A Study on Weight-reduction Design of a Hybrid Bodyshell Made by Substituting Underframe Material in a Box-type Carbody

This paper studied on a theoretical approach to predict structural performances and weight -reduction rates of hybrid bodyshells in case that the material of underframe structure is substituted. To choose other light-weight materials to be substituted for the original underframe material, compressive, bending and twisting deformations are considered under constant stiffness and strength conditions, which derive some new weight-reduction indices from a structural performance point of view. Next, these weight-reduction indices were verified using the finite element analyses of some simplified examples. It is shown that the derived indices to estimate the weight-reduction can be utilized as a good criterion for material substitution of the underframe at a basic design stage.