Design and Packaging of All-in-One Axle

Sammanfattning: The aim of this thesis work is to design an electric axle that contains all the operational components, like the powertrain, suspension, brakes, and steering system. One of the requirements of this design work is to package all the axle components compactly in one single unit. This work is also carried out to assess the viability of assisting in the overall modularity of the chassis as modularity in commercial vehicles has become a popular trend in recent years due to the increasing market competition as well as the need for more sustainable products. The work has been carried out in three phases - research, conceptualization, and analysis. The research phase consisted of both market research on the existing products available commercially and a literature review of the various components of an axle to find feasible alternatives to the components currently being used in electric axles. In the conceptualization phase, the various e-axle concepts were compared using methods like PUGH’s matrix to eliminate concepts that did not seem feasible for the detailed design. Preliminary CAD models were designed for the One-motor solution and the In-wheel motor solution. The In-wheel motor solution was eliminated due to some critical limitations and the One-motor solution was chosen for the next sub-phase of detailed CAD modeling. This concept was then analysed using Finite Element analysis as well as kinematic analysis to get insights into the axle performance as well as to observe the load distribution on the axle during operation.