging arm is particularly vulnerable to
gyroscopic reactions produced by the rear wheel.
If the turn radius is suddenly altered the reaction
tries to twist the swinging arm. When the lean
angle changes the wheel tries to turn (as viewed
from above it).
In many situations, these reactions are quite
mild but on powerful bikes with big sticky tyres
they can be quite violent. Often they are of course
accompanied by dramatic changes in both chain
pull and weight transfer.
Problems range from chain adjusters that can't
cope to a swinging arm that twists and bends
significantly . If it does, then when the cornering
loads are released it will oscillate until internal/
tyre damping attenuates it.
Even super-stiff GP bikes will exhibit this sort
of behaviour on more radical chicanes. Increasing

Crankshaft Crankshaft Change in bike and Gyroscopic reaction

. alignment rotation crank motion on chassis tries to:

Across frame Forwards Increase engine speed Lift front of bike

Across frame Forwards Decrease engine speed Lift rear of bike

Across frame Forwards Lean bike left Tum chassis left

Across frame Forwards Lean bike right Tum chassis right

Across frame Forwards Tum bike left Lean bike to the right

Across frame Forwards Tum bike right Lean bike to the left
Actions as above but in
Across frame Backwards Any of above reverse direction, eg lean
left becomes lean right

- -- -- - - - - --------- --
424 7.1 Introduction to stiffness
stiffness even further to limit this problem creates
far too many other problems, especially on corner
entry. On some classic racers even moderate cor-
nering can set the back wheel flapping about like
a bird's wing.
These gyroscopic/stiffness issues can be mis-
taken for other problems and it is all too easy to
start dialling in different suspension settings when
suspension is not the guilty culprit. You may effect
an improvement, but you won't cure the problem
and it will resurface somewhere else, possibly in a
slightly different form. Video evidence or the close
observations of a reliable friend are extremely
useful here.
Some of the problems encountered are simply
examples of a motorcycle's inherent characteris-
tics , exacerbated by a lack of stiffness in some
specific mode . The basic concept of a conventional
bike has much to do with this, since it is effectively
two castored wheel mechanisms, both with a com-
mon pivot point (the steering head).
The 'self centering ' characteristic of these
mechanisms may be stable most of the time but
this is not always so. There is the possibility that
any oscillations of the steering , or even the whole
bike, will increase in amplitude, possibly becom-
ing uncontrollable.
There is always a tendency to wobble or flutter
at relatively low road speeds. This behaviour is
largely due to the normal steering arrangement .
There is also a tendency for the whole bike to
weave about at higher road speeds. This is largely
due to the castoring action of the rear wheel but
the behaviour can combine or 'couple' with un-
wanted steering oscillations to produce some pretty
wild behaviour at race speeds.
If oscillations like this do occur , the source of
excitation needs to be taken away and the motion
damped down in some way. Changing road speed
frequently removes the excitation because these
events have a resonance about them. Tyres pro-
vide a surprising level of damping as they deform
and so too does the biggest damper of all, the rider
who is hanging on to the handlebars .
Unfortunately, while the rider can exert con-
siderable damping on steering oscillations, there
is little he or she can do to damp bulk chassis
oscillations, since these tend to occur about the
bike's centre of gravity which is close to the rider's
body. Analysing this type of behaviour in detail is
not for the faint-hearted but I have included some
useful reading at the end of the chapter for those
wishing to do so. What I want to focus on here is
how stiffness and gyroscopic reactions can com-
bine to produce such behaviour.
The worst thing you can have in a potentially
unstable system is something that keeps nudging
it into oscillation. Sooner or later it may start off
something that gets out of hand. There are many
examples of this on a motorcycle but a very com-
mon one concerns the way in which lateral flexing
of the forks and twisting of the chassis will lead to
an oscillation of the forks and front wheel about
the steering head .
Lateral fork flexure
There is always something trying to deflect the
forks laterally. It might be normal events or per-
haps something extreme like cornering on ripples.
Whatever the case , the forks will be deflecting and
their lateral stiffness will determine how great
that deflection is.
As the forks flex to and fro , the change in
orientation of the wheel produces a gyroscopic
reaction that drives an oscillation about the steer-
ing axis , as well as varying the camber thrust.
The cause is shown in Fig 7. 7. Do not be de-
ceived by the fact that flexure is not very large. It
is the rate at which it makes a change that controls
the gyroscopic response for a given wheel and tyre
combination .
This steering oscillation may excite the rest of
the chassis into sympathy with it. Whether it does
or not is dependent on the characteristics of the
main chassis (including its stiffness) so you can
see how stiffness in one part of the bike can
influence behaviour in a completely different part.
The scale of the problem is dependent on wheel/
tyre inertia, rotational speed and the rate at
which lateral flexing takes place so again we find
a correlation between type of bike, rider ability
and the ideal stiffness requirements. Superbikes
tend to suffer from these problems as do the new
generation of four stroke GP bikes .
Manufacturers have gone to great lengths to
deal with such issues and on at least one of the top
MotoGP bikes the moving fork legs are of alu-
minium/carbon fibre sandwich construction . It is
not just a case of optimising stiffness. The natural
frequency of the fork structure needs to be such
that it is unlikely to be excited by normal events ,
otherwise the problems will increase.
 7.1 Introduction to stiffness 425

These are just some of the many potential prob-

lems related to stiffness/gyroscopic reactions. The
shorter your lap times get, the more important
these topics will become but that still leaves us
with the problem of building a bike that works
moderately well to start with.
Stiffness related problems tend to show up in
two different situations . The first is when a seri-
ously quick rider gets on a bike that hasn't been
ridden hard before . The second is when a special
builder fits a powerful engine into a chassis that
was designed for something less powerful.
If the bike is for what one might describe as
'ordinary' racing, all you need to do is bear in mind
the factors that will influence stiffness and pro-
duce something that is typical of the breed. Once
the chassis material has been chosen there are
essentially only two things you can alter. The first
is the amount of triangulation present in the
design and the second is the size and shape of the
material sections used.
Chapter 7.3 discusses the influence of section
size and shape on stiffness. More than anything
else, it is essential to realise that small changes
can yield large increases or decreases in stiffness
if those changes are applied correctly. Incorrectly As drawn, this is the rider's view, ie the wheel is travel-
applied, they can add a lot of weight to the bike for ling away from you .
no good reason.
Incorporating triangulation is really up to the 1. At the nominal lean angle, this vector represents
individual. At one extreme, you can do everything the angular momentum of the front wheel.
to ensure that good triangulation exists with no
bent sections. This will allow small sizes of mate- 2. When the forks bend laterally such that the lean
rial to be used, it is very efficient in terms of weight angle of the wheel increases, the vector changes
but the appearance may not be to your taste . orientation slightly to that shown here.
There will always be something in the way of
where you want to place a tube and there can also 3. If the forks bend laterally such that the wheel's
be access problems. Fig 7.8 overleaf shows exam- lean angle decreases, the vector has the
ples of this approach. orientation shown here.
At the other extreme , a design can be domi-
nated by sectional stiffness. Very large box struc- 4. Vector change associated with a change from 1
tures do this but are rarely used these days. to 2. Torque required shown.
Currently, the beam frame remains the most
popular choice for aluminium alloy structures 5. Vector change associated with a change from 1
while the classic duplex steel layout is still more to 3. Torque required shown.
than adequate for many applications. Spine frames
are nice from a structural point of view but it is 6. Torque reactions on chassis are opposite
rarely possible to run the spine directly from direction. The result of periodic fiexure is a
torque that drives steering oscillations.
Right. Fig 7. 7 How lateral fork fiexure can generate a
steering oscillation via gyroscopic reactions .
426 7.1 Introduction to stiffness

steering head to swinging arm pivot as you would

like. Also note that while a spine can be extremely
stiff when twisted, it may be unacceptably flexible
when bent laterally. In such cases, lateral trian-
gulation with smaller tubes can be added.
Figs 7.9 and 7.10 give examples of the frame
layouts discu sse d.

Left. Fig 7.8 Keeping tubes straight and triangulating

the structure is an efficient way of generating stiffness.
Top : Frame built by Craig Hanson for a Ducati twin.
Other shots: Husqvarna engined road racer under con-
struction. Note the access problems associat ed with
triangulation . Carburettor just manages to miss the
across-the-frame diagonal . Engine is a bit difficult to get
at but drops out easily. (Photographs courtesy ofMi chael
Moore, Euro Spares, San Francisco).

Below. Fig 7.9 Top: Triangulated spine frame . Bottom:

Duplex layout for a classic racer (both bikes built and
photographed by John Caffrey).
 7.1 Introduction to stiffness 427

Fig 7.10 Above: This aluminium alloy beam frame was

made by Ted Broad in the early 1970's for a Yamaha
125cc twin. There was also a 350cc version. Generally
known as the Mono Yam, the 125cc version held 7 gallons
of fuel so that it could do the TT without a stop. Top right .
Tubular frames are suitable for powerful engines if
suitably triangulated . This Yamaha was built and pho-
tographed by John Caffrey. Bottom: Factory efforts, 30
yea rs apart. Left: Aprilia 2003 125cc GP chassis. Right
Faithful replica of Honda's frame for the 250cc six
cylinder bike (with thanks to George Beale).
428 7.1 Introduction to stiffness

Whatever the technical merits of individual de-

signs, most constructors will simply build what
appeals to them and suits their skills/facilities. In
any event it is dangerous to generalise regarding
suitability because history shows that all sorts of
designs can be made to work ifthe whole package
is of the required standard.
Engine mounting is another issue that can be
discussed at length but the discussion won't yield
any simple rules. It is again a case of building
a) Two mounts , one concentric with swinging arm
what you desire and learning from there on. Some pivot . No triangulation within engine. No fram e
common mountings are shown in Fig 7.11. stiffening if supported by a simple hanger at the
A rigidly mounted engine will considerably front but if the front hanger is triangulat ed as
stiffen many frames but it does of course transmit on most beam frames , the engine acts as a tie
engine forces directly to the chassis. Modern en- rod and strut.
gines with balance shafts rarely present too many
problems in this respect but those without can be
troublesome. Isolation mountings using rubber
bushes do not always provide the solution .
One important aspect of engine mounting is
that it can considerably influence the resonance
characteristics of the chassis, since these depend
on stiffness. As a result, various vibration prob-
lems may be cured or exacerbated by different
mounting arrangements.
None of this is amenable to simple sums. If a b) Adding a third mounting gives very effective
suitable electromagnetic exciter is attached to a triangulation within the engine .
frame and the response is measured at different
places all sorts of resonances can be identified.
Something along the lines of Fig 7 .12 is typical.
Every single part of the chassis could get ex-
cited if conditions are right and it may be neces-
sary to alter the size and section of some tubes to
minimise problems at normal engine speeds. Tu-
bular structures are the most likely to suffer
because each tube can, in principle, resonate inde-
pendently of every other.
The longer and thinner the tube is, the lower its
natural frequency of transverse vibration. Al- c) Duplex rear mounts give triangulation and
though the values in Table 7.2 are for isolated allow gearbox sprocket to be closer to pivot .
tubes rigidly fixed at both ends and may not
correspond to a particular design, they do suggest
that frequencies between 200Hz and 400Hz might
cause problems on classic layouts. Test data shows
that many tubular frames do indeed have strong
resonant responses within this range.

