Formula Student Spaceframe Chassis – FEA & Structural Validation (AISI 4130)

Chassis design and FEA validation for UVEGA Motorsports, UVCE's first Formula Student team, targeting Formula Bharat 2027. Design: AISI 4130 chromoly spaceframe, 29.3 kg. Mass was brought down from 35 kg through several prototype iterations (16.3% reduction) while keeping the structural safety margins. Results (ANSYS Mechanical / SolidWorks Simulation): - Frontal impact: FOS 1.704 under a 95 kN load per Formula Bharat T3.18 (after resolving a front hoop overstress) - Rear impact: FOS 2.56 - Torsional stiffness: 3,500.86 Nm/degree Cross-validated SolidWorks against ANSYS and traced a ~20% stress discrepancy to a shared-topology connectivity defect in the model. Tools: SolidWorks, ANSYS Mechanical. Code and setup: https://github.com/Krishna-Ram9/Formula-Student-Chassis-FEA