MODELLING AN AMERICAN CHOPPER BIKE USING SOLIDWORKS

MODELLING AN AMERICAN CHOPPER & IT'S COMPONENTS USING SOLIDWORKS

OBJECTIVE:

To model an American chopper bike using solidworks and to create some rendered images of the same.

INTRODUCTION:

This project report is about how I created an American chopper after modelling it's components and assembling it using Solidworks.Here I will briefly explain how I did this project using solidworks.

METHODOLGY

PLAN OF ACTION FOR DESIGNING CHOPPER:

   1. Modelling various components/parts

   2. Assembly of components/parts

   3. Setting up camera, environment, lights etc

   4. Final rendering

Various commands and features I used to model the parts are as follows;

• 2D sketch : A 2D sketch is the base to create a 3D model. It is created on plane on 2 axes. Various line tools, circles, rectangles, splines etc are mainly used to create  sketches. Tools such as 'Power trim', 'Trim extend' etc. were widely used in this project.
• Projected curves : Used to project a sketched curve on to a model face to create a 3D curve. It can be also created by creating sketches on two intersecting planes.
• Trim : Used to remove the extra edges of intersecting lines on a 2D sketch.
• Offset : Used to add sketch entities by offsetting faces, edges, curves etc to a specified direction and distance.
• Convert entities : Convert selected model edges or sketch entities into current sketching plane.
• Boss Extrude : It is used to extrude a sketch or selected contours in specified directions thus creating a solid feature.
• Revolved Boss : Revolves a sketch or selected sketch contours about an axis, thus forming solid feature
• Swept Boss : Sweeps a closed profile along an open or closed path to create a solid feature.
• Extruded Cut : It removes material from a 3D model according to the selected profile along specified direction.
• Revolved Cut : It removes material from a 3D model according to the selected profile about a specified axis.
• Loft : The loft feature helps to create shapes by making transition between multiple profiles and make use of guide curves to form complex geometry.
• Dome : A dome is a smooth rounded vault forming the outside face of a body or structure.
• Fillet : used to connect adjacent faces with a specified tangent curve.
• Chamfer : Used to connect adjacent faces with a specified inclined line.
• Combine : It is used to combine two or more solid bodies together.
• Extended surface : Used to extend the selected edge of a surface along a specified direction and distance.
• Ruled surface : It is used to insert a ruled surface according to the selected edges.
• Offset surface : Creates offseted surface using one or more faces.
• Surface fill : Create a surface patch within a selected boundary.
• Boundary surface : Creates a boundary surface between profiles in two directions.
• Lofted surface : It is used to create lofted surface between two more profiles. 
• Trim surface : It is used to remove the unwanted portion of a surface according to a sketch profile or other features.
• Shells : Used to hollows out a part, leaves open the faces we select and creates thin walled features on the remaining faces.
• Assemblies : Used to build complex assemblies consisting of many components which can be parts or other assemblies called subassemblies.

1. Modelling various components/parts

This American chopper bike consists of 13 parts;

   a. Transmission Belt

   b. Kick stand

   c. Chain

   d. Rear Fender

   e. Rear Wheel

   f. Front Wheel

   g. Front Fender

   h. Pedal

   i. Oil Tank

   j. Front Fork

   k. Chassis

   l. Engine

  m. Gas Tank

1(a). TRANSMISSION BELT 

I got familiarized with various sketch tools such as 'smart dimension', spline tool, trim tool, circle tool, various line tools such as centre line, Midpoint line, etc. Also got familiarized with applying various constraints to sketches such as tangency, horizontal relation, vertical relation, renaming planes etc. Learned to use various tools such as 'Extruded Boss/Base', 'Fillet' etc. At the end, got introduced to applying various materials using 'Appearences' tool.​​​​​​​

1(b). KICK STAND

By modeling this part, I got introduced to sketch tools such as 'ellipse', 'spline' etc. I learned to create loft using ' Lofted Boss/Base'. At the end of modelling 'Dome' tool (insert>features>Dome) was used to create smooth curved end faces. Also a provision for pivoting the stand was modeled using 'Extruded Boss/Base' tool.