Fig 7.11 Common engine mounting arrangem ents.

Extra mountings are often added at the front to distrib-
ute the load carried.
d) Another 3 point mounting commonly used.
 7.1 Introduction to stiffness 429

- Peak compli a nee However, as soon as the tube is shortened , the

J
...'a \.-... \
e0 I'\
u
' v jl
I Making it work
-
Frequency (log scale) ¢ a lot of work for those who wish to pursue it. Even
Fig 7.12 Typical form of frequency respon se for a
motorcycle fram e. Th e cha ssis is vibrat ed at different
frequencies using a magnetic actua tor and the fram e's
respon se to this is monit ored . Overall, respon se declines
with increasing frequency as you might expect but alon g
the way there are num erou s resonanc e peak s.Ea ch one
correspond s to a natural frequency that the structur e is
respondin g to in som e way . Vertical axis is displac em ent
produ ced per unit force appli ed (compliance ).
Below. Table 7.2 Exampl es of natural frequency for
some steel tub e sizes comm only used in bik es. These
fig ures are for the fir st (fundam ental) mode of tran s-
verse vibration , assum ing both ends of the tub e are fixed.
Only valid for steel.
natural frequency rises rapidly (frequency is in-
versely proportional to length 2 ).
Bear this in mind when dealing with vibration
problems. An apparently simple change, such as
fixing the engine to the frame by the cylinder head
can halve the effective length of the 'tube(s) con-
cerned and considerably increase the natural fre-
quency at which they tend to vibrate - Fig 7.13 .
This short discussion creates a lot of questions and
if you measure the stiffness of other structures
and manage to create what you want, getting the
best results is not easy. Top level teams work for
weeks on chassis changes and then after 30 sec-
onds on the bike the rider says 'I don't like that'.
Stiffness refinement is very hard work and can
only be optimised by track testing . It demands
riders who can push the bike until problems sur -
face and engineers who can translate the rider
feedback into what is really happening.
There is also a lot of psychology involved, espe-
cially if the rider crashes.'! just lost the front .
There wasn't any feedback'. This may well be true ,
but then again it may not be. Every GP suspension
engineer can tell you about the day they did
nothing to a bike (but the rider believed they did )
and it was suddenly transformed for the better.

Natural
Tube size Fig 7.13 The head steady on th is G50 stiffens the chas sis
Length frequency and rai ses the natural frequency of the top tube .
(dia x gauge)
(Hz)
l. 25in x 14s.w.g. 750mm (29.5in) 343

l. 25in x 17s.w.g. 750mm (29.5in) 349

l. 25in x 17s.w.g. lOOOmm .(39.37in) 196

l.1 25in x l 7s. w.g. 500mm (19.69in) 703

lin x 17s.w.g. 500mm (19.69in) 621

0.75in x 17s.w.g. 750mm (29.5in) 203

0.625in x 14s.w.g. 750mm (29.5in) 161

430 7.1 Introduction to stiffness
To quote Jerry Burgess, 'At this level (MotoGP), it
is all about making the rider feel comfortable on
the bike . Then they go really fast' .
Further reading
SAE Paper No 891994. 'Application of Vibration
Simulation Methods to the Design ofMotorcycles '.
Takashi Kosugi and Tetsuya Seino, Yamaha Mo-
tor Company Ltd .
SAE Paper 1999-01-3279/JSAE 9938034. 'Analy-
sis of Motorcycle Structural-Resonance-Induced
Fatigue Problems' . LeRoy Petrick and Peter D.
Gunness, MTS Systems Corporation .
SAE Paper 790266. 'Experimental Investigation
of the Transient Behaviour of Motorcycles'. David
H. Weir and John W. Zellner, Systems Technology
Inc., Hawthorne, CA, USA.
'The Influence of Frame Flexibility on the Lateral
Stability of a Motorcycle '. Research Note by R.S.
Sharp, Journal of Mechanical Engineering Sci-
ence , Vol 16, No2, 1974 pages 117-120 .
'The Stability and Control of Motorcycles'.
R.S. Sharp, Journal of Mechanical Engineering
Science, Vol 13, No5, 1971, pages 316-329.
'A Solution of the Low-Speed Wheel Flutter Insta-
bility in Motorcycles'. G.E. Roe and T.E. Thorpe ,
Journal of Mechanical Engineering Science, Part
C, Vol 18 No2, 1976, pages 57-65.
Isolation bushes
Silentbloc, A division of Silvertown Ltd.
Horninglow Road, Burton-on-Trent,
Staffs, DE13 OSN.
Tel 01283 510510, fax 01283 507027.
(Buy through distributors).
Silentbloc distributors. Robush Ltd . Bridge Farm,
Ash Road, Wickham Market, Nr Woodbridge ,
Suffolk, IP13 OAA.
Tel 01728 748366, fax 01728 748332,
www.robush.co .uk
G.M.T. Rubber-Metal Technic Ltd. The Sidings ,
Station Road, Guiseley, Leeds,
West Yorkshire, LS20 8BX.
Tel 01943 870670, fax 01943 870631.
Euro Bearings Ltd: Units 29-31 Orchard House,
Lodge Farm Business Centre, Wolverton Road ,
Castlethorpe, Milton Keynes, .MK19 7ES .
Tel 01908 511733, fax 01908 511713,
www.euro-bearings.com
Metalastik bushes. Trelleborg Industrial AVS.
PO Box 98, Bursom Industrial Park,
Leicester, LE4 2BN.
Tel 0116 273 0281, fax 0116 273 5698 ,
www.trelleborg.com
 431

7.2 Measuring stiffness------------

Stiffness modes

Even a simple component has many ways in which

it can be deformed. The relevant stiffness depends
on how loads are applied to it. For the bar shown
in Fig 7.14 we might be interested in its stiffness
when stretched, compressed, twisted, bent verti-
cally or bent laterally. In general, each result will
be different, though tension and compression are
likely to be similar for small deflections.
High stiffness when deformed one way does not
imply high stiffness when bent another way, see

Below. Fig 7.14 Just some of the ways you could load
a component. From the top: Tension I compression, twist-
ing (torsion), lateral bending, vertical bending. Typical
frame of reference at the botttom.

Above. Fig 7.15 Top : A narrow strip like an engine

plate has high stiffness when bent one way but much
lower stiffness went bent at 90° to this. Bottom: Channels
and I beams provide good resistance to bending, both
vertically and laterally , but their torsional stiffness is
very poor. You need a closed section (tube) to resist
torsion efficiently, ie with low weight.

