Structural evaluation of bamboo bike frames: experimental and numerical analysis, strength of materials

Abstract

Construction of bicycles with bamboo frames has become an alternative toimprove the quality of life of some communities, be friendly with the environmentand be ecologically sustainable. However, the production of bike frames is made inan artisanal way and there are few antecedents that have proven their reliability.This work presents the evaluation and simulation of the mechanical behavior ofbike frames made in bamboo. Three-points bending tests were performed usingbamboo bars with similar dimensions to bike frames, and an equivalent elasticitymodulus was determined and used as the input datum of a finite element model. Alinear model material and beam elements were used to model the bike frame. Testswere performed using bike frames of bamboo applying loads greater than 7000 N,and the displacements were measured. The experimental displacements were usedto calibrate the model, which consisted of modifying the rigidity of the connectionsuntil the displacements of the model fit near to 90%. The calibrated model was usedfor a fatigue simulation in order to predict the lifespan of the bike frame. Sometechnical values of bamboo bike frames were obtained so that these will allow themto define the technical characteristics of the product and guarantee their operatingconditions