TITians : The Champions of the ‘Go-Kart’

It all started with an idea to participate in the Go-Kart racing event,which is usually held annually at the TIT Group of institutes’ Campus (based in Bhopal) .So,a team of Mechanical Engineers from TIT Excellence was formed and members started burning midnight oil to achieve their goal.Therefore,Titians started their journey here on-wards to become the Champions of the Go-Kart.

Plan was laid out to make a stunning Go-Kart like they have always imagined,with the help of their faculties and seniors.The project was named as ‘Trailblazer’.Team was divided into smaller units : 

• Design team
• Steering
• Engine & Transmission
• Brakes & Wheel
• Business & Management

To achieve their dreams they participated in National Championship Go-Kart 2019 and ended up being the First Runner up.Back in 2018 in the same event,they were the Second Runner up and thus,improved their performance next year to end up being a Runner up.

And We wish them Good luck for their future participations in the events,we hope they will come out with flying colours soon.

Designer of the team Ashutosh Yadav took the lead with other members :

Chassis 

Chassis is the most important thing that needs to be taken into account before going to design and fabricate a Go-Kart.Most people stress about how competitive their Go-Kart Engine is but it is the Chassis which is actually the most important part of the Go-Kart. 

Chassis must be strong and light in weight,which gives it durability and swiftness.

In past,Go-karts consisted of Chassis made from Short bars and those crossed over each other often resulted in easy damage to the structure of the Go-Kart during races.Whereas,Modern Go-Karts posses Longer bars in chassis which offers more flexibility and allow you to move better over a variety of track surfaces especially when turning in.

Wider rear rails in the chassis results in less chances of flip over and more stability but it also increases the frequency of side bites. 

To make the Chassis Lightweight and shock absorbent,it is either made up of Hollow Pipes or Super tubular section.It must possess sufficient Tensile strength and elastic enough to resist the centrifugal force.

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Vehicle Design 

To design the vehicle,3D Modelling was done using software CATIA V5 and further analysis was done by using ANSYS FEA.

The design was done keeping in mind the aspects like : 

• Safety & Ergonomics
• Cost of the components
• Market availability 
• Safe engineering practices
• Strength 
• Ruggedness
• Aesthetics

Material selected for the fabrication was AISI 1018 Because of :

• Machinability
• Weldability
• Availability

Following Fabrication processes were used :

• Lathe work
• Cutting
• Drilling
• Shaping
• Grinding
• Polishing
• Finishing
• Welding

Just look at their deep thorough & detailed work,what could have stopped the Titians to become the Champions of the Go-kart.Not only in the past events,but also they are thriving for more such wins in future.

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Dimension Specification and Impact tests : 

Round tube of dimension = 25.4mm OD Thickness = 3mm 

Mesh element type: tetrahedral (Default) Elements: 15121 Nodes: 15092

1. Front Impact Analysis :

Using the gross weight of the vehicle as 150kg the impact Force was calculated based on impact time of .5 sec.

Max. Velocity for impact analysis was assumed to be 50 km/h. 

Load applied : 5000 N ,

Maximum stress induced : 369 Mpa ,

Maximum deformation : 6.57mm

2. Side impact test 

Deformation : 8.32mm 

Factor of safety : 1.03(the bumpers are to further enhance the safety factor) 

Load applied : 1666N

Maximum stress induced : 81.9Mpa

Deformation : 1.1mm 

Factor of safety : 2.5

3. Rear Impact Analysis :

Load applied : 5000N 

Maximum stress induced :192.3Mpa

Deformation : 5.6mm 

Factor of safety : 1.9

4. Wheel Hub Analysis :

The following are the considerations took for the design of wheel hub for 30 mm shaft : 

Material : Mild Steel

Braking torque : 507N-m 

Load : 4000N

Yield stress : 221Mpa 

Factor of safety : 1.22 

5. Disc Hub Analysis

The following are the considerations took for the design of wheel hub for 30 mm shaft : 

Material : Mild Steel 

Braking torque : 507N-m 

Load : 4000N,  

Yield stress : 221Mpa,

Factor of safety : 2.0

In their Go-Kart,they have used the engine of the Honda Stunner motorcycle which was powerful enough to counter other participants in the racing events.Body,seat and steering had been installed with the engine over the chassis and the final tests had been done before the final performance.

If you also want to design such Go-Karts or to become the part of “Titians ; the champions of the go-kart” you can use their due process as explained above and can also contact them through us .

This has been their journey so far and they are still active in the field to participate in more upcoming events.The Champions of the Go-kart “TrailBlazer”.

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