Chassis Frame Torsional Stiffness Analysis

In automotive industry, weight reduction is important and active demand because of payload capacity improvement, fuel efficiency and emission reduction. Reduction of the chassis frame weight represents one of the keys to reaching this goal, but requirements on chassis frame stiffness generally make any weight reduction difficult. The problem of finding the compromise between stiffness and weight of chassis frame is therefore of high importance. In this work, vehicle road load significance of the heavy vehicle ladder type chassis frame torsional stiffness studied, and the two method analysed to obtain chassis frame stiffness using finite element analysis based on the vehicle loading. Obtained stiffness will be closer in case of spring bracket loading which can be used to analyse the vehicles handling behaviour. The method yields insights into analysing chassis frame stiffness which is closer to vehicle actual running condition and highlights critical aspects of chassis frame design.