Car Transport Trailer Design - Case Study Example

Car Transport Trailer Design Table of Contents Table of figures 3 Car Transport Trailer Design 4 Introduction 4 Available Design 5 Preferred materials 5 Properties of steel 6 Design Parameters 7 Base and Frame 7 Fibreglass movable top frame 10 Other design parameters 13 Conclusion 13 References 15 Table of figures Figure 1: Pattern of wheels base and station (platform of carriage of car) 8 Figure 2: Track dimensions of the designed trailer 9 Figure 3: Track dimensions of the designed trailer 9 Figure 4: Wheelbase with front metallic frame 10 Figure 5: Complete design of the trailer 11 Figure 6: Open frame door of the car transport trailer. 12 Figure 7: Open frame image of the designed car transport trailer 13 Car Transport Trailer Design Introduction Car transport trailers provide a mode of transportation for the goods that can be transported with the car. The trailers are directly attached to the cars. Car engine carries both the load of car and the attached trailer. Trailers are designed according to the type of goods these may carry. Car transport trailers that are designed to carry cars have enough space hold a car. In fact, car transport trailers are made a little spacious to hold some other accessories other than cars. In the similar manner, transport trailers are able to carry a set amount of load. It is a design feature and car transport trailers designers save much cost on the evaluation that how much load the trailer will bear. It also depends on the type of car being attached to the trailer. Small car engines are have lower capacity and do not perform good if load is attached to them. However, engines of more than 2.0 litters are considered good for the car transport trailers. Off road SUVs with engine capacity of 2.5 to 3.5, litters perform really well when attached with the car transport trailers. Wheelbase is the exact distance from the centre of front wheel to the centre of the rare wheel from any one of two sides. Track is the distance between the front wheels or the rare wheels. The distance is measured from the centre of the tires. Ground clearance is the height of the car from the ground up to the lower body of the car or a clear space from ground until silencer or any other car part. Ground clearance influences the centre of gravity of the vehicle. If the centre of gravity is above the ground, the vehicle will lose control on edges and while moving steering. Lower ground clearance is better but it is set according to practicality and available size dimension. Previously only metal beams and sheets are used to manufacture a car transport trailer but modern car transport trailers are manufactured with fibreglass or aluminium alloy materials. However, the base is still manufactured with solid steel. The use of material is selected according to the designed weight bearing ability of the car transport trailer. The selection of the material depends of various factors like availability, cost of the material, rigidity and durability required and practicality. The purpose of the report is to analyse the available practical designs for car transport trailers and develop a practical design for the car transport trailer for carrying motor racing cars. Available Design The designs that are available as car transport trailers are categorized as: Motor sports transport trailers Classic cars transport trailers Car transport trailers for motor homes Transport trailers for Automotive logistics General purpose transport trailer Transport trailers for commercial use Transport trailers for utility operations (Brianjames.co.uk, 2015) Preferred materials Materials play in important role in determining the strength of a design. Steel is always considered a best material to achieve durability and rigidity. Steel has larger index of elasticity and it suits the designs that require rigidity and durability. Properties of steel Steel is term used to represent iron that has been mixed with little quantities of carbon, manganese, nickel or other elements and compounds to enhance its physical as well as chemical properties. Malleability: steel can be rolled into thin sheets, beams, bars or into any required shape. Strength; steel is the strongest amongst other metals; it is highly resistant to fractures. Due to this property, it is massively used to manufacture frames, cars, boats, ships, etc. Conductivity: steel is a good conductor of heat and electricity. It transfers heat when used in the engine parts; the excessive heat is then removed to protect engine parts. Durability: steel is one of the most durable materials. If it is properly, cared steel can last longer for centuries. However, it is susceptible to atmospheric rupture. Alloying: