FEA Analysis

[gtmspyder]

Anyone got any FEA software who can easilly tell me what wall thickness I need with 120mm dia steel tube (for a one-off chassis backbone) that will give me a tortional stiffness of about 5000nm per degree over 2 metre?

This will be supplemented with a spaceframe/cage so 5000nm/deg is not all I'm aiming at if anyone is worried!

[gtmspyder]

Thanks guys....looks like its 6.2mm then

As a rule is round tube tortionally (if thats the correct word?)stronger than square or rectangular section?

>> Edited by gtmspyder on Wednesday 13th July 23:06

[gtmspyder]

Thanks again for the help.

I am concerned by bending stiffness, but generally less so than tortional stiffness - my logic being that a little but of bending longitudinally is less harmful to the handling than tortional stiffness.