1.

Introduction:

Cycling companies often talk about using aerospace grade metals – but the reality is that
designated alloys have to conform to certain quality requirements regardless of whether they
are used in an aircraft or a bike frame.
Several properties of a material like, density, stiffness, yield strength, elongation, fatigue and
endurance limit help decide whether it is appropriate in the construction of a bicycle frame:
By designing a frame to be stiff enough, it will also usually be strong enough to withstand
cycling loads. However material toughness is essential in ensuring damage resistance. A
tougher material is able to absorb more energy before failing, meaning it will bend rather
than breaking in a brittle way.
Repeated loading of materials can lead to fatigue failure. Steel and titanium have a fatigue
limit, a maximum stress below which the material can be loaded an unlimited number of
times without failing.
However, aluminium has no limit and given enough loading cycles, will fail under very small
stresses. But by designing frames to minimise the maximum stress levels experienced, the
lifetime of the frame will be more than long enough to cover a normal lifetime of use.

2. Objective:

Control the geometries and dimensions of the tubing used to build the frame has a very
large influence on ride characteristics. To maintain the same stiffness for a lighter weight, we
could use less material in a larger diameter, thinner walled tube. However, there is a limit to
how thin tubing walls can be made before they become susceptible to damage, denting and
more importantly buckling.
So the objective of the project is as follows:
• Appropriately coupling material properties with tubing dimensions for proper
material selection which will influence and tailor the stiffness and compliance of the
product to the desired ride characteristics.

3. Procedure:

3.1. Choice of different materials in recent market:

3.1.1 Steel

A classic type of construction for both road bicycles and mountain bicycles uses standard
cylindrical steel tubes which are connected with lugs. Historically, the lower temperatures
associated with brazing (silver brazing in particular) had less of a negative impact on the
tubing strength than high temperature welding.
Recent advances in metallurgy ("Air-hardening steel") have created tubing that is not
adversely affected, or whose properties are even improved by high temperature welding
temperatures, which has allowed both TIG & MIG welding to side-line lugged construction in
all but a few high end bicycles.
A more economical method of bicycle frame construction uses cylindrical steel tubing
connected by TIG welding, which does not require lugs to hold the tubes together. Instead,
frame tubes are precisely aligned into a jig and fixed in place until the welding is complete.
Cheaper steel bicycle frames are made of mild steel, also called high tensile steel. However,
higher-quality bicycle frames are made of high strength steel alloys (generally chromium-
molybdenum, or "chromoly" steel alloys) which can be made into lightweight tubing with very
thin wall gauges. One of the most successful older steels was Reynolds "531", a manganese-
molybdenum alloy steel. More common now is 4130 Chromoly or similar alloys. Reynolds
and Columbus are two of the most famous manufacturers of bicycle tubing.

3.1.2 Aluminium

Aluminium alloys have a lower density and lower strength compared with steel alloys;
however, they possess a better strength-to-weight ratio, giving them notable weight
advantages over steel.
Early aluminium structures have shown to be more vulnerable to fatigue, either due to
ineffective alloys, or imperfect welding technique being used.
The most popular type of construction today uses aluminium alloy tubes that are connected
together by Tungsten Inert Gas (TIG) welding.
Aluminium bicycle tubing is a compromise, offering a wall thickness to diameter ratio that is
not of utmost efficiency, but gives us oversized tubing of more reasonable aerodynamically
acceptable proportions

3.1.3 Titanium

Titanium is perhaps the most exotic and expensive metal commonly used for bicycle frame
tubes. It combines many desirable characteristics, including a high strength to weight ratio
and excellent corrosion resistance. Reasonable stiffness (roughly half that of steel) allows for
many titanium frames to be constructed with "standard" tube sizes comparable to a
traditional steel frame, although larger diameter tubing is becoming more common for more
stiffness. Titanium is more difficult to machine than steel or aluminium, which sometimes
limits its uses and also raises the effort (and cost) associated with this type of construction.
As titanium frames are usually more expensive than similar steel or aluminium alloy frames,
the cost puts them out of reach for most cyclists.
Titanium frames typically use titanium alloys and tubes that were originally developed for
the aerospace industry. The most commonly used alloy on titanium bicycle frames is 3AL-2.5V
(3.5% Aluminium and 2.5% Vanadium). 6AL-4V (6% Aluminium and 4% Vanadium) is also used,
but it is more difficult to weld, make tubes of, and machine. Often, the tubes are of 3AL-2.5V
while dropouts and other peripheral sections are made of 6AL-4V.

3.1.4 Composites

Carbon fibre, or more properly Carbon Fibre Reinforced Polymer (CFRP), is the new kid on the
block. Although expensive, it is light-weight, corrosion-resistant and strong, and can be
formed into almost any shape desired. The result is a frame that can be fine-tuned for specific
strength where it is needed (to withstand pedalling forces), while allowing flexibility in other
frame sections (for comfort). Custom carbon fibre bicycle frames may even be designed with
individual tubes that are strong in one direction (such as laterally), while compliant in another
direction (such as vertically).
In one series of tests conducted by Santa Cruz Bicycles, it was shown that for a frame design
with identical shape and nearly similar weight, the carbon frame is considerably stronger than
aluminium, when subjected to an overall force load (subjecting the frame to both tension and
compression), and impact strength. While carbon frames can be lightweight and strong, they
may have lower impact resistance compared to other materials, and can be prone to damage
if crashed or mishandled. Cracking and failure can result from a collision, but also from over
tightening or improperly installing components.
It has been suggested that these materials may be vulnerable to fatigue failure, a process
which occurs with use over a long period of time, though this is often limited to interlaminar
cracks or cracks in adhesive at joints, where stresses can be well controlled with good design
practices.
Other materials besides carbon fibre, such as metallic boron, can be added to the matrix to
enhance stiffness further. Some newer high-end frames are incorporating Kevlar fibres into
the carbon weaves to improve vibration damping and impact strength, particularly in down
tubes, seat stays, and chain stays.

3.2 Idea of Alternative ways of improving structure from material as well manufacturing
perspective

3.2.1 Fabrication of functionally graded bi-material of aluminium steel combination

Since reducing the weight of vehicles is one of the efficient countermeasures against
them, fabrication of bi-material with combination of aluminium and steel can combine
lightweight property of aluminium along with durable versatile steel alloys. This
bimetallic combination can be a great alternative to usual choice of high performance
fibre composite in terms of economic viability.

3.2.2 Fabrication of Steel-polymer composites

Steel-polymer sandwich composite in place of pure steel alloy can be replacement for
better damping behaviour. Outer skin sheets of sandwich panels are usually designed
to carry normal and flexural loads, while the core material is designed to resist shear
loads. Steel and aluminium alloys are generally used for skin sheets, while low density
polymers are used for cores.

3.2.3 Replacement of fusion welding with friction stir welding

In general, conventional fusion welding of aluminium to steel is difficult because they