Fig 7.15. Similarly, high stiffness in bending does

not imply high stiffness when twisted (termed
torsional stiffness). The reasons for this are ex-
plained in Chapter 7.3. At this stage it is only
necessary to appreciate that they do exist.
When we move on to multi-part structures like
frames it becomes clear that torsional stiffness is
particularly important. It is easy to make some-
thing stiff in bending without obtaining high tor-
sional stiffness, but if you get high torsional stiff-
ness, it is almost certain to exhibit reasonably
high resistance to bending (though it may not be
high enough in the case of a tubular spine). On a
motorcycle, we also find that many of the loads
applied to the structure try to twist it, Fig 7.16
overleaf, and hence torsional stiffness is usually
the most important requirement to satisfy.
432 7.2 Measuring stiffness
Twi s tin g e ffe ct
produ ced by offset
result ant force
Reacti on
to weight
combin ed cg of
bik e a nd rid er
I
/- "'>
T
- - -
r
..-J--------
Contact pat ch Corn ering force
Fig 7.16 Cornering appli es torsional load s to the
chassis. Wid e tyres exacerbat e thi s effect by increasing
the offset of the resultant force away from the bik e's
centrelin e. Combin ed centre of gravity (cg) is also offset
if the rider hangs off the bike.
If the bike lacks tor sional stiffness , the wheels are
easily twisted out ofline. This allows the tyre that
leans further to generate excessive camber thrust
and that will affect greatly the directional stabil-
ity and ability to hold a line.
However , it is not the only important character-
istic as far as roadholding and handling are con-
cerned. When the bike is leaned over the chassis is
inclined to flex laterally and if it doesn't flex
enough the tyres won't get a firm grip on the track.
Ifit flexes too much the bike won 't handle.
This gives us two , or rather three, prime consid-
erations for good handling . The first is appropri-
ate torsional stiffness, the second is lateral stiff-
ness and the third is the ratio between the two .
In addition to this, the frame and swinging arm
need adequate stiffnes s in vertical bending . At
first this may seem to be oflittle interest since the
bike has a hinge in the middle called the swinging
arm pivot. What you have to remember here is the
nature of the loads applied.
Many vertical loads are extremely sudden. Ver-
tical accelerations of 4g or more are not uncom-
mon, eg when going over a pothole. This seeks to
produce a high vertical wheel velocity and that in
turn may invoke very high damping forces as well
as the obvious spring loads . There is also a sub-
stantial bending moment trying to rip the
headstock off the cha ssis .
For the brief instant that this takes place , you
might as well regard the suspension as being a
solid link and instead think in terms of trying to
accelerate the rider , fuel , engine and all other
heavy parts vertically using a simple beam , as
shown in Fig 7.17.
The upward force and applied moment will
seek to bend the beam and if stiffness isn't high
enough the flexure will be excessive , altering the
steering geometry and creating a lively bike.
The need to support the rider and engine , both
of which are heavy, generally means that even the
simplest bikes have acceptable stiffness in verti-
cal bending. The basic single loop frame is often
next to usele ss torsionally but it is still reasonably
stiff in respect of vertical bending.
As with every other aspect, what you need will
depend on the design . The swinging arm of a twin
shock bike, with dampers located close to the
wheel , experiences very little bending in the ver-
tical plane. Modern designs , in which suspension
forces are applied much closer to the pivot , can
create very substantial vertical bending effect s.
In the case of a double-sided swinging arm or a
beam type frame, much of the torsional stiffness
may be derived from the ability of each individual
side member to resist vertical bending. If they
can't, then differential bending occurs (up on one
side and down on the other ) and the torsional
stiffness is significantly reduced - Fig 7.18. I will
discuss all these issues later on.
Fig 7.17 Stiffn ess in vertical bending has to cope with
acceleratin g the weight of both rid er and engine verti -
cally when hittin g bump s or pothol es. In some designs it
also mak es a major contribution to torsional stiffn ess.
,,, Flexure
Weight
of rider
High damping
/ force
Weight
of engine
t
Load
 7.2 Measuring stiffness
Left beam
Unloaded position
Fig 7.18 If the structur e has two separate sides to it,
torsional stiffness will be strongly influen ced by the
ability of each side to resist vertical bending . Top:
Swinging arm . Bottom: Beam fram e.
There are clearly many aspects of stiffness that
may be of interest. For top race teams, measuring
stiffness characteristics of the chassis is essential.
It provides a baseline to work from and often
reveals why the rider is unhappy with a particular
set up. You can't cure every problem by adjusting
the suspension.
Testing
The joy of stiffness is that you can measure it non-
destructively. The only requirements are a rela-
tively rigid means of fixing things , a means of
applying loads and something to measure the
resulting deflections with . A standard engineer-
ing dial test indicator is ideal for the latter .
433
Repeatability is the most important aspect. Your
methods must give the same result when used
more than once on the same structure.
Another problem is the dramatic rise in struc-
tural stiffness that has occurred in recent years.
In the past it was quite easy to apply sujtable loads
by hand given sufficient leverage but some mod-
ern structures are so stiff, particularly in torsion,
that hydraulic assistance may be required.
A major practical difficulty for some people is
finding a suitably large and rigid test bed. The last
time I did this I used the table of a big radial
drilling machine . Many engineering companies
have these sitting idle for much of the day so ask
around. You then need suitable holding fixtures
which should be rigid compared to the structure
you are testing. An alternative is to bolt things to
a wall using substantial fixing bolts .
What to test
You can test anything that interests you but the
usual candidates are lateral and torsional stiff-
ness of both frame and swinging arm. This pro-
vides the most important baseline.
For example, one GP team modified their frame
to take inlet air in via the headstock. The modifi-
cation was a success in terms of power but the
rider couldn't get on with the chassis. Tests showed
a substantial increase in torsional stiffness as a
result of the modifications .
Most top riders are very sensitive to front end
stiffness so tests on forks with different yokes,
spindles etc are also common.
The principle of all tests is the same. You apply
an appropriate load and measure the resulting
deflection at a suitable datum point. Only small
deflections are required and on classic structures
you must be careful not to overload the structure
and deform it permanently, especially if using
hydraulic assistance.
It is not essential to convert the figures into
actual stiffness values. If the deflection is less
than that previously measured, stiffness has in-
creased. If there is more deflection (at the same
load) then stiffness has decreased.
However, single results can be misleading and
it is always best to take several readings at differ-
ent loads and then plot a graph. Fig 7.19 overleaf
is an example for various GP fork legs.
434 7.2 Measuring stiffness
Deflection has been measured at the wheel spin-
dle and the distance from the bottom yoke to the
spindle has been standardised . If it wasn't, the
data would not be a true comparison of the struc-
tures, since fork length significantly affects stiff-
ness in bending. If you want to see the effect of fork
length on stiffness, that is a separate issue.
Since we have load and deflection data, stiff-
ness can be given an actual value using (change in
load)/(change in deflection), ie the slope of the
graph. This makes comparisons with other data
possible. Unfortunately, there are no standards
for these procedures so comparisons with data
from other sources can be misleading. It is better
to test things for yourself and not believe every-
thing you read.
Fig 7.19 Testing fore and aft stiffness of upside down
(USD) fork legs. Force is applied at the wheel spindle
and defiections are measured there. Results are plotted
as shown, from which the effective stiffness can be
determined from the slope of the graph.
(Data courtesy of WP Suspension , Netherlands) .
1800
-
1600
-
--z 1400
I 1200
"C
-.... I 1000
I 8001 U1 / "!-I Showa
I 600
0
I
400
0 2 3 4
Torsional stiffness
The first method shown in Fig 7.20 is commonly
used to test the torsional stiffness of a car chassis
but it isn't the best way to test a motorcycle
structure. You can see that it is not representative
of reality, because one side of the structure is
supported while the rest takes the twist.
The arrangement shown in the second diagram
is much better and does not mix up sources of
deflection. It involves extra work but it will also
show up the effect of spindle section, spindle fixing
etc. Load can be applied with the spindle loose first
and then with it bolted up solid using normal sizes
of spacers. The difference may surprise you.
The first point to measure deflection is at the
wheel spindle, having decided on where, within
the adjustment, it will be located. You may subse-
quently measure deflection in several places hav-
ing established the basic behaviour.
If you intend to turn these data into torsional
stiffness values for comparison with other figures
then note the following. When a frame or swinging
arm is twisted, the actual twist of the wheel
depends on the length of the structure. This is the
angle that interests us since it indicates the shift
in contact patch that will occur on the track.
43mm USD
5 6 7 8 9 10
Deflection (mm)
 7.2 Measuring stiffness
Fig 7.20 Left: Simple arrangement for finding the
torsional stiffness of a car chassis. Right: This rather
more elaborate fixture refiects actual loading on a bike
much better.
But when comparing data with other people's
figures, bear in mind that their torsional stiffness
numbers are length dependent, assuming they
relate the twist of the wheel to applied torque.
Structurally, your swinging arm may have the
same twist per unit length but just be a lot longer
than theirs. If it is, you will need a more rigid
structure to get the same numbers.
x
-t
In all cases, Torque= Wx
where
W = load applied
x =length from pivot, perpendicular to load
If a is small, Torque = WL approximately
If a is large, Torque = WLCosa
435
Deflection
Load
Fig 7 .21 shows how to determine torque and angle
of twist. If several tests are made at different
loads, the slope of a suitable graph (torque vs
angle of twist) gives torsional stiffness.
In most cases little calculation is required .
Perpendicular length x can be measured if the
lever is at an angle and deflection y is normally
very small compared to the radius at which it is
Fig 7.21 Left: Converting load to torque. Below: Con-
verting defiection to angle of twist . Note . Sin ·1 (y Ir)
means 'the angle whose sine is equal toy Ir.'
y
If defiection y is small compared to the radius (r) at
which it is measured then,
Angle of twist 0 (degrees)= 57.3y/r
If y is large then,
Angle of twist 0 = Sin- 1 (y/r)
436 7.2 Measuring stiffness

measured . Fig 7 .22 gives an example of the method.

Note that the use of suitable units is vital. The
torque units will depend on those of W and x, for To convert to multiply by
example if Wis in kgf (likely if weighed on scales)
and x is metres then the torque is in kgf.m.
lbf-ft N-m 1.3557
Similarly, if Wis in lbf and xis inches then the
torque is lbf.in. With deflections, y and r must Ibf-in N-m 0.1130
have the same units, eg both mm.
Finally, the torsional stiffness as found from kgf-cm N-m 0.0981
the slope of the torque vs angle of twist graph, will
have units of torque (in your units) per degree kgf-m N-m 9.8100
using the formulae given.
Table 7.3 provides useful conversions. Related N-m Ibf-ft 0.7376
conversions are in Volume 1. For example, Aprilia
quote a torsional stiffness of 162kgf.m per degree !bf-in Ibf-ft 0.0833
for the RS250 road bike's swinging arm. This is
equivalent to 1589N.m/deg or 1173lbf.ftJdeg. kgf-cm ]bf-ft 0.0724
Also note the scale of these numbers. A twisting
moment of 162kgf.m requires 162kgf at lm ra- kgf-m Ibf-ft 7.2425
dius, 81kgf at 2m radius etc. 81kgf is about the
weight of a person (12.5 stone roughly) and that
force is necessary to produce just one degree of Above. Table 7.3 Torque conversion factors.
deflection when applied at 2m radius. Modern
frames can be even stiffer and on these structures Below. Fig 7.22 Example of finding the torsional
you may need hydraulic assistance. However, you stiffness of a swinging arm.
only need very small deflections to get a result.

70
In this example:

1. The lever arm is 2m long but sits at an angle of S

60
/
/
about 15° with no load applied. Effective length 50 ./
(x) starts at 1932mm (measured).
'-' 40 /
2. De/factions are measured above the wheel
spindle at a radius (r) of 130mm. The dial gauge
...
1l
"a 30 /v
is set to zero with no external load, ie only that
due to the weight of the loading lever.
§"
20
/. Slope approx.
80kgf.m/0 .88deg
g. 10 / = 91kgf .m/deg
3. Load figures (W) are 'odd' in that they were
made up from items in the workshop. "'0
E--t o/
4. Results are given below . Calculated torque and 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0
twist are plotted (right) indicating a torsional
stiffness of around 91 kgf m I deg. Angle of twist (deg)

LoadW Effective length of lever, x Deflection, y Calculated torque, Wx Calculated twist= 57.3y/r
(kgt) (m) (mm) (kgf.m) (deg) Note: r = 130mm
15 1.932 0.77 28.98 0.34
26 1.936 1.25 50.34 0.55
41 1.940 2.0 79.54 0.88
 7.2 Measuring stiffness
Frames can be tested in exactly the same way.
Ideally, the headstock is held in its normal orien-
tation with the swinging arm pivot horizontal. It
may be inconvenient to arrange a rigid headstock
fixing at this height, but ifit isn't done like this it
won't be representative of actual use.
Use the normal pivot bolt and bearing sleeve,
bolted up solid, and apply the twist to this as
shown previously for the swinging arm. Again,
you may find it interesting to see what happens
when the pivot is loose or different sizes of pivot
are employed. Figures are again highly variable.
Modern designs can exhibit torsional stiffness
values around 2500N.m/deg or more but classics
will be considerably less. It all depends on what
you are involved with.
Lateral stiffness
A general arrangement for testing lateral stiff-
ness is shown in Fig 7 .23. A wire rope/cable is fixed
to the structure with a clevis, passed over a free
running pulley and loaded with weights. This
assumes you don't have a strong spring balance
available. If you do, a horizontal load can be
Pivot fixture
Support
I
(to slide on)
Load
437
applied directly and measured with the spring
balance. Swinging arms are best fixed at the pivot
(with the arm horizontal) and loaded at the spin-
dle as shown. Frames have to be fixed at the
swinging arm pivot and loaded laterally at the
headstock. The headstock needs suitQ.ble support
to slide on.
Deflections are measured with a dial gauge as
before. Lateral stiffness can be found from the
slope of a suitable graph but again note that these
results are length specific. Just make sure you
always compare like with like.
On swinging arms it is informative to test one
side only, then both sides coupled by rose jointed
rods and finally with the spindle and spacers
clamped in. Another test you can use is to put the
swinging arm in the frame, fix the structure at the
headstock and wheel spindle, and then apply
lateral loads at the pivot, measuring the deflection
there. A lot depends on what you are interested in.
Fig 7.23 General arrangements for determining lateral
stiffness of swinging arm and frame .
Deflection
Suitable yoke
Load
438 7.2 Measuring stiffness
Spot the flexible bit
While performing suitable tests, you need to spot
where and how the deflections originate. This may
not be as easy as it sounds, especially ifthe overall
deflections are very small. On a more flexible
example, straight lines drawn on the structure
with a felt tip pen can be very revealing. For all but
the simplest cases, total deflection is made up of
several individual components. Since it repre-
sents one of the more complex cases, let's look at a
pair of forks under lateral load.
Fork and wheel deflections
Fig 7 .24 shows the various ways in which a front
fork and wheel can deflect laterally under the
influence ofloads at the tyre's contact patch. If the
overall lateral stiffness is too low, the contact
patch is easily deflected and the bike will respond
accordingly, as outlined previously.
To appreciate how each mode arises, assume
that the system is totally rigid in all other re-
spects. The first deflection mode is that entirely
due to bending of the fork sliders/stanchion mate-
rial. Note how the wheel is upright, as it would be
if the attachment of wheel to forks was totally
rigid and there was no slider to stanchion clear-
ance. The wheel itself is also rigid and both fork
legs remain the same length.
Tube bending Differential Differential
bending shear
The second mode, differential bending, is possible
because the sliders have to have clearance on the
stanchions. Even with a totally rigid wheel/spin-
dle/fork attachment, the clearance allows another
mode of bending to take place in which the wheel
will lean.
The third mode, differential shear, is heavily
influenced by the size of wheel spindle and its
clamping arrangement. In the specific tests being
outlined here (see caption), Roe and Thorpe found
that increasing spindle diameter from 14mm
(0.551in) to 17mm (0.669in) gave a 10% increase
in the overall stiffness of the complete forks.
Today, the wheel spindle and clamping arrange-
ments used at top level make such sizes seem
extremely small and flexible.
The fourth deflection mode concerns the wheel
itself. Over the years, wheels have progressed
considerably in terms of lateral stiffness and al-
though some riders could not tell the difference,
fast riders immediately became aware of the dif-
ferent feel a change in lateral wheel stiffness could
Fig 7.24 Defiection modes that contribute to lateral
stiffness. Adapted from solution of the low-speed
wheel fiutter instability in motorcycles' by G.E. Roe and
T.E. Thorpe, Journal of Mechanical Engineering Sci-
ence, Vol 18 No 2 1976, with permission.
Torsion
(load applied
Wheel at tyre contact
flexure patch)
 7.2 Measuring stiffness
impart, especially on large, heavy bikes. The big-
ger and heavier the tyres, the more important this
aspect becomes.
Wheels are easily compared for lateral stiff-
ness. Simply mount the bearing holes into a rigid
fixture, apply lateral loads to the rim and measure
the deflections of the rim. Again be aware of the
influence of radius.
Finally, we have deflection due to twisting of
the forks. Because the tyre's contact patch lies
behind the fork axis, lateral loads applied at the
contact patch exert a torque that can distort the
forks, assuming the rider is holding them still at
the other end.
Like all the other modes, it means that the rider
exerts control at one end but the contact patch is
not following the commands directly. Following
the methods given previously in Chapter 7.1, it
can be shown that the gyroscopic reaction pro-
duced by this particular mode of flexure causes
the chassis to rock from side to side, as well as the
more obvious wandering of the bike.
2.0
-aa
-
....=
Q
1.5
I+::
"C
....a
- 0.5
Load(kgf)
439
Each of these modes gives a deflection that relates
to load. Add them together and you have the total
deflection and hence an indication of the stiffness.
The left hand diagram in Fig 7.25 shows the
deflection data obtained by Roe and Thorpe for a
large capacity 1970's touring bike when a lateral
force was applied at the tyre's contact patch.
For this test, the forks were fully extended,
thus exhibiting their greatest tendency to bend
(effect oflength mentioned previously). Note that
the graph has wheel deflection plotted vertically.
For this type oftest this is technically correct since
Fig 7.25 Left: Data obtained by Roe & Thorpe using a
large capacity 1970's touring bike. Right: Effect of clamp-
ing sliders to stanchions. This material has been repro-
duced from the Proceedings of the Institution of Me-
chanical Engineers, Journal of Mechanical Engineer-
ing Science Part C Vol 18 No.2 1976 by G.E. Roe and T.E.
Thorpe 'A solution of the low-speed wheel fiutter insta-
bility in motorcycles' by permission of the Council of the
Institution of Mechanical Engineers .
2.0
-aa
-.=...
Q
1.5
I+::
"C
.a
...
- 0.5
Load(kgf)
440 7.2 Measuring stiffness

