UNIT 2: Chassis

Contents
• Chassis Types
• Chassis Layout
• Power plant Location
• Types of Automobiles
• Weight distribution stability
• Materials used for chassis
 Chassis: Introduction

• Chassis frame is the basic frame work of the automobile. It supports

all the parts of the automobile.
• It is made of drop forged steel.
• All the systems related to automobile like power plant, transmission
system, steering, suspension, braking system etc. are attached to and
supported by Chassis frame.
• The frame is constructed from square or box shaped steel members
 Chassis: Introduction
FRAME
• It is the supporting component of automobile vehicle.
• It is the foundation for carrying the engine, transmission system & steering system
by means of spring , axle , rubber pads etc.
• The frame are made of box , tubular channels or U-shaped section , welded or
riveted together.
CHASSIS
• When engine , transmission system , steering & wheels are fitted on the frame , the
assembly known as the “chassis”.
• It is the backbone of the vehicle.
• It is the vehicle without body.
• It contains all the major units necessary to propel the vehicle.
• Vehicle can be driven after placing the driver seat on the chassis.
Construction of Truck Chassis
 Chassis: Introduction
Chassis consist of following components:
• Engine
• Wheels
• Radiator
• Brakes
• Fuel tank
• Steering system
• Suspension system
• Transmission system (clutch , propeller shaft , differential , rear axle)
 Chassis: Introduction

BODY
• It is a super structure of the vehicle.
• Chassis & body makes the complete vehicle.
• For small & light car body & chassis are made as a single unit but in
large vehicles both are made as a separate units.
• Generally it is made from metal or fibre.
• Main purpose of car body is to provide comfort & protection to the
passenger & also the good look.
 Chassis: Introduction
FUNCTION OF FRAME
• To support chassis components & the body.
• To withstand the static & dynamic load of different components of
chassis.
• To withstand load of the body.
• To carry load of passengers/goods carried in body.
• To withstand stresses caused due to uneven road conditions.
• To withstand force caused due to turning of vehicle & sudden braking
or acceleration.
 Types of Chassis Frame

• Conventional frame
• Integral or Unit construction or Frameless chassis
• Half integral & half frame chassis
 Conventional Frame
• It is used in most of the heavy vehicles.
• Construction of frame varies according to the type of vehicle.
• Generally made from the steel sections.
• This type of frame has “ 2 long side members” & “5 to 6 cross members”
joined together with the help of rivets or bolts.
• Cross members are used to increase the strength of the frame.
• They are inswept (Narrow) at the front & are upswept (Broad) at the rear.
• The frame is narrowed down at the front (inswept) to have a better steering
lock which provides space for pivoting & swinging of the front wheels
• Upswept at the rear provided to give room for the vertical movement of the
rear axle as it travels over road bumps & other road inequalities.
Conventional Frame
 Conventional Frame
• Body brackets are provided to support the body of the vehicle.
• Spring brackets are provided for mounting the body of the vehicle.
• Extension of chassis frame ahead of the front axle known as front overhung.
• Extension of chassis beyond the rear axle known as rear overhung.
• Different sections are used for long & cross members. Generally channel section
& box section are used for long side members & other sections like I section , hat
section , tubular section are used for cross members.
INTEGRATED FRAME or FRAMELESS CHASSIS

