Evaluations of relationship between vehicle rigidity and vehicle dynamics in solar car

Abstract

Recently, the appearance of electric vehicles has changed the structure of vehicles. Therefore, it is necessary to create design guidelines tailored to the structure of the electric vehicle. In this research, we focus on the relationship between the vehicle structure and the dynamic performance of the vehicle, and create design guidelines for the new generation vehicle structure. As the first step of this research, vehicle structural parts having rigidity which greatly affect the dynamic characteristics of the vehicle were identified. This evaluation was carried out with a stability factor derived by constant radius analysis using flexible multibody dynamics. For the target model, a solar car frame with a general electric vehicle body structure added was used. When pillar part stiffness is high, the elasticity transforms decrease by the vehicle frame cornering force. It is understood that, the vehicle alignment changes, the vehicle stability increases.