on a graph the vertical axis should be the depend-
ent variable, ie deflection . In the context of springs
(eg suspension), it is common to plot load verti-
cally , the argument beingthat the load the spring
can support or exert is dependent on the compres-
sion it has.
Since I used this in Volume 1, I have stuck to it
in my references to structures. This may seem
irrelevant but it means that the steeper the line on
the graphs in Fig 7.25, the lower the stiffness will
be. Plotting load or torque vertically instead means
a steeper line indicates more stiffness (as was the
case in Fig 7.22 given earlier).
The relative contribution of each deflection
mode is entirely dependent on the individual de-
sign. The most striking thing about the results
given here is the relatively high deflection associ-
ated with differential bending and differential
shear. The forks used were taken from a test bike
and no doubt had fairly generous clearances/wear,
thus encouraging the differential bending mode .
To confirm this, the tests were repeated with
the sliders clamped to the stanchions. This is
obviously not a practical proposition, but Fig 7.25
also shows how effective it was (right hand graph)
and reinforces the need to have truly parallel tube/
slider contact and closely controlled clearances.
It is clear from this example that theoretically
predicting the stiffness of even the simplest front
fork is difficult . Tube bending issues can be tack-
led relatively easily using the ideas given in the
next chapter but beyond that it is complicated.
Test and measure is the way forward for most
people. However this example clearly illustrates
the most important aspects of stiffness:
• Even when size and shape are
appropriate, mechanical precision is
important, especially with things
like forks .
These ideas apply to all components and it is up to
the reader to identify the source of specific prob-
lems. Apart from increasing precision where nec-
essary, your only ways of changing the stiffness of
an existing structure are as follows.
• Use sections with a different Second
Moment of Area (next chapter).
This can be done directly or by
panel in-fill .
• Triangulate between points that
move away or towards each other
when loads are applied. This may
make access difficult.
•Add a third dimension of triangula-
tion, as commonly used for swing-
ing arm structures.
• Shorten lengths, either directly or
by the cautious use of gussets .
In conclusion, while experimenting with stiffness
does involve a lot of work, it will increase your
understanding ofhow a bike behaves and enhance
the ability of a quick rider to go faster .

• Overall stiffness results from many

separate sources.

• The contribution of each source

needs to be commensurate with
your overall aims. If you want high
stiffness, it is no good having big fat
fork legs with a tiny spindle, poor
clamping and inadequate yokes.
Keep it all in proportion if you can.

7 .3 Stiffness, size and section
Introduction
All structures rely on material and sectional prop-
erties to provide stiffness. It is easy to provide
adequate stiffness for a motorcycle chassis but
much more difficult to provide the right degree of
stiffness in combination with low weight. This
chapter outlines some of the basic ideas associated
with achieving this.
The stiffness exhibited by a section will depend
on the type ofloads applied to it, eg direct tension/
compression/shear, bending or twisting. In most
practical cases, several different types ofload are
applied simultaneously .
The type of loading experienced by individual
frame members will depend on your design. If
triangulation principles are extensively applied
then the dominant loads will be tension and/or
compression .
Compared to other types ofloading , stiffness in
tension/compression is very high and tubular steel
mainframes of this type rarely involve anything
more substantial than l.125in x 16s.w .g. tubing .
lin x 18s.w.g. or smaller has been used for many.
Tube material is less critical because it is not
necessary to provide an excess of ductility to allow
for the effects of cold bending.
In this type of loading the stiffness of each
member is proportional to Young's Modulus, to
area, and inversely proportional to length. In pure
tension/compression , the shape of the cross-sec-
tion has no influence on stiffness .
Aluminium alloys have only one third the modu-
lus of steel so in tension/compression they need
three times the area of steel for equal stiffness in
a given length. As a ballpark, l.125in x 16s.w.g.
steel has a cross-sectional area of nominally
138mm 2 • If you use 3mm walls for aluminium, a
47mm diameter tube (l.85in) gives the required
area and is typical of what is seen in practice.
Models
In most designs, full triangulation is not present
and frame members are subjected to bending and/
or twisting in addition to any direct stresses. If you
are unsure about what bends and twists signifi-
441
cantly, the best way to clarify the situation is to
make a simple model of the structure. 3mm diam-
eter steel wire or small tube with brazed joints is
useful for this.
You can also use balsa or the 'Plastruct' sections
sold at model shops. Plastruct has the advantage
ofhigh resilience. The model does not have to be to
scale, just in sensible proportions.
Start with the most rudimentary members and
at each stage try to bend and twist the model in
various ways. Only apply light loads by hand or by
using small weights like nuts. You don't want to
bend it permanently. Don't forget to see what
happens when you fix it at the headstock and
swinging arm pivot and apply force to where the
engine and rider will be. The same applies to
suspension mountings.
You will soon see how the various members
deform and how influential additions to the struc-
ture can be, particularly with trellis type layouts.
Conventional trellis layouts follow various forms
but will contain members at nominally 45° be-
tween the main tubes. This allows the vertical and
horizontal shear stresses that occur in the 'beam'
to be dealt with by tensile and/or compressive
stresses. Doing so stiffens the structure.
Structures made in aluminium alloy sheet can
be represented by balsa models. Large curved
sections can be laminated from 0.8mm sheet (1/
32in). Soak strips in water to make them more
pliable, glue together with PVA and set curvature
by forming in a 'pin jig'. Leave overnight to dry.
Making models will not tell you what sizes of
material to use but it will help to optimise the
structural layout and show you how parts are
likely to be deformed, all without any sums.
Deformation is the key issue. If something is
bent or twisted the deflections can be large. You
can minimise this by throwing metal at it (hence
weight) but understanding the influence of shape
will allow you to do it much more efficiently .
Bending
We use the term stiffness in two ways. As a loose
expression it indicates how difficult something is
to deflect and we can continue with this. As a
442 7.3 Stiffness, size and section

specific engineering term it describes the relation-

ship between load and deflection. With beams, Load
only a few simple cases lend themselves to this w
since a beam might have numerous loads acting Length L
on it and deflect in all sorts of different ways. Our
objective is therefore to find anything that is
consistently indicative of 'stiffness', even though < I _J
we might not be able to define the term as we have - -- - - -
up to now . ''1 --- - -- -_: §
......
1)
Q)
Important variables Q)
Q
Consider Fig 7.26. This arrangement, which is a WL 3
cantilevered beam with a point load at the end of Deflection (y) = -
it, is broadly representative of parts like footrests 3EI
and fork legs. Maximum deflection is at the free
end under the load and is given by: deflection =
WL3/3EI. Terms will be explained in a moment. W 3EI
In this specific case, we can obtain an expres- Stiffness = -
sion for stiffness if we define it as load/maximum y L3
deflection. The result is stiffness= 3EI/L3.
Lis the length and, since it appears as L3 on the E = Young's Modulus
bottom of this expression, halving the length will I = Second Moment of Area
increase the stiffness eightfold. Clearly length is
highly influential and short implies stiff. This L3 Fig 7.26 The simple cantilever, with a point load at the
term does not always appear in this nicely isolated end, is one of the few bending situations where the
way but, whatever the complexity, a longer length expression Stiffness= Load I Defiection can be evaluated
will significantly degrade stiffness. directly. Often, there is more than one load and maxi-
The next term, E, is Young's Modulus and the mum defiection does not occur beneath a load.
stiffness is proportional to it, as for tension/com-
pression. Finally, I is the Second Moment of Area,
a value which takes account of cross-sectional needs to be three times as large as that of steel to
area, shape and load orientation. make up for the lower modulus. Note that in
This is necessary because different shapes with general this does not require three times the
the same area are unlikely to produce the same actual area of material. As this chapter will dem-
deflection in bending - Table 7.4. Deflection can onstrate, it all depends on the shape of the section.
also vary according to which way we bend the The value of Young's Modulus (E) is of course
section, ie it depends on load orientation. fixed once you have chosen the material. This
means that for a given length of section, the most
important indicator of stiffness is the Second Mo-
Flexural rigidity ment of area (I). For high stiffness, we need a large
value of I.
The good thing about the E and I terms is that
however we fix a beam or apply loads to it, the
product EI always crops up and maximum deflec- Second Moment of Area (I)
tion is inversely proportional to it, ie doubling EI
halves the It is so important it is given When you bend or twist things, the stress in the
the special name of Flexural Rigidity . material is not the same throughout. Extreme
This is why aluminium alloy sections need to be fibres carry the greatest stress but these stresses
large compared to steel. To obtain the same reduce to zero at some point within the section.
Flexural Rigidity, their Second Moment of Area This is called the neutral axis .
 7.3 Stiffness, size and section 443

24mm
1

Section

__
...__ ____,,_

Cross
sectional 706.858 706.869 706.858 706.848
area (mm 2)
Relative
1.0
stiffness when (datum)
1.049 4.55 1.285
bent as shown

Table 7.4 All these sections have the same cross-sec-

tional area and hence the same weight per unit length. Tension
But when they are bent (in the direction of the arrow),
their stiffness is different . In particular, note the rela-
tively high stiffness of the round tube which is about 4.55
times that of the round bar for the same weight.

