CHASSIS

FRAMES & BODY

Simit Prajapati
 CONTENTS

 Layout of chassis and its main components,

 Types of Chassis frames & body,

 Frame sections,

 Material,

 Sub frames,

 Defects in frames,

 Loads on frame.
LAYOUT OF CHASSIS
 THE CHASSIS INCLUDES:

 Engine and Radiator

 Transmission system, consisting of the clutch,
gear box, propeller shaft and rear axle.
 Suspension system

 Road Wheels

 Steering system

 Brakes

 Fuel Tank

Vehicle without Body is Chassis.

 CLASSIFICATION:
 As per construction:
 Conventional Construction:

• Separate body and chassis construction

• E.g. Trucks.

• Body is fixed to Chassis by no. of bolts passing

through base of the body and the frame.

 Frameless OR Unitary Construction:

• Combination of chassis and shell in single
supporting assembly.
• Higher strength and light in weight.
• E.g. Commercial Passenger Cars.
CONVENTIONAL CONSTRUCTION :
FRAMELESS OR UNITARY CONSTRUCTION :
 AS PER CONTROL:

 Conventional Chassis:
Engine is in front, driver sits behind the engine.

 Semi-forward Chassis:
Portion of the engine is within the drivers cabin and portion
is outside.

 Full-forward Chassis:
Complete engine is mounted within the driver cabin.
CONVENTIONAL CHASSIS :
SEMI-FORWARD CHASSIS :
FULL-FORWARD CHASSIS :
 FRAME:

o Frame consists of two mild steel longitudinal

member of channel of box section, cross connected
by cross members by bolting, riveting or welding.

o Different Cross sections:

 Channel Section
 Box Section
 Tubular Section
 CHASIS SIDE AND CROSS MEMBER
FASTENING:

 Riveted Joints.
 Provides compressive force between the plates.

 Bolted Joints.
 For heavy duty applications and if additional
components are to be fastened.
 Nuts can become loose leading to noise, vibration,
corrosion and fatigue failure.

 Welded Joints.
 Lap welding.
 High stress concentration on the joints, Destroys
previous heat treatment done.
FUNCTIONS OF THE CHASSIS FRAME:
1. To carry load of the passengers or goods carried in
the body.

2. To support the load of the body, engine, gear box etc.

3. To withstand the forces caused due to the sudden

braking or acceleration

4. To withstand the stresses caused due to the bad road

condition.

5. To withstand centrifugal force while cornering

 TYPES OF FRAMES:
Conventional Frame:

It has two long side members and 5 to 6 cross

members joined together with the help of rivets
and bolts.

Frame sections used:

 Solid round or rectangular cross section.
 Enclosed thin wall hollow round or rectangular
box type.
 Open Channeling such as ‘C’, ‘I’ or ‘top hat’
sections.
CONVENTIONAL FRAME :
 Integral Frame:

 Used in most of the cars.

 There is no frame and all the assembly units are
attached to the body.
 All the functions of the frame carried out by the
body itself.
 Due to elimination of long frame it is cheaper and
less weight.
 Disadvantage: Repairing is difficult.
INTEGRAL FRAME :
 UNITIZED CONSTRUCTION
 The body and frame are assembled as a unit.
 Called Unibody/ Monocoque

 All body and frame parts welded together

 Light weight but strong structurally

 Most cars use this construction

 UNITIZED CONSTRUCTION
Advantage:
 Cheap for mass production

 Inherently good crash protection.

 Space efficient.

Disadvantage:
 Impossible for small-volume production.

 Unitized Body Construction

Who use it ?
 Nearly all mass production cars, all current
Porsche.
 Semi - Integral Frame:

 In some vehicles half frame is fixed in the front

end on which engine gear box and front
suspension is mounted.

 It has the advantage when the vehicle is met

with accident the front frame can be taken easily
to replace the damaged chassis frame.

 This type of frame is used in FIAT cars and some

of the European and American cars.
 LOADS ON THE FRAME:
 Vertical Bending
Weight of the vehicle, passenger, etc.
 Longitudinal Torsion
Due to action of diagonally opposite forces.
Due to road irregularities, bumps.
 Lateral Bending
While turning.
Centrifugal forces. Wind effects.
 Horizontal Loading
Due to road obstacles
Cause the rectangular frame to distort to a
parallelogram
 FRAME CONSTRUCTION:

A – Longitudinal member, B – Cross Member, C – Brackets supporting body, E – Brackets

supporting springs.
 THE BODY:
 Function: To provide comfort and protection to
the passengers besides giving a good look.

 Includes:
 Passenger Compartment
 The Trunk
 The bumper
 The radiator grills
 Interior trim, glass and paint.
 Etc.
 SEDAN

• A sedan seats four or more people and has a fixed roof that is
full-height up to the rear window.
• The roof structure will typically have a fixed "B" pillar on
sedan models.
 OPEN CAR

• This has open top ,collapsible hood, removable side screens.

• It is meant for one or two person.
 CONVERTIBLE

• The roof in this is of soft folding type and windows of special

wind- up design.
• With this provision the car may be either open or closed.
 SALOON CAR

• Closed body with single compartment.

• There are rows of seats ,one at front & the other at the rear.
• Separate space on the rear is provided.
 COUPE

• A saloon with lower roof height is also sometimes

referred as coupe.
 LIMOUSINE

• It has a closed body in which rear compartment and driving

compartment are separated by provision of sliding glass.
• It is longer than other cars, providing additional comfort.
 HATCHBACK

• It is basically saloon in which door is provided at the back.

