• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
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• v.32 no.5
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• pp.8-12
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• 2017

Bicycles are very popular sporting goods in these days. Thus, the durability of bicycles is very important for the safety of bicyclists. It is well known that a bicycle frame is a major component which is essential to the safety and performance of a complete bicycle. In this study, the durability of bicycle frames were experimentally investigated under the fatigue load. Eighty bicycle frames with different types and materials were prepared and tested according to EN standards. Three kinds of fatigue loads, that is, pedalling, vertical and horizontal fatigue load, which occur constantly during riding a bicycle, were applied to the bicycle frames. The experimental results show that the horizontal fatigue load was the severest mode to pass EN standard. The pass ratio of horizontal fatigue load test was 45.2%, while the pass ratio of vertical fatigue load test was 100%. Most of cracks were found at the right side of bottom bracket shell and at the intersection area between head tube and down tube. It seems that the experimental results can be applied to improve the safety and performance of a bicycle frame.