Fig 7 .27 shows the general pattern of stress vari-

ation produced by bending sections of material. Compression
Only the dominant tensile and compressive
stresses are shown, since these generally produce
the greatest deflections in the sort of metal sec-
tions we use . Deflections due to shear are being
ignored (though these can be significant in com-
posite sections of sandwich construction, eg foam
core/laminate skin).
Those areas of material which are furthest
away from the neutral axis are under the greatest
stress but they make more contribution to stiff-
ness than those close to the neutral axis.
Fig 7 .27 also shows that any small element of
the area in the section exerts a restraining mo- Force on area A = Ky A
ment that is proportional to Ay2 • 'A' is the small
area and 'y' is its distance from the neutral axis. Moment exerted = Force x distance

Moment exerted = (KyA) y = KAy 2

Right. Fig 7.27 The Second Moment ofArea term arises
because in bending the stress is not constant across the Total moment = K(Sum of all Ay 2 terms)
section. This means that different parts of the area make
different contributions to the stiffness of the beam . The sum of all the Ay2 terms is the Second
of Area about the relevant axis .
444 7.3 Stiffness, size and section
The total resistance offered by the entire section is
proportional to the sum of all the Ay 2's in the
section and this can be evaluated using calculus.
The result is called the Second Moment of Area(I)
and some results are given in Table 7 .5.
It is important to note that the Second Moment
of Area formulae always relate to bending about a
particular axis, ie they effectively assume a load
orientation. I will only consider centroidal axes
X-X and Y-Y here (see table).
Conventionally, X-X is the horizontal axis and
so Ixx is indicative of bending stiffness in the
vertical plane. Y-Y is conventionally the vertical
axis and so Iyy is indicative of stiffness when
bending in a horizontal plane. This is shown at the
bottom of the table. For round and square sec-
tions, Ixx and Iyy are equal but for rectangular
sections they are not.
Section Types
All sorts of shapes and sections are possible but I
will only consider the simplest ones that are com-
monly used on bikes . These include circular spin-
dles/shafts, solid rectangular sections like engine
plates and round/square/rectangular tubes.
Bending circular sections
Let's start with a solid round bar in bending, eg a
wheel spindle. Whatever its stiffness happens to
be, if we double the diameter of the bar, the
stiffness will not just double, it will go up by a
factor of sixteen .
This is the effect of the D4 term that appears in
the Second Moment of Area formula for a round
bar (Table 7.5).
Example: Compare the stiffness of 30mm and
60mm diameter round bars in bending. Both are
the same material.
The stiffness of the section will increase in propor-
tion to its Second Moment of Area value.
For a round bar Ixx = Iyy so we can use either.
For 30mm, Ixx = 7tD4/64
Ixx = 7t.304/64 = 39760 .782mm 4
For 60mm, Ixx = 7tD4/64
Ixx = 7t.604/64 = 636172 .51mm 4
which is 16 times that of the 30mm bar.
This is a massive change considering that the
weight of the 60mm bar will only be four times
that of the 30mm bar. Even small changes in size
bring a significant gain in stiffness.
If a spindle was 20mm diameter and we in-
creased it to 24mm diameter, the stiffness in
bending would increase by 107 %, ie it has roughly
doubled, despite only increasing the area, and
hence the weight, by 44%.
The general conclusion is that the further away
from the neutral axis we place the material, the
more stiffness we can generate from it.
Hollow circular sections
Hollow sections are much more efficient at provid-
ing stiffness in bending from a given weight of
material than solid ones are . This is because ,
compared to the solid bar, virtually all the mate-
rial has been shifted away from the neutral axis.
This applies to all circular sections, be they frame
tubes, wheel spindles or whatever.
Example: Compare the stiffness of a 20mm solid
spindle with a hollow one of the same weight that
has an outside diameter of 36mm.
The solid spindle has a cross-sectional area of
314.16mm 2 • The area of the hollow spindle must
equal this so,
314.16mm 2 = 7t(D2 - d 2 )/4
From which, inside diameter d = 30mm (approx) ..
Right. Table 7.5 Formulae used to calculate the cross-
sectional area and Second Moment of Area for different
sections . Second Moment of Area formulae are given for
bending about centroidal axes x-x and y -y .
 7.3 Stiffness, size and section 445

Second Moment of Area

Section Shape Area
Ixx lyy

nD2 nD4 nD4

Solid round bar -- --
4 64 64

7t(D2 - d2) n (D4 - d4) n(D4 - d4)

Circular tube
4 64 64

B4 B4
Solid square bar B2
12 12
y

b
B4 - b4 B4 - b4
x
Square tube B2 - b2
12 12
y

3 3
BD
-- DB
Solid rectangular bar BD --
12 12

BD 3 - bd 3 DB 3 - db 3
Rectangular tube BD - bd
12 12

Notes: Most scientific calculators have an xY key that will allow you to work out terms like B4 .
eg to work out 204 enter 20, press xY key , enter 4, then press =.
If you do not have this, B4 =Bx Bx B x B, eg 204 = 20 x 20 x 20 x 20 = 160,000.

Selection of Ixx or lyy

y x

a) Use !xx when bending around axis x-x. b) Use lyy when bending around axis y-y .
446 7.3 Stiffness, size and section
Ixx = lyy and the Second Moment of Area for the
solid spindle is given by:
Ixx = nD 4/64 = n.20 4/64 = 7854mm 4
For the hollow spindle, D = 36mm and d = 30mm.
Ixx = n(D4 - d 4 )/64
Ixx = n(36 4 - 30 4 )/64
Ixx = n(1679616 - 810000)164
Ixx = 42687mm 4
Although this hollow section has the same amount
of metal as the original solid one, this represents
an increase in stiffness of 444 %.
Similarly, if you were going to make frame
tubes out of lin x 16s .w.g. tube, increasing to say
l.125in x 17s.w.g . gives the same area and weight
but a 30% rise in stiffness. It is much more effi-
cient, assuming you want the extra stiffness.
The Second Moment of Area formula for tube in
Table 7 .5 can cau se confusion .
For a solid bar, a value of nD 4/64 is applicable.
For a tube , it is n(D4 - d 4 )/64 where D = outside
diameter and d =inside diameter .
This formula indicates that the larger the in-
side diameter, the lower the value becomes. This
is true, but that 's because you are using less
material. If you add more material by reducing
inside diameter, the value of I will increase, but
the best way forward is to increase the outside
diameter instead. If the space is available, you will
get much more stiffness for a given weight.
Double benefits
If you increase the size of thin wall tubes you get
a relatively big increase in stiffness for little gain
in weight . If you shorten the length that also
increases stiffness and for the case of a cantilever
considered earlier we found that stiffness was
proportional to (length )3 .
So, by combining larger sizes and shorter
lengths, you can achieve a lot in terms of stiffness
without much change in weight. Fig 7.28 shows
two simplified fork legs. One leg is 30mm diam-
eter tube , 3mm thick and protrudes 700mm from
the yokes . The other is 35mm diameter and 2.5mm
thick which gives the same cross-sectional area.
Let's shorten this to 600mm. What's the difference
in the bending stiffness of each leg? (Note: total for
a pair of forks will be double this).
The answer is that you will gain 44% in stiff-
ness from the diameter increase and another 59%
from the shortening , total 103%. Basically, you
have doubled the stiffne ss of each leg but the
weight drops 14% at the same time due to the
shorter length . Overall it's a good deal and reflects
the trend for larger , but shorter , everything.
Properties of round tubes
Chapter 2.2 explained that most tube is still sup-
plied in Imperial sizes with thickness given in
s.w.g. I will therefore use these values. Table 7.6
on page 448 gives useful data for common tube
sizes/thicknesses within the range we normally
use (steel assumed) .
Example. What is the Second Moment of Area for
a 2in x 18s .w.g. tube? This example just shows
how the values in the table are determined .
18s .w.g. tube has a wall thickness of0 .048in
Outside diameter D = 2in
Inside diameter d = 2 - 2(0.048 ) = l.904in
Second Moment of Area (I) = n(D4 - d 4 )/64
I = n(24 - 1.904 4 )/64
I= n(16 - 13.142)/64
I= 0.1403in 4
Example. Compare the use of lin x 14s.w.g. vs
l.25in x 18s.w.g. From the table overleaf :
For lin x 14s .w.g
area= 0.2312in 2
weight = 0.786lbf/ft
I= 0.0247in 4
 7.3 Stiffness, size and section 447

700mm 600mm

,.!. - - ,.!. - -

The stiffness of the legs is proportional to the Second Moment of Area n(D 4 - d4 )/64 and inversely
proportional to (free length) 3 •
4
Second Moment of Area for 35mm leg 7t(354 - 30 4 )/64 33,901mm
= = 1.444
4
Second Moment of Area for 30mm leg 7t(304 - 24 4 )/64 23,475mm

This represents a 44% gain in the stiffness of each 35mm leg due to diameter changes.

(Length of 30mm forks) 3

= 1.588
(Length of 35mm forks) 3

This represents a 59% increase in the stiffness of each 35mm fork leg due to shortening.

Fig 7.28 This example shows how a change of diameter can increase stiffness significantly without changing weight.
A further increase is produced by a reduction in length . Overall stiffness changes will be double these figures if both
legs of each f ark are able to carry load.
448 7.3 Stiffness, size and section

Tube Metric Cross-sectional Weight per Second Moment

size equivalent area unit length of Area

dia x s.w.g. mmxmm in2 mm 2 lbf/ft kgf/m in4 mm4

3/4in x 14 19.0S x 2.032 0.1684 108.64S O.S72 0.8Sl 0.0096 399S.822

3/4in x 18 19.0S x 1.22 0.10S9 68.322 0.36 O.S36 0.0066 2747.127

7/8in x 14 22.22S x 2.032 0.1998 128.903 0.679 1.010 0.01S9 6618.08

7/8in x 18 22.22S x 1.22 0.1247 80.4Sl 0.424 0.631 0.0107 44S3.676

lin x 14 2S.4 x 2.032 0.2312 149.161 0.786 1.170 0.0247 10280.916

lin x 18 2S.4 x 1.22 0.1436 92.64S 0.488 0.726 0.0163 6784.S72

1.12Sin x 14 28.S7S x 2.032 0.2626 169.419 0.893 1.329 0.0361 1S02S.9SS

1.12Sin x 18 28.S7S x 1.22 0.1624 104.774 O.SS2 0.821 0.0236 9823.062

l.2Sin x 14 31.7S x 2.032 0.2940 189.677 1.000 1.488 O.OS06 21061.31

1.2Sin x 18 31.7S x 1.22 0.1812 116.903 0.616 0.917 0.0328 136S2.391

l.37Sin x 14 34.92S x 2.032 0.32SS 210.00 1.106 1.646 0.068S 28Sl l.8S3

l.37Sin x 18 34.92S x 1.22 0.2001 129.097 0.680 1.012 0.0441 183SS.806

I.Sin x 14 38.1 x 2.032 0.3S69 230.2S8 1.213 1.80S 0.0902 37S44.07S

I.Sin x 18 38.1 x 1.22 0.2190 141.290 0.744 1.107 O.OS78 240S8.177

l.7Sin x 14 44.4S x 2.032 0.4197 270.774 1.427 2.123 0.1466 61019.S28

1.7Sin x 18 44.4S x 1.22 0.2S67 16S.613 0.873 1.299 0.0930 38709.S23

2in x 14 S0.8 x 2.032 0.482S 311.290 1.640 2.440 0.2227 92694.739

2in x 18 S0.8 x 1.22 0.2944 189.93S 1.001 1.489 0.1403 S8397.27

3in x 14 76.2 x 2.032 0.734 473.S47 2.49S 3.713 0.7827 32S784.34

3in x 18 76.2 x 1.22 0.44S 287.096 1.Sl3 2.2Sl 0.48SS 202080.36

4in x 14 101.6 x 2.032 0.98S 63S.483 3.349 4.983 1.893 787926 .1

4in x 18 101.6 x 1.22 O.S96 384.SlS 2.026 3.0lS 1.16S 484909.61

 7.3 Stiffness, size and section 449

For l.25in x 18s.w.g.