some of the properties of steel can be altered by adding other elements to steel during its casting. The alloys alter the physical as well as chemical properties of steel. Zinc is added to steel when molten to enhance it elasticity index and make it more durable, nickel is added to make steel more shinier and more durable. Coating: steel can be coated with other materials to enhance its durability and protect it from atmospheric effects. Tine is added to protect steel from rusting and leave no chemical reactants when in contact with food products. Paint is applied to protect steel from harsh impacts of weather (Janssens, 2007). On the other hand, steel is heavier than other metals and extra effort is required to carry the weight of steel when it is used in car trailers. Aluminium on the other hand, is lighter as compared to steel and has lower strength as compared to that of steel. In this way, we can use steel where strength and rigidity are required and use the aluminium where limited strength and rigidity is required to make the design more eco friendly (Janssens, 2007). Processed and resin based materials, like, glass fibres and carbon fibres are even lighter as compared to that of the aluminium. Carbon fibres has larger factor of rigidity as compared to that of steel. It is stronger than steel in some cases yet many times lighter as compared to steel. Carbon fibres based materials are gaining popularity due to their excellent physical properties but due to higher cost, carbon fibre is making its position as the common materials for manufacturing vehicles and parts on massive scale. Carbon fibre composites materials are elastic enough to withstand against heavy strains and durable enough to remain under harsh environmental impacts for years (Janssens, 2007). As discussed above, the selected sports vehicle transport trailer should have a rigid base that uses rigid steel as the base material. On the other hand, the frame of the trailer uses both steel and aluminium. Long steel beams support the structure while, shorter segments of aluminium covers the beams and provide an extended support for the structure. Whole structure is made out of long hollow steel beam. Hollow steel beams are given preference over pure metal due to its reduced weight and cost. The reduction in weight also improves the engine performance while transport trailer is loaded (Diehlman, 2011). Design Parameters Base Frame Upper fibreglass frame Base and Frame Wheelbase is the distance from front wheels to the rare wheels. The total distance from the centre of one wheel to the other in the designed car transport trailer is about 3500 mm. The total length of the trailer with the metallic frame and platform is about 5500 mm. The length of the trailer from ground to platform is about 1290 mm. There would be a little difference between the loaded length of the transport trailer and the unloaded length of the transport trailer. The total width of the transport trailer is about 2200 mm while the total width from one wheel to the other is about 1790mm. All the parameters are selected according to the dimension of a normal sports vehicle. However, the design is not suitable for off road sports vehicle due to the difference is dimensions (Mladenov, 2008). Figure 1: Pattern of wheels base and station (platform of carriage of car) Figure 2: Track dimensions of the designed trailer Figure 3: Track dimensions of the designed trailer The remaining space will be used to carry tools and excess wheel for the vehicle. The front side of trailer should have a permanent metallic frame. The metallic frame also extends 6 inches from platform into to make the structure more secure. The height of the front metallic frame is about 5 feet. The front panel of the frame determines the maximum height of the car transport trailer (Yang & Lin, 2013). Figure 4: Wheelbase with front metallic frame Fibreglass movable top frame The top frame utilises the fibreglass resin based material is light and durable. Due to its high durability, it is preferred over metallic frame. On the other hand, the fibreglass frame will act as the opening and closing of the car transport trailer thus, it should be light enough to be handled in a careful manner. It is better to put additional door hydraulic aids to make the process of opening and closing easier. The front end of the top fibreglass frame is fixed to the front metallic frame. One end moves upward and acts as the opening and closing of the car trailer (Murad, Naser, Alam & Watkins, 2013). Figure 5: Complete design of the trailer The upper fibreglass frame is of irregular shape to have good aerodynamic properties. The curved back of the fibreglass frame ensures that the frame has a lower turbulence