Yamaha Motor: FEA Simulation for Motorcycle Radiator Tip-Over Strength
Case study showing how Yamaha used Abaqus FEA to simulate low-speed tip-over damage on off-road motorcycle radiator assemblies and reduce physical testing.
Yamaha Motor Co. needed to strengthen radiator assemblies and plastic side covers on liquid-cooled off-road motorcycles to withstand tip-over impacts. Engineers replaced extensive physical testing with quasi-static explicit dynamic simulations in Abaqus FEA. Models incorporated shell elements, strain-rate sensitive plastics, and equivalent honeycomb material for radiator fins. Simulation results correlated closely with bench tests for buckling, reaction forces, and damage locations, enabling faster identification of reinforcement points and new design iterations.
Explicit dynamic FEA reproduced tip-over damage patterns observed in physical push-jig tests.
Strain-rate sensitivity of the plastic cover was required to match buckling loads across test speeds.
Radiator fins contributed ~50% of reaction force and were modeled with equivalent honeycomb material.
Integrated assembly model showed kinetic energy below 5% of internal energy, validating quasi-static assumption.
Simulation reduced prototype consumption and enabled rapid evaluation of cover thickness and bracket locations.
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