• This frame construction, now-a-days used in most of the motor cars

called as a frameless or chassisless or mono or unit construction in
which the floor assembly & frame form one integral unit.
INTEGRATED FRAME or FRAMELESS CHASSIS
• Need of the heavy side members are eliminated ,which is used in
conventional frame & the floor is strengthened by cross members &
body , all welded together.
• In some cases sub-frames are also used on which various chassis
components are mounted. This sub-frames are supported by main
frame.
• The main purpose of sub-frame are to provide isolation , flexibility &
simplified production.
• So, in this type of construction all components like cross member ,
floor , body are welder or bolted together as one assembly.
• This type of construction gives more strength & rigidity.
 Location of power plant and Chassis Layout
• The engine, also called a power plant, provides power to drive the
vehicle.
• These are of reciprocating or rotary type internal combustion engines.
Widely used reciprocating engines may have 4,6 or 8 cylinders using
petrol or diesel as fuel.
• In most of vehicles, the engine is fitted in the front portion of the
chassis. A front-mounted engine is easily accessible and easily cooled.
In bus chassis, the whole engine is fitted in the driver cabins to
increase floor space in the vehicle and to provide better visibility.
 Location of power plant and Chassis Layout
• European vehicles like the Volkswagon of Germany and the Leyland bus of UK have
used rear engine placement to make the front of the automobile more streamlined for
fuel economy.
• Also the weight of the engine over the rear wheels can help provide traction. The
gear box and differential are combined in one unit. Also the arrangement does not
require a long propeller shaft.
• The engine may also be fitted at the centre of the chassis to provide the full space of
the chassis floor for use.
• Further, placing the heavy engine in the centre provides the best possible weight
distribution and handling is improved.
• The main disadvantage is the problem of accessibility. The driver has to get out and
lift up the seat to work on the engine for removing any faults.
 Location of power plant and Chassis Layout
• There are different arrangements by which engine power is transmitted
to the wheels:
Front Engine–Rear Wheel Drive
• In this chassis layout ,the engine is fitted at the front.
• The engine ,clutch and gear box are fitted at front while drive to the
rear axle is given with the help of propeller shaft
• This chassis layout is one of the oldest and still remain popular for
heavy commercial vehicle
Location of power plant and Chassis Layout
 Location of power plant and Chassis Layout
Advantages of Front Engine-Rear wheel Drive
• The weight distribution is reasonably balanced between the front and rear
wheels, which gives good handling characteristics.
• Due to engine and radiator are at front , the forward facing radiator takes full
benefit of the natural air stream , created by vehicle’s movement .hence reduce
the power losses for a large fan.
• The weight of vehicle is shifted to rear driving wheels during acceleration and
on steeps resulting in better road grip ,hence ,there are less chances of wheel
slipping.
• Since the front wheel are used only to steer the vehicle , hence steering
mechanism become simple in design and easy to operate.
• Accessibility to various components like engine , gear box and rear axle is
better in comparison to outer layout
 Location of power plant and Chassis Layout
• The control linkages –accelerator ,clutch ,choke ,and gear box are short
and simple.
• Large luggage space is available at back of vehicle which providing
increased carrying capacity as well as space for easy body extension.
Disadvantages
• During the breaking ,weight of vehicle is fitted to front wheels and weight
on rear wheels decreased , results in decreased breaking effort developed
• It required long propeller shaft and diffrential at rear ,therefore height of
floor area is increased .Also,due to long propeller shaft transmission
problems and weight are increased.
• Due to less weight on driving rear wheels , there is less adhesion on road
and result in less holding
 Location of power plant and Chassis Layout
• Front Engine–Front Wheel Drive The power is transmitted to the
front wheels through the clutch, gear box, differential gear and short
shafts.
• Rear Engine–Rear Wheel Drive In this case, the engine power is
transmitted to the rear wheels through the clutch, gear box, differential
gear and short shafts.
• Four Wheel Drive In this system, all four wheels of the vehicle are
driven by the engine thus making the entire vehicle weight available
for traction.
 Materials for Chassis and Body
• The choice of materials for a vehicle is the first and most important
factor for automotive design.
• The most important criteria that a material should meet are
lightweight, economic effectiveness, safety, recyclability and life
cycle considerations.
• Some of these criteria are the result of legislation and regulation and
some are the requirements of the customers.
• However, some of these criteria may be conflicting and therefore the
optimization comes into business here.
 Light Weight Materials
• Lightweight materials can improve fuel efficiency more than other factors.
• Experiments reveal that 10 percent of weight reduction can lead to 6 to 8
percent improvement in fuel usage.
Weight reduction can be obtained following ways:
1. Replacing materials of high specific weight with lower density materials
without reducing rigidity and durability. For example replacement of steel
with aluminium, magnesium, composites
2. Optimizing the design of load-carrying elements and exterior attachments
so as to reduce their weight without any loss in rigidity or functionality.
• But the single main obstacle in application of lightweight materials is their
high cost. Yet the weight reduction is still the most cost-effective means to
reduce fuel consumption.
 Economic Effectiveness
• One of the most important consumer driven factors in automotive
industry is the cost, that determines whether any new material has an
opportunity to be selected for a vehicle component.
• Cost includes three components: actual cost of raw materials,
manufacturing value added, and the cost to design and test the product.
• Aluminum and magnesium alloys are certainly more costly than the
currently used steel and cast irons.
• Since cost may be higher, decisions to select light metals must be
justified on the basis of improved functionality.
• Meanwhile the high cost is one of the major obstacles in use of the
composite materials.
 Safety