and lower drag. Lower drag and lower turbulence ensures that the car transport trailer will produce lower impact on the fuel consumption of the vehicle and thus higher fuel economy can be achieved (Ruina & Pratap, 2002). The total width of the fibreglass frame is about 2204 mm and the total length of the fibreglass frame is about 5550 mm. The designed dimensions are suggested to cover whole of the structure. All the sides of the fibreglass frame have a rounded curvature to enhance aerodynamic properties of the transport trailer. The height of the fibreglass frame is about 5 feet and 3 inches. The open height of the car transport trailer is about 10 feet and 4 inches. Figure 6: Open frame door of the car transport trailer. Outer hydraulic door opening system is present to ensure that little force is required to open and close the door of the car transport trailer. Two hydraulic jacks are present on both sides of the trailer. The image below depicts the transport trailer with hydraulic jacks. These hydraulic jacks do not require any pumps to pump the fluid into the hydraulic system. The system only requires air that is always present for operation. The hydraulic jacks suck air in and out for flawless operation. These jacks are installed in many types of vehicles to open and close the door. Figure 7: Open frame image of the designed car transport trailer Other design parameters The transport trailer has a fixed wheelbase. The wheels have connecting rods between them. There is only one connecting rod for a front two wheel and one for the rare wheels. The length of the connecting rod is same the track of the transport trailer. The ground clearance of the 645 mm. The base of the transport trailer is made of solid steel while frame is made of aluminium. The from side of the frame is covered with a sheet of fibreglass to prevent direct air from coming into the transport trailer. Aluminium planks will be used with a little notch on one side to maintain grip on the car transport trailer while loading and unloading cars. There aluminium planks with remain in the car transport trailer (Yang & Lin, 2013). Conclusion The design parameters of the car transport depend on various factors. The designed transport trailer should be examined with its load bearing capacity, aerodynamic properties, load on engine of the attached vehicle under no load conditions, load on the engine of the vehicle under load conditions and fuel economy of the vehicle while attached to the car transport trailer under load and no load conditions. It is better to identify initially, what parameters will influence the design with cost effectiveness. Utilizing different materials in the design of the car transport trailer not only reduce much weight of the car transport trailer but also reduce cost of materials, cost of fuel and cost of maintenance of both the transport trailer and the vehicle attached to it. It is better to examine which material suits which section of the transport trailer. Like base of the trailer is built by using, solid steel because it faces real wear and tear. The base of the transport trailer should be tough, rigid, and durable enough to with stand against wear and have a long life. In the similar manner, the frame can be build with aluminium as it bearing little load or the vehicle that it is holding. Aluminium is good as it does not caches rush and lighter as compared to steel. The upper frame is made from fibreglass because it is not bearing any load; its purpose is only to cover the transport trailer. References Brianjames.co.uk,. (2015). Brian James Trailers. Retrieved 22 January 2015, from http://www.brianjames.co.uk/ Diehlman, S. (2011). Mazda Produces 900,000th MX-5, Recognized as World’s Best-Selling Sports Car. Motor Trend Magazine. Retrieved 22 January 2015, from http://wot.motortrend.com/mazda-produces-900000th-mx-5-recognized-worlds-best-selling-sports-car-28207.html Janssens, K. (2007). Computational materials engineering. Amsterdam: Elsevier / Academic Press. Mladenov, Z. (2008). Audi R8 5.2 FSI quattro: breathtaking performance. Automobilesreview.com. Retrieved 22 January 2015, from http://www.automobilesreview.com/auto-news/audi-r8-52-fsi/7682/ Murad, N., Naser, J., Alam, F., & Watkins, S. (2013). Computational fluid dynamics study of vehicle A-pillar aero-acoustics. Applied Acoustics, 74(6), 882-896. doi:10.1016/j.apacoust.2012.12.011 Ruina, A., & Pratap, R. (2002). Introduction to statics and dynamics. [Oxford: Pre-print for Oxford University Press. Yang, Y., & Lin, C. (2013). Performance analysis of cargo-handling equipment from a green container terminal perspective. Transportation Research Part D: Transport And Environment, 23, 9-11. doi:10.1016/j.trd.2013.03.009 Read More