 ESTATE CAR

• It is similar to saloon but with more amenities & generally

larger size
 VAN

• A van is a kind of vehicle used for transporting goods or

groups of people.
• Some times sliding door provided for passengers.
• For luggage rear door is provided.
 COACH

• It is mean for carrying long distance.

• Generally 18 to 48 passenger capacity.
• It provide luxuries service.
 BUS

• Transport dense passenger traffic.

• Provision small luggage inside and for heavy luggage outside
at top.
 DOUBLE - DECKER BUS

• Two floor
• Transporting highly dense passenger traffic in metropolitan
cities.
 ENGINE LOCATIONS:
FRONT WHEEL DRIVE LAYOUT:

This layout is typically chosen for

its compact packaging; since the
engine and driven wheels are on the
same side of the vehicle, there is no
need for a central tunnel through
the passenger compartment to
accommodate a prop-shaft between
the engine and the driven wheels.

The weight of the engine over the driven wheels also improves grip in
such conditions. However, powerful cars rarely use the FF layout
because weight transference under acceleration reduces the weight on
the front wheels and reduces their traction, limiting the torque which
can be utilized.
 REAR WHEEL DRIVE:

Rear-wheel drive (RWD) typically

places the engine in the front of the
vehicle and the driven wheels are
located at the rear, a configuration
known as front-engine, rear-wheel
drive layout (FR layout).

The FR layout is often chosen for its

simple design and good handling
characteristics. Placing the drive
wheels at the rear allows ample room
for the transmission in the centre of
the vehicle and avoids the mechanical
complexities associated with
transmitting power to the front
wheels. For performance-oriented
vehicles, the FR layout is more
suitable than front-wheel-drive
designs, especially with engines that
exceed 200 horsepower.
REAR WHEEL DRIVE:
 FOUR WHEEL DRIVE:

Most 4WD layouts are front-engine and are derivatives of

earlier front-engine, two-wheel-drive designs.
FOUR WHEEL DRIVE:
FOUR WHEEL DRIVE:
COMPARISON:
REQUIREMENTS OF BODIES FOR VARIOUS
TYPES OF VECHILE
 It must be strong enough to withstand all types of
forces acting on the vehicle.
 Stresses induced in the body should be distributed
evenly to all portions.
 Weight of the body should be as minimum as possible.
 It should be able to cope with impact loads of
reasonable magnitude.
 It should have reasonable fatigue life.
 It must provide adequate space for both passengers
and the luggage.
 It should have minimum number of components.
 It must have sufficient torsional stiffness i.e., ability
to resist the twisting stresses produced by irregular
road surface.
REQUIREMENTS OF BODIES FOR VARIOUS
TYPES OF VECHILE
 It should have good access to the engine and
suspension elements.
 It must ensure a quite ride, easy entry and exit.
 It should create minimum vibration during
running.
 The shape of the body should be minimum drag
 It is easy to manufacture as well as cheap in
cost.
 It should be designed in such a way that
passengers and luggage are protected from bad
weather.
 It should give appeal finish in shape and colour.
 MATERIALS
 Typically the material used to construct vehicle
chassis and frames is carbon steel;
or aluminum alloys
 To achieve a more light-weight construction.

 In the case of a separate chassis, the frame is

made up of structural elements called the rails or
beams.
 MATERIALS
 Material selection of frame depends on:
 Type of Vehicle(Heavy , Light)
 Chassis Design (Engine Components location)
 Manufacturing Company
 Recommended Materials:

 Cast Iron (for Heavy Vehicles)

 HSS ,Steel (Medium , Foreign Vehicles)
 Aluminum Alloys (Light Vehicles)
 MATERIALS FOR FRAME

Steels used for pressed frame are mild sheet steel,

carbon sheet steel and nickel alloy steel.

The composition of nickel alloy steel as specified is

given below:
 Carbon – 0.25 – 0.35 per cent
 Manganese- 0.35-0.75
 Silicon – 0.30 per cent max.
 Nickel- 3 per cent
 Phosphorous – 0.05 per cent max
 Sulphur - 0.5 per cent
 AERODYNAMIC CONSIDERATION:

Air exerts force on the automobile vehicle known as air resistance.

Aerodynamic Force:
• Drag Force
• Lift Force
 ERGONOMICAL CONSIDERATION:

o Understanding the interactions among humans

and other elements of a system.
o Concern to functionality and comfort; as well as
safety.

Important Points to be noted:

 Easy reach for most frequent operative
parts/controls.
 Long time holding for steering wheel
 A-B-C smooth operation
 Avoid unnatural body position
 Good/adjustable sitting position of driver and
passengers.
 ERGONOMICAL CONSIDERATION FOR
CONTROLS:

 Instrument Controls
• Instrument panel
• Identified by feel or fingers or visible to eyes

 Hand Controls
• Gear shift lever-Steering wheel-Hand Brake

o Pedal Controls
 A-B-C
 DEFECTS IN FRAME CHASSIS:

 Reasons
 No repair throughout vehicle life
 Overloading, rough run, accidental and severe
impacts

 Defects
 Alignment of frame
 Twisting or buckling of crossmembers
 Bending of sidemembers
 Loose or Broken rivets
 Cracking in frame or cross members
 DEFECTS IN BODY

 Collision- depressed, buckled or twisted panels

 Stretching or protruding of sheet metal body
parts
 Damaged doors, panels, bumpers, etc.

 Loosening of body parts

 Scratches

 Colour washed out