Design, Analysis and Optimization of Engine Mounting Bracket for SAE Supra Car Using Finite Element Analysis

The power train components of vehicles are firmly attached to the Engine mounting bracket. It plays very important role in performance of vehicle and its comfortable ride. As SAE India Supra car was high performance vehicle, the mounting brackets undergo high static and dynamic loading conditions due to that Huge amount of vibrations were produced. By careful designing and analysis of engine mounting bracket we can mitigate the vibration produced in the vehicle. The current paper discusses the modelling of bracket in Catia, Static and Modal Analysis of bracket was carried out in FEAST Software. Optimization of bracket is carried out in hyper mesh Software for weight reduction. A Formula Student car is required to be highly manoeuvrable and quick with high rates of acceleration and deceleration. Hence the mounting of the engine should be well constrained and the mount brackets need to be light-weight and designed to safely bear the inertial loads and maximize vibration transmission. FEA has been done to check the frequency and loading response of the brackets before finalizing the design. The design of the brackets has been experimentally validated after the actual implementation and testing of the vehicle. Finally, the comparison of results (Displacement, von-mises stresses and strain) for Mild Steel, Aluminium 6063, Carbon Fiber Composite and Glass Fiber Composite is discussed.