Finite Element Analysis of Roller Coaster Wheel Frame Based on the Virtual Prototype Technology

The wheel frame is a key part of the roller coaster of the mobile devices. In the process of roller coaster operation, the force on wheel frame has instantaneous variability, traditional static analysis method can't meet needs of the security assessment. Therefore, based on a joint simulation of virtual prototype technology, multibody dynamics analysis of a type of roller coaster was carried out with automatic dynamic analysis of mechnical systems(ADAMS), the wheel frame load variation with time was obtained. ANSYS Workbench suffware was used to carry out the static analysis and harmonic response analysis. According to the results of static analysis, the safety strength check of the wheel frame was conducted. According to the deformation frequency response curve of the harmonic response analysis, the maximum frequency of the wheel frame harmonic response amplitude was obtained, and the stress and strain contours of maximum frequency were also obtained. The results indicate that the maximum stress of this type of the roller coaster is in allowable range of the material strength, and meets the national standard about safety evaluation of the roller coaster. At the same time, the roller coaster should avoid running in the frequency of 450 Hz, to ensure the stability and safety of the operation process.