• The ability to absorb impact energy and be survivable for the

passengers is called “crashworthiness” of the structure in vehicle.
• At first two concepts in automotive industry should be considered:
crashworthiness and penetration resistance.
• In the more accurate definition of crashworthiness, it is the potential of
absorption of energy through controlled failure modes and
mechanisms.
• However, penetration resistance is concerned with the total absorption
without allowing projectile or fragment penetration.
 Recycling

• The most important concerns in industries such as automotive, are

‘protection of resources’, ‘reduction of CO2 emissions’, and
‘recycling’.
• For example, in the UK, around two million vehicles reach the end of
their life each year and these vehicles are considered as hazardous
waste until they have been fully treated.
 Material for Frame
• Steels used for pressed frame are mild steel sheets, carbon steel sheets
and Nickel Alloy steel sheet
• Aluminium alloy called Alpax is also used as frame materials
• The composition of Nickel alloy sheet steel as given below
Carbon 0.25- 0.35 Percent
Manganese 0.35- 0.75 Percent
Silicon 0.3 Percent max
Phosphorous 0.05 percent max
Sulphur 0.5 percent max
 Material for Frame
Side Member Steel Specifications
Mild Steel Carbon Steel Plate 3 percent Nickel
Steel Plate
Carbon 0.15-0.20 0.22-0.27 0.25-0.35
Manganese 0.40-0.6 0.50-0.70 0.35-0.75
Silicon 0.7(max) 0.07(max) 0.05(max)
Phosphorous 0.5(max) 0.05(max) 0.05(max)
Sulphur 0.05(max) 0.05(max) 0.05(max)
Ultimate Strength 450-500 500-670 550-720
(MPa)
Yeild Strength (MPa) 225 250 320
Elongation 20 percent min 20 percent min on 20 percent min on
on 100 mm 100 mm 100 mm
 Material for Frame
Materials Used for Frame Brackets

Materials Materials Properties

Yield Strength (MPa) Ultimate Tensile Strength Elongation
(MPa)
Mild Steel 240 350 20%
Medium Carbon Steel 400 650 24%
1% Nickel 490 670 20%
Hard Steel 260 570 15% on 50mm
Soft Steel 200 430 22% on 50mm
Iron (Black Heart) 260 370 13%
 Weight Distribution Stability
• As a vehicle is braking into a corner, there is less weight over the rear
wheels (all of the weight has shifted forward).
• This has the potential of causing the rear end to lose traction.
• This reduces the effectiveness of the rear brakes (it can’t brake if it can’t
grip the road) and could cause the rear of the vehicle to slide outward
during cornering.
• Conversely, as a vehicle accelerates, the weight travels to the rear of the
vehicle, reducing the grip of the wheels in the front.
• This will reduce the vehicle's ability to steer as it accelerates out of a
corner, or completely remove its ability to accelerate (in the case of a front
wheel drive vehicle).
• This is where proper vehicle weight distribution comes in.
 Weight Distribution Stability
•  Vehicle that has a weight distribution biased towards the rear of the vehicle
(40/60) can brake later and harder into corners.
• This is because as the vehicle brakes, the weight moves towards the front of the
vehicle and the vehicle gets closer to a 50/50 weight distribution.
• All the tyres now have an equal grip on the ground and can brake evenly. This
is why most 'performance' cars are rear-engined, as it's the heaviest part of a
car.
• However, when a vehicle like this begins to accelerate out of the corner, the
weight will bias even more to the rear, allowing the vehicle to accelerate harder
(more weight over the rear wheels) but leaves less grip for the wheels that steer.
• This is not an issue for vehicles that only need to travel in a straight line;
• drag cars for instance, put the majority of the weight over the rear wheels so
that they have the most traction off the line.
 Weight Distribution Stability
• The positive and negative benefits of the different kinds of car weight
distribution are heavily contested between experts.
• The set-up of a vehicle is largely dependent on the kind of driving the vehicle
will be doing and the driving style of the driver.
• A drift vehicle is set up very differently to a Formula 1 vehicle, and each is
very different to a 'normal' road car.
• Car makers and engineers work out the weight distribution in cars by using
devices called corner weight scales, otherwise called axle weigh pads.
• These are individual scales that sit underneath each tire and weigh the
individual corner weight; this is then calculated into overall weight and
weight distribution, helping the engineers calculate the correct physics of the
car and its handling.