area= 0.1812in 2 To convert to Do this '-

weight = 0.616lbf/ft
I =0.0328in 4
mm in Divide !:>Y 25.4
Thus the larger tube is both lighter and stiffer.
The rise in stiffness is some 33%. Though not in mm Multiply by 25.4
discussed here, the bending stress in both tubes is
very similar, actually slightly lower in the larger mm2 in2 Divide by 645.16
tube. There may however be problems with the
lower cross-sectional area (of the large tube) if in2 mm2 Multiply by 645.16
shear loads are high.
While Table 7.6 contains only a very limited mm3 in3 Divide by 16387.064
number of examples, it is interesting to study it on
the basis just described. Weight can often be saved in 3 mm3 Multiply by 16387.064
without any degradation of other desired proper-
ties. You should however be careful about reduc- mm4 in4 Divide by 416231.43
tions in cross-sectional area if the loading is not
well understood. in4 mm 4 Multiply by 416231.43
For those not happy with the imperial units
commonly associated with tubing, Table 7. 7 pro- lb kg Divide by 2.2046
vides appropriate conversions.
kg lb Multiply by 2.2046

kg/m lb/ft Divide by 1.488

Bending rectangular sections
Circular sections have a great deal going for them.
They offer the same stiffness when bent from any
direction, a useful property to have if you are not
too sure of what is going on. Wall curvature gives
a section stability and circles are less likely to
buckle than the flat sidewalls of other sections .
Unfortunately, if we need more stiffness in one
direction than another we can't get it with the
circular form and need to use rectangular ones (or
other suitable variations).
Most bikes have engine plates, footrest hangers
etc with solid rectangular sections. These sections
offer substantially more stiffness when bent
against their 'depth' than when bent against their
'thickness'. For a square, the stiffness is the same
when bent either way .
Left. Table 7.6 Useful data for commonly used sizes of
steel tube.
lb/ft kg/m Multiply by 1.488
Above. Table 7. 7 Unit conversion factors.
Table 7 .5 indicated that the Second Moment of
Area for solid rectangular sections is proportional
to BD 3 where B is the width and D is the depth in
the plane of bending. The D3 term gives a rise in
stiffness that outstrips the weight gained when
depth is increased.
Table 7.8 overleaf gives three examples of how
this works for solid sections. The first two exam-
ples have the same cross-sectional area (hence
weight per unit length) but very different Second
Moments of Area and hence stiffness.
The third section has twice the area of the other
two sections, hence twice the weight, but its Ixx
value has risen eightfold.
Be careful with extremes. A deep narrow strip
flexes like paper in one direction but is almost
impossible to bend in the other direction. Instead
of bending, it will buckle, ie collapse.
450 7.3 Stiffness, size and section

30mm 20mm 30mm

tJ] LJ J tJ1
Area= B 2 , Area= BD Area - BD
B = 30mrn B = 20mrn, D = 45mrn B = 30mrn, D = 60mrn
Area Area = 20mm x 45mm Area = 30mrn x 60mrn
Area = 302 = 900mrn 2 Area = 900mm 2 Area = 1800mrn2
Ixx = B4/12 Ixx = BD 3/12 lxx - BD 3/12
Second Moment of B = 30mrn B = 20mrn, D = 45mrn B = 30mrn, D = 60mrn
Area about axis xx Ixx = 304112 Ixx = (20)(45)3/12 Ixx = (30)(60) 3/12
(lxx) Ixx = 67,500mrn 4 Ixx = 151,875mrn 4 Ixx = 540,000mm 4
Iyy = DB 3/12 Iyy - DB 3/12
Second Moment of Ixx = Iyy = D = 45mm, B = 20mm D = 60mrn, B = 30mrn
Area about axis yy 67 ,500mm4 Iyy = (45)(20)3/12 Iyy =
(lyy) Iyy = 30,000mrn 4 Iyy = 135,000mm

Table 7.8 Examples showing the effect of size on the
properties of rectangular sections. The first section is
square. The second one is rectangular but with the same
area. Note the rise in Ixx at the expense of lyy. The last
section has twice the area. lyy has only risen in propor-
tion to the extra weight but Ixx has risen eightfold.
of 'common' sizes like those given previously for
steel tube. Many aluminium sections are special-
ised extrusions and others are fabricated by hand.
You can perform your own specific comparisons as
I did in previous examples.

Bending Summary

Sections with very high depth to width ratios need
to be avoided because of this. Aluminium alloy
sections can be three times as thick as steel for the
same weight. This not only offsets the lower modu-
lus, it also significantly reduces the risk of buck-
ling by raising the section's lowest Second Mo-
ment of Area, ie across the 'thickness'.
Rectangular and square tube
The most common use of rectangular sections is in
tube form, eg subframes, swinging arms and beam
frames. In this case, exactly the same principles
apply, wej1,Jst have to subtract the bd 3 term of the
inside dimensions to find the Second Moment of
Area - Table 7 .9 gives an example.
Bikes use such a variety ofrectangular sections
(in tube form) that it is difficult to compile a table
These examples show how easy it is to manipulate
bending stiffness by altering size and shape . They
also show that provided you are capitalising on
terms like D3 or D4 you can get large changes for
very little change in size and weight.
Of the sections considered here, rectangular
ones are more efficient than circular ones if only
bending is involved. We could go much further by
splitting most of the available material in two and
placing it well away from the neutral axis. This
results in the well known I beam.
However, although this section is extremely
common in construction, it has very little resist-
ance to twisting . Since nearly all structural parts
of a bike can involve varying degrees of bending
and twisting together, it is easy to get caught out
by using such shapes. Always stick to tubes when
a good balance of stiffness properties is required.
There is of course a price to pay with the thin wall
 7.3 Stiffness, size and section
Section Area
20mm
Area= BO - bd
-
I B = 20mm, D = 50mm
b = (20 - 4) = 16mm
2mm d = (50 - 4) = 46mm
s - -
0
s Area= (20)(50) - (16)(46)mm 2
I.(,)
Area = ( 1000 - 736)mm 2
-- Area = 264mm 2
Table 7.9 Example showing the calculation of Second
Moments of Area for a rectangular tube.
tube approach, specifically the danger of buckling
which has already been mentioned. Buckling is a
complex area and I can do little more here than
draw your attention to it.
Twisting
Torsional loads are applied to shafts, eg crank-
shafts, and to chassis parts. Similar concepts to
those used for bending can be applied to the
twisting of sections, though the detail is different
and more complex. Length plays its part but only
in inverse proportion, ie doubling length will halve
the torsional stiffness.
The Second Moment of Area idea has to be
modified somewhat, especially for non-circular
sections. While sections bend in some 'plane', they
twist along an 'axis' . The simplest section to deal
with is the circular one.
Circular sections
For this section (and only this section), resistance
to twisting is determined by the Second Moment of
Area as before, but this time it needs to be evalu-
ated about the axis of twist and is called the Polar
Second Moment of Area.
The result, 1tD4/32 for a solid and 7t(D4 - d 4 )/32 for
a tube, has all the virtues of a circle associated
with bending. The D4 and (D 4 - d 4 ) terms ensure
451
Ixx lyy
Ixx = (BD 3 - bd3)/12 Iyy = (DB 3 - db 3)/12
Ixx = - lyy = -
12 12
Ixx = (2500000 - 1557376) lyy = (400000 - 1884161
12 12
Ixx = 78,552mm 4 Iyy = 17,632mm4
that torsional stiffness rises rapidly with size and
outstrips the weight increase associated with it.
For example, a 4in x 16s.w.g. frame spine has
almost nine times the torsional stiffness of one
made from 2in x 16s.w.g. in the same material but
its weight only increases by 103%, assuming the
same length of tube.
Non-circular sections
Analysing the twisting of non-circular sections
can be very complicated and we have to abandon
the Polar Second Moment of Area in favour of a
suitable torsional stiffness constant(K) which is
somewhat lower in value. However, the concept is
exactly the same. The larger K is, the stiffer the
section will be when it is twisted.
Some expressions for the torsional stiffness
constant K are quite scary, but for thin wall
sections they are relatively simple. Table 7 .10
overleaf gives examples .
To investigate the behaviour of sections in tor-
sion, I will start with a thin flat strip like an engine
plate. We know that this has very high stiffness
when bent against its depth but much less when
bent the other way.
For twisting, the torsional stiffness constant is
approximately Lt 3/3 (t =thickness, L =depth) and
values are extremely low compared to what we
could get from other shapes and the same amount
of material.
More importantly, this approximate formula
will apply to any shape of open section having
thickness t and median length Lm, provided it is
very thin compared to its length (see Table 7.10).
This means that if we bend the section into a U or
452 7.3 Stiffness, size and section

Torsional stiffness
Shape Sizes Notes
constant K

7t(D4 - d4) For solid sections

Circular sections d = 0 and
32 K = nD 4/32

w
Solid square 0.141W 4

w 2
Wtt - 0.63t + 0.0521]
Solid rectangle
3 w w2
Thin flat strip or any With an open
thin open section ...,! w Wt 3 section, W becomes
-- the mean length
W = strip width 1 3
t = thickness <<< W around the section
Thin wall round tube
D m = mean diameter
rm = mean radius
t =thickness<<< nDm
tE
\___./)
.........
nD m3t

4
Alternatively

27trm3t

Thin wall square tube

a
Bm=
B m = mean length of 3
Bm t tube width -
side
t = thickness <<< Bm
I I thicknes

Thin wall rectangular t

tube of thickness t 2B m2D m2t
t<<< Bm orDm
B m = mean width
B m + Dm
D m = mean depth

4A m2t
Any thin wall
closed section (tube)
of constant thickness t
t?)·t
I
I
m
' ..... ______, I
,

Lm
Am = area enclosed
by mean perimeter
Lm
t2
-
Thin wall rectangular
tube, different wall
thickness as shown L-
;i .
2B m2D m2t 1t2

