Fundamentals of Automobile Body Structure Design

This book provides readers with a solid understanding of the principles of automobile body structural design, illustrating the effect of changing design parameters on the behavior of automobile body structural elements. Emphasizing simple models of the behavior of body structural systems rather than complex mathematical models, the book looks at the best way to shape a structural element to achieve a desired function, why structures behave in certain ways, and how to improve performance. Chapters cover: - Body structural requirements - Body structural elements - Design for body bending - Design for body torsion - Design for crashworthiness - Design for vibration - Design for vehicle and styling integration - Material selection and mass estimation in preliminary design *Fundamentals of Automobile Body Design* provides valuable insight to graduate and undergraduate students in automotive programs, entry-level engineers specializing in automobile body design, and other engineers looking to understand the influence of vehicle layout on body performance or the interaction of subsystems with the body.