Design and Development of Fiber-Reinforced Polymer Seat Base for Two-Wheelers

The recent decade has witnessed a tremendous increase of fiber-reinforced polymers as candidate materials for structural applications in automobiles, aimed at reducing the weight of structural components and improving the fuel efficiency. In this study, the seat base of a scooter was selected as a candidate component for weight reduction through replacement of existing material, following a systematic approach based on Ashby’s (Materials selection in mechanical design, 4th edn (2011) [1]) material selection chart. A combination of synthetic fibers and natural fibers has been used in developing a seat base of a scooter. In order to arrive at a desirable mechanical performance, hybrid natural fiber composites were chosen as replacement material. The results of the mechanical characterization formed the input to the stress analysis on the component; a non-interactive failure criterion was used to estimate the failure stress of the material. This was further used to arrive at the optimum thickness of the seat base. To verify the proof of concept, a prototype of the seat was made after incorporating design for manufacture principles using the hand layup technique. The fitment check, repeatability of composition as well as stiffness test was also conducted on the prototype sample. This study has provided a weight savings of 40% through the use of hybrid polymer composites.