Analysis and development of a prototype of an N1 vehicle through FEM methodologies

This thesis has the purpose to follow the development of a prototype of an N1 electric vehicle developed by Merlo Tecnoindustrie SPA. In the first part, will be analysed the basic assumptions made in the preliminary phase, exposing also the calculations required for gradability and barycentre estimation. Then the N1 vehicles market is analysed, individuating the different typologies of vehicles, their prices, and dimensions. Then an overview of the regulations is done, summarising the list of the one used, and analysing in detail the one used in the thesis project, especially ECE R137 and ECE R12. In the intermediate part, the design activity is carried out, designing an outer tie rod for the steering system, designing the antivibration support for the batteries and different FEM analysis for the chassis, both in linear and nonlinear field. In particular, the analysis carried out involve the evaluation of bending and torsional stiffness, the evaluation of the front crash absorber to evaluate the model, which is then expanded to include the complete structural elements of the vehicle, starting to develop a virtual model for the CAE validation, and evaluating the values respect to norms R137 and R12. In the last part, the prototype developed is analysed and some intermediate step of the process are exposed, like the construction of the ergonomy maquette. Considering the adopted solutions, both structural and functional and evaluating also the possible improvement in the next prototypes and series versions, in elements which result critical in the current version.