1(C). CHAIN

I learned how to make 'blocks' and save them so that we can use it later for modeling components with repeating elements or parts. For example, in this case the pins and chain plates were repeating elements. Also, got introduced to use the 'curve driven pattern' tool. I got familiarized with various features of ' Extruded Boss/Base' tool such as extruding 'from vertex' , 'from midplane' etc. I used 130 pins and 260 chain plates for making this model. ​​​​​​​

1(d). REAR FENDER

Procedure of modelling the rear fender of the chopper was almost similar to that of front fender modelling. Additional feature used here was the 'shell' feature. Also the dimensions of rear fender was different from that of front fender.

1(e). REAR WHEEL

The procedure for modelling the rear wheel & Front wheel of the chopper was almost similar. But, the rear wheel have more width compared to that of front wheel. Also the tread pattern design was slightly different in this case. Wider tires will provide improved handling and cornering performance as they have stiffer side walls and wider tread faces.  Tread patterns are provided for channeling out the water while travelling along a wet surface. A slick tire will always provide more grip or road holding ability in case of travelling along a dry surface compared to a tire having tread pattern, while in case of wet surface tire having tread patterns provide more grip. Increasing the surface area contact of the tire with the road improves the road holding ability of vehicle. It also provide better confidence to the driver while negotiating a corner. You may also noticed that there is difference in width of front and rear tires in case of most motorcycles. Front wheels usually have smaller width to provide better stearing ability. Rear wheels are wider to improve the traction and control as the power from the engine is transmitted to rear wheels. 

1(f). FRONT WHEEL

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1(i). OIL TANK

A motorcycle's chassis is considered as it's skelton. All componenets like wheels, suspensions, seat, fueltank, engine, transmission system etc are mounted on chassis. So it must have sufficient strength and durability. Also, design of the chassis plays a major role in the handling of motorcycle.

By modelling the chassis of the motorcycle using Solidworks I got introduced to 'Pierce' option available in Solidworks. It was used while the application of 'sweep' to model the frame. Major sub elements on Chassis were the two brackets for mounting  footpegs and shifter, three horizontal plates for mounting the engine safely on chassis, rear axle mounting and kickstand mounting bracket.​​​​​​​

 

1(l). ENGINE

 

Here I modeled a V twin (V2) engine using Solidworks. A V twin engine is basically a two cylinder piston engine, where the cylinders share a common crank shaft and are arranged in a V configuration. 

By modelling the engine of the American chopper, I gained some insights on making composite curves and pierce feature in Solidworks. These features where mainly used for modelling the exhaust pipes. I also used Cut extrude, Linear pattern, fillets etc for modelling the cooling fins and cylinders. A draft angle of 5 degree was applied on cylinders.

 

1(m). GAS TANK

 

Here the gas tank and seat are integrated together. Spline tool was mainly used for creating the fuel tank and seat due to its curvy geometry. It was created by surface modelling tools. Swept surface, project curve, lofted surface, knitting tool, shell etc were the tools mainly used for creating this model. 

 

 2. Assembly of components/parts

 

In order to assemble the parts, all the parts are inserted in assembly file one by one as per the requirement. After that required mates were applied to each and every individual component for proper alignment. In order to snap the entire motorcycle to the floor required mates were applied to kick stand and wheels with top plane. After assembling I applied some decals and did a rendering on 'Photoview 360'. It is shown below.

                                                                 

 

RENDER IMAGES

 

Some more renderings I did are shown below. I rendered it in different views. I tried both matte black as well as glossy black paints on the painted componenets. Metallic chrome was applied to various engine components, handle bars, wheels etc. Rubber material was applied to both tyres and belt. Applied few different materials and paints to remaining parts. Then I applied an indoor environment and a white backplate as background. It took atleast 20 minutes to render each image shown below.

                                                                        

 

RESULT

 

Thus different components of the American chopper bike were successfully modelled and assembled using solidworks. At the end multiple renderings of the model was done.