Simulation Studies and Effect of Mass Analysis

There is a need to better understand how simulations are properly done through example of MS12 simulations. There is also a study of how the masses on the vehicle impacts the simulation results.

**small errors in simulation setup can produce major differences in results

1. Figure out how simulations are properly setup

2. Have better understanding of the effect of masses on load cases

   1. take all masses off and see if it passes

   2. add back masses slowly

      1. is one a major issue? If so, increase radius

   3. reflect on whether the oversimplification would still lead to accurate results

      1. it should be generally okay because we are aiming for a safety factor of 2

      2. at the very least, it is okay in this early stage of the game.

   4. things to watch out for:

      1. high forces/stresses concentrated in one area of the Chassis

3. FEA problem versus design problem

   1. Mech advisors assure that it is primarily a design problem; the tubes are just not working

   2. An FEA problem is when one mesh, one spot, or two is above the mean stress of a body

   3. it is a design problem if the median stress is over 800 MPa (???)