Topology optimization of swing arm for FSAE EV racing cars

Abstract The swing arm is an important mechanical part that it functions to support the weight of the vehicle and acts as a cushion when the shock absorbers are functioning. The purpose of this research is to investigate the stress and total deformation of swing arm design with different materials as well as evaluate the structural analysis of swing arm after conducting topology optimization. The research also aims to reduce the mass of the swing arm using topology optimization while meeting the minimum safety requirements. Three different swing arm designs would be created using SolidWorks. The designs would be analyzed using the structural analysis feature in the ANSYS Workbench where the parameters of this project such as stress along the swing arm, total deformation and factor of safety for each swing arm design are evaluated and compared. The chosen design would then be analyzed where steel and aluminium are selected as the material for the swing arm using ANSYS. The finalized swing arm would then undergo topology optimization where the reduction of mass of swing arm would occur. The optimized swing arm would be analyzed and the parameters obtained would be evaluated and compared with the unoptimized swing arm. The expected outcomes are the aluminium swing arm would present a lower distribution of stress along the body of swing arm, but higher total deformation compared to the steel swing arm. It is also expected that the distribution of stress and total deformation on swing arm would be higher after conducting topology optimization due to more force acting on the reduced or optimized surface area of the swing arm. Moreover, the factor of safety for optimized swing arm is expected to decrease following the reduction in mass of the swing arm. Hence, the research is focused on the analyzing of difference in data collected for swing arm as well as reducing the mass of the swing arm while meeting the minimum factor of safety.