Bmtl + Dmt2
t 1 relates to Bm

t2 relates to D m
 7.3 Stiffness, size and section
Z or anything else, it will have no significant effect
on the torsional stiffness , even though it will
considerably increase the resistance to bending in
the previously flexible direction. The better bal-
ance of bending stiffness also produces a more
stable section . Note that there will be some change
in torsional stiffness (as compared to a flat strip)
ifthere are any root fillets at the corners ofbends.
This again illustrates the fact that good stiff-
ness in bending does not in any way imply good
torsional stiffness. To get the latter we must have
a closed section, ie some form of tube.
Thin wall tubes
For thin wall tubes such as those used on bikes,
the torsional stiffness constant for any section is
given by: K = 4Am2 t/L m where Am is the area
enclosed by the median line, tis the thickness and
Lm is the mean perimeter.
For a circular tube, the area enclosed would be
7tDm2/4 where Dm is the mean diameter and the
mean perimeter Lm is 7tDm.
Substituting these terms gives K = 7tD 3t/ 4 as in
the table. Similarly, for a square tube K = Bm 3 t.
It is most important to note that D and B are
median values for all the thin wall ;ections7 not
the overall dimensions.
Example
Armed with this, let's manipulate a section of steel
strip that is 2mm thick and lOOmm wide into
various forms.
As a thin flat strip, or any open section,
K = Wmt3/3 = (100)2 3/3 = (100)8/3 = 266 .67mm 4
Table 7.10 Values of torsional stiffness constant
K for various sections. This constant serves the same
purpose in twisting as the Second Moment of Area does
for bending. The higher the value of K the greater the
t<;>rsional stiffness of the section. Values for thin wall
tubes are an approximation but are normally more than
adequate for the tubes we use. Important: Suffix m in
dimensions indicates median values and not inside or
outside values .
453
Ifwe now use the same amount of material, in the
same thickness, it can produce a square tube
which is 27mm square and 2mm thick (Fig 7.29).
The median length of the sides is therefore 25mm.
4
For this tube, K= Bm3t = 25 3(2) = 31250mm •
This square tube is thus 117 times as stiff in
torsion as the original strip.
If we now use the strip material to form a
welded circular tube instead , the mean circumfer-
ence (7tDm) has to equal the strip length oflOOmm.
From this, Dm = 100/7tmm = 31.83mm.
4
Thus , K = 7tDm 3 t/4 = 7t(31.83)3(2)/4 = 50655.9mm •
This round tube has 190 times the torsional stiff-
ness of the original strip.
These gains in stiffness become even greater as
the strip used gets longer and is used to form ever
larger tubes.
Also note that the round tube is significantly
stiffer than the square tube in torsion. Specifi-
cally, if a square section tube has the same cross-
sectional area (hence weight) and wall thickness
as a round tube, it will only have 61 % of the
circular tube's torsional stiffness. This is why
circular sections are normally used for torsion.
Table 7 .11 overleaf summarises these findings.
Variations
Despite this seemingly convincing case for circu-
lar sections in torsion, we can get all sorts of
results, depending on the criteria we lay down.
Fig 7.29 This 27mm squar e uses the same amount of
material as the lOOmm wide strip .
jf 1.__2s_mm_-i1
454 7.3 Stiffness, size and section

Torsional
Area of
Section stiffness Value of K
metal used
constant K
Wt 3
lOOmm 200mm 2 -- 266.67mm 4
II I 3
-
nD m 3t
2
200mm 50655.9mm4
4
-
-

s
s
lO
<N

-
JGJ] -
200mm 2 B m 3t 31250mm 4

Table 7.11 Summary of the example in the text. A thin

strip with an area of 200mm 2 has a torsional stiffness
constant K of 267mm 4 • But when formed into a round
thin wall tube K rises to 50656mm 4• Formed into a
square tube the value for K is 31250mm 4 • This shows the
superiority of the circular section in torsion, subject to
the constraints used (equal weight and wall thickness).
You can mess about with these ideas all day but in
practice it is simply a case of matching sections to
specific requirements. Consider Fig 7.31 which
shows the simplest possible swinging arm . If we
twist it without tightening the spindle, it is evi-
dent that there are two major sources of torsional

Consider a subframe made from 20mm diameter Fig 7.30 Square section subframes are very common on
tube with a l.5mm wall. The cross-sectional area modern bik es. The subframe should be designed to fail
is just over 87mm 2 and the torsional constant K is before the mainframe lugs are damaged.
7459mm 4 • If we use this amount of material to
create a square tube of the same wall thickness we
again get a smaller section that has 61 % of the
round one's torsional stiffness.
But what about employing a 20mm square tube
and reducing the wall thickness to still use 87mm 2
of material? The result is a l.157mm thick tube
and Table 7 .12 shows that its torsional stiffness is
now slightly better than that of the round tube.
Furthermore, its stiffness in bending is consid-
erably higher than the round tube so it is not
surprising tl}at square tubes are commonly em-
ployed for subframes - Fig 7.30. Bending is the
dominant load here. Note that if you move away
from square to rectangular , the torsional stiffness
will drop significantly for a given area of material.
 7.3 Stiffness, size and section 455

Torsional stiffness Second Moment

Section Area
constant K of Area

Area = 7t(D2 - d 2)/4 K = 7tDm3t/4 Ixx - Iyy =· 7t(D4 - d4 )/64

Dm = 20 - 1.5 = 18.5mm

8
Area = 7t(202 - 172)/4 K = 7t(l8.5)3(1)(5)/4 I = 1t(204 - 174 )/64

2 4 4
Area= 87.19mm K = 7459.27mm lxx = lyy = 3754.154mm

20mm
Area= B2 - b 2 K = B m3t lxx = Iyy = (B 4 - b4 )/12
I I B = 20mm Bm = 20 - 1.157 I = (20 4 - 17 .686 4 )/12

JiEJJ
b = 20 - 2(1.157) Bm= 18.843mm
b = 17.686mm K = 18.843 3( l.l 57)
Area = 20 2 - 17 .686 2

4
Area= 87.2mm 2 K = 7740.76mm lxx =lyy = 5180mm 4

Above. Table 7.12 This example compares a round
tube with a square one that has the same area but a
thinner wall. This time the square tube does better than
one which has the same area and wall thickness.
stiffness. Firstly, the cross tube can twist and
secondly the arms can bend, one up and one down
(differential bending).
If we now bolt up the spindle with its spacers,
then in order for the assembly to twist as a whole,
each individual arm also has to twist . Spindle
bending, shear and connectivity are other issues.
When you test your swinging arm for stiffness,
you need to establish where the limitations lie and
there are no universal rules. It depends on the
sizes, shapes and sections used.
If the cross tube is twisting badly, you need to
address that by increasing its torsional stiffness
constant in some way . If differential bending of
the arms is the main problem, you need more
depth of section but it will be heavier if you want
to retain the arm's original torsional properties.
Below. Fig 7.31 Sources of defiection when a simple
swinging arm is twisted at the wheel. Testing stiffness in
the manner described previously will indicate which
aspect needs to be worked on.

a) The first possible source
of fiexure is twisting of
the cross tube.
b) The second source is c) When a spindle is fitted, the arms
differential bending will also twist as shown.
of the arms . Behaviour depends on spindle
distortion and effectiveness of
spindle clamping.
456 7.3 Stiffness, size and section
If the arms twist badly, something more square
than rectangular might be used or the wall thick-
ness can be increased .
Having contemplated all this, you need to bear
in mind the crucial lateral bending stiffness of the
swinging arm which might have been just what
you wanted in the first place. It is pretty clear that
these things aren 't easy to optimise in every re-
spect and that is why so much experiment is
carried out at top levels of racing.
This is of course only the beginning of serious
analysis . When cornering, neither vertical nor
horizontal loads are normal to the frame sections
because the bike is leaned over. This means that
obtaining optimal stiffness characteristics is likely
to lead you away from the regular shapes.
It is beyond the scope of this book to go into such
detail and much of it is derived with computer
assistance, however anything that increases the
ratio of (enclosed area) 2/(mean perimeter of sec-
tion) will give more torsional stiffness for a given
thickness of thin wall section. Aprilia are masters
of the art of section optimisation.
An easy way to determine the relative torsional
stiffness oflarge frame sections is to draw them on
graph paper, count squares to get the enclosed
area (see Volume 1 aerodynamics, page 196) and
measure the mean perimeter using a bit of thread .
Adding gussets, filling in sections etc will of course
alter the final behaviour of tubular frames, but for
the essentially tubular designs used by most peo-
ple , the concepts covered here will dominate the
end result.
Finally, it is worth noting that the torsional
stiffness constant (K) is often combined with the
Shear Modulus (G) to give Torsional Rigidity (GK),
in the same way as E and I were combined for
bending (Flexural Rigidity).
Shear Modulus is not the same as Young's Modu-
lus but it is proportional to it. Although other
factors make G substantially less than E, our
general pecking order for materials remains the
same in this respect.
Most engineering texts will use these terms,
though if restricted to circular shafts, the term
Polar Second Moment of Area (J) will be used
instead of K. In this specific case, K = J .
Summary
This chapter demonstrates how sensitive to size
and shape stiffness can be when sections are
subjected to bending, twisting or both.
As the use of aluminium alloys has become
common, there has been more willingness to vary
material section in line with strength require-
ments and as a result sections often vary consid-
erably along the length of any one member. This
means that the Second Moment of Area is also
constantly changing along the length, greatly com-
plicating the task of calculating any deflections.
Nevertheless, the same basic principles apply .
If nothing else, these examples show why it is
difficult to calculate the stiffness of a complete
chassis using nothing more than a calculator. For
an analytical approach, one is generally forced to
utilise computer assistance in the form of finite
element software. For man in the shed, build and
test is usually more practical.
A final word of encouragement
This book should be a source of inspiration for
some readers but it may put others off. Don't let
that happen. Anyone can build a motorcycle and
you don't need to agonise over any of the issues I
have covered. Buy some decent materials, use
sensible sizes and make something, anything!
When you have built several racing bikes you
will start to see what the more technical areas of
this book are about. Every racer wants more
performance. Every racer wants less weight but
with these things come increased cost and risk.
Knowledge then becomes power. It helps you to
make rational decisions and ask pertinent ques-
tions. It helps you to pick out those who know what
they are doing from those who are just trying to
sell you something . It provides a foothold into the
engineering side of motorcycles , as opposed to the
mechanics.
All I have provided here is a starting point and
I hope that some things in this book will be useful
in your quest to build better motorcycles.
 457

Data and panel finder------------•

Aluminium alloy , anodising suitability 235 Magnesium alloy, summary 310

Aluminium alloy, bend radii non-structural 193 Magnesium allo y, weld fillers 318
Aluminium alloy , bend radii structural 225 Panel 1 The Tensile Test 50
Aluminium alloy , brazing fillers 203 Panel 2 Hardne ss Testing 56
Aluminium alloy , by strength (0.2% Proof) 175 Panel 3 Identification of Steels 68
Aluminium alloy, classification 163 Panel 4 Fast Fracture 179
Aluminium alloy , cold work temper 165 Panel 5 Rapid Prototyping 290
Aluminium alloy , main group s 164 Second Moments of Area 445
Aluminium alloy , heat treatment codes 168 Shot peen, max service temperatures 409
Aluminium alloy, heat treatment temps 226 Steel barstock , summary 98
Aluminium alloy, non-structural types 172 Steel tube, bend radii 109
Aluminium alloy , general suitability 170 Steel tube , summary 88
Aluminium alloy , weld fillers 224 Steel , identification standards 68
Aluminium alloy , weld strength 181 Steel tube , sectional properties 448
Aluminium casting , alloy summary 302 Stre ss concentration, reduction of 388
Aluminium casting , heat treat conditions 295 Stress relief , temperatures for steels 406
Brazing/soldering , fillers (steel) 136 Tank capacity , selected volumes 209
Conversion s.w.g./mm/in 75 Taper roller/needle bearing standard sizes 142
Exhaust/engine analysis software 241 Titanium , alloy summary 325
Gas welding , filler rods (steel) 127 Titanium, heat treatment 336
Gas welding , nozzles and pressures 120 Titanium, properties 324
Gas welding, troubleshooting 123 Torque conversion factors 436
Glassfibre , suggested layup for bike parts 349 Torsional stiffness constants 452
Gyroscopic reactions (crankshaft ) 423 Unit conversions , sectional properties 449
Hardness scales 55
458 Author

