Abstract
ABSTRACT:
The body of a passenger automobile is among it most important elements and is highly significant for good functioning of the vehicle. The construction of car body is influenced by many factors: adopted style of the vehicle, vehicle concept, vehicle dimensions, vehicle version, application of new materials, influence of safety
regulations etc.
Based on analysis of the selected parameters of vehicles of observed group of 29 models of higher A class, dependency for certain parameters important in both project defining process and product development process was determined. It is apparent that interior and exterior elements of vehicles of lower class models are no longer falling so much behind higher-class models. The continuous trend of development of certain
parameters directly influences the defining of car body.
The paper gives the review of vehicle concept influence onto the car body construction using one of the examples of car body construction solving. The vehicle producers are facing the obvious problems which arise from the need to satisfy the demands of (market) style and regulations.
For the evaluation of influence of significant factors onto car body behaviour, for various car body types, the developed laboratory test for investigation of car body in quasi-static conditions was used. On the developed device, conditions similar to the testing according to ECE 33 and ECE 94 can be simulated. The concept of only car body monitoring was chosen, without the influence of parts that are additionally
installed (door, engine hood) and the influence of all other drive units on vehicle. The
developed methodology is considerably more complex for car body itself, because investigation is realised up to the point of construction fracture, whereat the influence
of other drive units of the vehicle is exempted. The paper shows some of the results of
comparative investigations of car bodies: main model/cabriolet, main model/pick-up, main model/light delivery vehicle.
The results of investigations indicate the differences in behaviour of car bodies of
developed models in relation to basic models. Regarding the construction of car body of main model and subsequently developed models, these differences, i.e. resultant influences, must be taken into consideration. Based on performed analysis, it can be concluded that many significant factors have a considerable influence onto the defining of passenger automobile body, which creates necessary conditions for fulfilment of valid regulations. Fulfilment of these requests is only possible by constant improvement of car body construction, improvement of designing processes and development of new methods for investigations and simulation of behaviour.