DYNAMIC ANALYSIS OF A VEHICLE PLATFORM MADE OF COMPOSITE MATERIALS, USING THE FINITE ELEMENT METHOD IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF MATHEMATICAL MODELING

Resumo

The present work consisted in the discretization of a vehicle platform in finite elements in a simplified
way, responsible for representing a generic vehicle, using 12 elements of Kirchhoff Plates (whose thickness is
negligible in relation to the other dimensions), with 3 degrees of freedom per node (one vertical displacement
and two rotations), aiming at obtaining an adequate mathematical model, determining the natural frequencies and
the time responses of the structure. The simulations were performed with three different materials, two
composites and 1040 steel. The results obtained show that the structure made with carbon fiber has the highest
natural frequencies when compared to the others, a fact that is linked, above all, to the high modulus of elasticity
that the material has. Regarding the responses over time, the structure made with e-glass fiber presented the
highest amplitudes of oscillation, indicating that the parameters used may not be very suitable to simulate the
structure made from this material. In addition, the structure made from carbon fiber proved to be more stable in
the simulations, as it returns to the equilibrium situation in a relatively shorter time when compared to the other
materials studied.