About the author

John Bradley BSc(Hons), C.Eng ., M.I.Mech.E., M.Inst.M.C., A.I.E.D. is a professional
engineer who has built and raced motorcycles as a hobby for more than 30 years. He started
grass track racing in the 1960's using a bike he had made at school for a 500cc AJS engine.
This was quickly followed by several JAP and JAWA based specials. He rode in grass
track and speedway events for seven years and was a member of the Birmingham British
League side in the early seventies. He started roadracing after being encouraged to do so
by his great friend, the late Peter McKinley. After starting with a bike built by Jack Machin,
he built a variety of bikes to his own design and was a regular top three finisher. He was
also a National winner and lap record holder who twice finished third in the ACU Clubman's
Championship. John's bikes were always simple and inexpensive but they were carefully
.refined using the ideas presented in both volumes of this book. He is an experienced
lecturer, engineer and author with more than 40 books, manuals and papers to his credit.
 459

Index ...................................... .

Abrafile 219 Bending, (continued)

Acetyl 377 tube filling 102, 109
Acrylic 378 of a cantilever 41,442
Age hardening 160, 167 BK condition 78
Alignment BKW condition 78
chain 17 Brazing aluminium 199
chassis 12 Brazing rods for steel 135
jig 32 Brinell hardness 55 , 56
Alloy Bronze
aluminium 159 welding 132
magnesium 307 welding rods 135
steels 66 Bronzes 365
titanium 324 BS970 steel identification 68
copper 365 Carbon content of steel 66
Aluminium brazing 199 Carbon equivalent 71
Aluminium alloys Carbon fibre composites 339
age hardening 160, 167 Carbon wheels 342
heat treatment 166,226 Cast irons 366
history 160 Casting
identification 163 aluminium 287
intoduction 159 contraction 293
precipitation treatment 160, 167 patterns 287
softening 167 Castor angle 14
summary 170 CEW 77
temper (cold work ) 165 Chain alignment 17
Aluminium beryllium 374 Chavant clay 344
Aluminium casting Chrome-Moly
alloys 295 steels, general 71,85
contraction 293 4130 86
introduction 287 24CrMo4 86
Annealing 74 Cold bending 102
Anodising Composites
aluminium, decorative 233 introduction 19,339
aluminium , hard 235 carbon fibre 339
titanium 336 core fillers 361
Aramid 360 fatigue of 391
Artificial aging 160 , 167 fibre reinforced 339
Bearings fibreglass 348
headstock 141 FRP 339
needle roller 142 metal matrix 375
swinging arm 143 MMC 375
taper roller 142 moulds 341
Bend pre preg 352
allowance 112 , 195 shear 359
radius 109 , 225 structural 347
Bending vacuum bagging 351
aluminium sheet 193 Compression , in bending 105
tube , method s 105 Compressive loads 41
 460 Index

Cone Filler
oblique 245 , 273 welding 126
right 245 , 252 welding aluminium 180,223
Copper alloys 365 Fire risk
Corrosion magnesium 317
galvanic 315 titanium 329
magnesium 314 Flame welding 121
Cracking Flexural Rigidity 442
stress corrosion 178 Flux
welds 125 aluminium 199
Creep 188 removal 201
. Deep drawing steel 249 welding 135
Distortion 31 Forming titanium 331
Ductile iron 367 Fracture Toughness 178 , 314
Ductility 43 , 49,404 Frame Seeley 149
Dural 47, 169 FRP 339
E (modulus) 59 Galvanic corrosion 315
Elastic Limit 50 Gas welding 119
Elektron 308 GBK (condition) 78
Endurance Limit 398 Geometry, steering 14
Ergal 169 Grinding, effect on fatigue 410
ERW 76 Gunmetal 365
Exhaust Gussets 146
fixing 262 Gyroscope 418
lobster back bend 244,280 Gyroscopic reactions 418
materials 248 Hard anodising 235
overview 239 Hardening 74
pressing 278 Hardness 54
silencing 265 Headstock bearings 141
software 241 Heat treatment
tapered headers 245,277 aluminium 166, 168,226
Exhaust manufacture steel 74
cylinders 251 HIP 412
front pipes 277 Holding tube 113
olique cones 273 Holes, drilling in plate 219
pressure forming 281 Honeycomb 361
right cones 252 Hot bending 101
rolling 258,274 Hot Isostatic Pressing (HIP) 412
Explosafe 210 Identification of steel 68
Fatigue Impact 44
aluminium 178 Incoloy 371
composites 391 Inconel 371
endurance limit 398 Inherent stiffness 58
grinding , effect of 410 Iron
introduction 44 cast 366
origins 400 ductile 367
strength 398 SG 367
finish, effect of 409 Jig
surface hardening, effect of 413 alignment 14,28,32
test 397 Joints, tube 114
welding , effect of 411 Keronite 236,319
Fibreglass 348,339 Kevlar 360
 Index 461

L154 300 Plastics (continued)

L155 300 polycarbonate 378
L169 304 PTFE 378
Lateral stiffness 437 PVC 378
Layout (of design) 26 Plastic , rigid 376
LM25 299 Post weld treatment 129
Lobster back bend 280 Pre weld treatment 129
Magnesium Precipitation treatment 167
alloys 307 Preparing tube 111
corrosion 314 Pre-preg 352
fire risk 317 Press bending 105
protection 316 Pressure forming , exhaust 281
welding 317 Pre-stressing 406
Manganese 70 Problems, welding 121
Material Proof stress 50
condition 48 PTFE 378
identification 47 PVC 378
Metal matrix composite 375 Radius of bend 109
Metal structures 20 Rapid Prototyping 290
Mild steel 58,91,248 Rapid solidification alloys 188
MMC 375 RenPaste 345
Modulus of Elasticity Residual stress 404
composites, directional 354 Resilience 60
metals 59 Reynolds
Molybdenum 70 531 81
Moulds, composites 341 753 85
NBK (condition ) 78 Rockwell hardness 54
Needle roller bearings 142 S.A.E. (steel) 69
Normalising 74, 132 Second Moment of Area 361,442
Notch sensitivity 390 Seeley frame 149
Nozzle size 120 Selective Laser Sintering 290
Nylon 377 SG iron, for brake discs 367
Oblique cone 245,273 Shear, in composites 359
Offset, steering 16 Shot peening 406
Oxy-Acetylene 22, 119 Shrinking 204
Panel 1 The Tensile Test 50 Silencers, design of 265
Panel 2 Hardness Testing 56 Softening aluminium 167
Panel 3 Identification of Steels 68 Software
Panel 4 Fast Fracture 179 exhaust design 241
Panel 5 Rapid Prototyping 290 stress analysis 395
Patterns , casting 287 Sound, velocity of 268
PEEK 379 Spindles (steel) 94
Percentage elongation 49 Spinning 196
Photoelastic methods 391 Springback 104
Plain carbon steel 65 Springs, titanium 322
Plastics Stainless steel 97
acetyl 377 Steel
acrylic 378 2S.515 92
fibre reinforced 339 alloy 66
fibreglass 339 deep drawing 249
nylon 377 for spindles 94
PEEK 379 freecutting 91
462 Index

Steel (continued) Tension 41

identification 68 TIG welding, aluminium 22,223
introduction 63 TIG welding , shielding titanium 333
mild 58,91 , 248 Titanium
plain carbon 65 alloys 321
stainless 97,368 anodising 336
types of 67 contamination 328
Steel tube 75 exhausts 323
Steering geometry 14 fire risk 329
Stereo Lithography 290 forming 331
Stiffness frames 322
in bending 441 grades 324
introduction to 37,415 machining 329
lateral 437 springs 322
measuring 431 valves 327
modes 431 welding 332
of forks 434,438 Torsion 41
of tubes 444,448 , 453 Torsional stiffness 434,451
torsional 434,451 Trail 16
Strain gauges 393 Triangulation 40
Strength Tube
composites 356 bending 101
fatigue 398 holding 113
general 37,43 joints 114
improving by design 381 preparing 111
Stress types of 76
at a fillet 385 Vacuum bagging 351
at a hole 384 Valves titanium 327
at a point 382 Velocity of sound 268
concentration 381,403 Vibration of chassis 428
definition of 52 Vickers hardness 55
reducing by design 388 Weld
relieving 405 cracking 125
residual 404 filler 126
triaxial 386 filler,aluminium 180,223
Stress corrosion cracking 178 post weld treatment 129
Stretching 204 pre weld treatment 129
Surface finish, effect on fatigue 409 Welding
Surface hardening , in fatigue 413 brazing/bronze welding rods 135
Swinging arm bearings 143 bronze 132
T45 steel tube 79 effect on fatigue 411
Tank capacity 209 flame 121
Tank formers 212 flux 135
Taper roller bearings 142 gas 119
Tapered header 245 , 277 general 20
Temper of aluminium alloys 165 magnesium 317
Temperature crayons 131 nozzle size 120
Tempering of steel 74 pressure 120
Tempilstik 131 problems 121
Tensile range 72 TIG 22,223,333
Tensile strength, Panel 1 50 titanium 332
Tensile test 49 Yield point 50
 Index 463

Rear cover
The Tul-aris is one of the most successful and unique home built race bikes ever
produced. Designed and built by Dr Robin Tuluie, it is powered by an 800cc parallel
2-Stroke twin which provides 161bhp(120kW) at the rear wheel. Such power is not
exceptional these days, but this bike only weighs 273lbf (124kgf) giving it a truly
oustanding power to weight ratio . In America, where the bike was built, it has already
won several regional and national races in the Unlimited GP class and has broken
two lap records in the process.

But there are two other aspects that distinguish this bike from most other specials .
Firstly, it is packed with innovative ideas. The headstock is mounted directly onto the
engine and there is no frame as such. The 6 speed cassette-type gearbox has an
aluminium/ composite housing and the adjustable swinging arm pivot is built into it.
Rear suspension utilises a patented linkage system that incorporates a flexible
titanium link to reduce the number of pivot points required.

The second aspect that sets the Tul-aris apart is the amount of serious engineering
that went into the design and development . The structure was evolved using solid
modelling, FEA, virtual dynamic modelling and modal analysis software tools. Once
the bike existed, it was put through an extensive test program on a computer
controlled two poster hydraulic rig. This simulates actual track forces by applying
vertical loads to the tyres. Such tests allow suspension characteristics to be optimised
and vibration characteristics of the structure to be observed and modified.

With thanks to Dr Robin Tuluie

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