Design Analysis Needed: Tire Stand Stress Analysis

[hail_thy_gt]

Hello all,

New here. Hopefully I'm following the guidelines by posting here.

So, I am in need of some help in analyzing a stand that I am designing. It has an unusual arch in the middle supported by four members; together they make a tire stand. My tire is 40inches in width. And the stand will be holding 5000 pounds, so I'm using 80 ksi steel as a result.

I am unsure as to where to begin my stress analysis, so that I know the thickness and appropriate dimensions I need to use.

I am attaching the image of my design.

I appreciate in advance to folks that are willing to help.

 

[Chronos]

One thing that immediately draws my attention is the feet should be tied together to resist spreading. It also wouldn't hurt to increase the contact surface area of the feet to better distribute the load. The arched design is very good, but, not economical. I envision a pipe half or rolled plate with angle iron or square tubing. Making maximum use of stock material shapes minimizes fabrication time.

 

[hail_thy_gt]

Hey Chronos,

Appreciate the reply.

I think I will be taking those suggestions and updating the design, but in regards to the arch, I have to stick with that idea. This stand will be in a showroom, and it has to have some sort of an appeal, or else a jack design would have suffice.

I would appreciate if you can further shed light on how to analyze the stress distribution, so I can adjust the dimensions.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Chronos]

I've only done this using FEA software. The first thing you will need is a CAD drawing. Here is a link to Freecad, which is pretty good [and free]: http://www.freecadweb.org/. Next, you need a FEA program. LISA is pretty good, free, and accepts Freecad imports: http://lisafea.com/.