A comprehensive study on the design and fabrication of tricycles in Metro Manila

The tricycle is a popular means of transportation in Metro Manila and in most parts of the Philippines. It has been in existence for half a century and has evolved into many designs with different functions. Prompted by the lack of technical information available about these vehicles, the main objective of this thesis is to investigate the current practices in the design and fabrication of tricycles in Metro Manila. Surveys were conducted among residents of Metro Manila. Their preferred tricycle design features were ranked with more safety features emerging as critical in the design. The top four common tricycle problems involve the sidecar wheel bearing failure, rear wheel and sidecar wheel spoke failure, sidecar leaf spring misalignment and the weld failures at the joints.The weld failures at the sidecar joints have been explained through radiographic and tension tests. Radiographic inspections show that the welded specimens have incurred internal defects while the tension tests confirm that these welds are weak. Modern technologies in Reverse Engineering and Finite Element Modeling have been extensively used in the analysis of the tricyle\u27s structural design. The occurrence of sidecar wheel bearing failure, rear wheel and sidecar wheel spoke failure and sidecar leaf spring misalignments are due to the tricycle\u27s unbalanced configuration. The loads are concentrated on the rear portion of the tricycle where these problems are located