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Post by Self Absorbed Turnip on Aug 25, 2021 12:33:55 GMT -5
Greetings everyone, I had an idea last night of using a frame and stringer type design for a semi-monocoque design like that used in aircraft. In this iteration, the frames could be laser or water cut 11ga steel. There are two kinds of stringers used here; the first is 2" x 1/8th" steel bar and the other is 3/4" 16ga steel tube.
Frames would likely need to be sent out to have cut but the rest of the chassis could be assembled using a chop saw and MIG welder. Here's a link to the file. Note: Autodesk expires these links in a few weeks so I'll include some images for folks who stumble onto this in the future.
I poked around and didn't see any other trikes made like this which leads me to believe it's a silly idea. And so I think it's fair to ask if this is worth further thought or should I just do a traditional space frame?
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Post by Admin on Aug 26, 2021 5:00:32 GMT -5
The only problem i would think about is the cost of the tools and sheet panels necessary to cut the shapes out of flat steel. It is far easier to cut round tubing and mig weld them together.
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Post by noahkatz on Sept 12, 2021 20:33:49 GMT -5
> I poked around and didn't see any other trikes made like this which leads me to believe it's a silly idea.
Not necessarily, but the implementation is unbalanced.
Using such heavy material for the stringers kills the whole reason for such a structure - light weight.
The purpose of the stringers is not to directly add strength, but only to shorten the unsupported spans of skin material so that it doesn't buckle.
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Post by CaptainAmerica on Oct 4, 2021 19:45:57 GMT -5
The issue I see here would be the stiffness of the triangulation bars, when you build something like that you need the body to act as a shear plate against folding. I would look at mid 80s aluminum monocoque designs, it's crazy now stiff you can make .030 sheet aluminum riveted over bulkheads. Also if you look into aluminum sheets that have hex aluminum or foam glued in between that allow the outer body to be extremely stiff.
I haven't built a chassis like this due to the complexity over tube frame but it's a lot lighter and probably stiffer.
Tony Pashley wrote a decent book that goes over all of the basics of car design but also specifically a chassis he built with riveted sheet aluminum.
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Post by Self Absorbed Turnip on Oct 7, 2021 10:57:50 GMT -5
I think I'll stick with the usual square tube space frame for now. Thanks, ya'll.
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