INTRODUCTION

Motivation:

This project was motivated by a need for a modification to allow a snow bike to become lightweight and portable.

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Function Statement:

The portable snow bike will provide the strength and security of a rigid snow bike while providing the opportunity to be taken anywhere, which allows the bike to be used anywhere in the mountain.

 

Design Requirements:

·      Weight between 20-30lbs.

·      Fold down to fit into any backcountry backpack (30 litters min)

·      Design to ride standing up

·      It must not permanently deform during an impact landing onto snow

·      Have a total manufacturing cost of less than $475.

·      Have a total testing cost of less than $250.

 

Engineering Merit:

The engineering merit for this project comes from the application of engineering

concepts and tools gained through the CWU MET program. This project requires research and analysis of material properties such as hardness and toughness to determine the appropriate material for the job. These concepts were used in Metallurgy. The designed bike will be required to withstand repetitive impacts. To ensure it does this, careful thought will be put into the structural shape of the bike using the tools gained in Statics, Strengths, and Dynamics. It will be necessary to analyze the forces the bike is expected to handle and determine the location and limits for bending stress, shear stress, and deformation. These values will also tie back into the tool material selection.

 

Scope of Effort:

The entirety of this project will be completed by myself individually. The scope of this project is to focus on the bike frame itself. This includes the material, shape, and structure of the frame. It is expected that the designed frame will see hard impact. Some analysis will be put in to calculate the failure limit of the frame. To cut down on time, and due to restrictions on resources, some parts, like the frame, may need to be reused or modified from a previous bicycle or scooter.

 

Success Criteria:

The success of the project is based on the performance of the final bike. The bike should be easy to carry, open, and use. Also, if it meets all the above requirements. The snowbike should be able to perform in any weather and snow conditions and be realistically (most adults should be able to carry it comfortably) portable.