1 Body structure The core element of any car is the body structure.

The car body connects

all the different components; it houses the drive train and most importantly carries and protects
passengers and cargo. The body structure needs to be rigid to support weight and stress and to
securely tie together all the components. Furthermore, it must resist and soften the impact of a
crash to safely protect the occupants. In addition, it needs to be as light as possible to optimize fuel
economy and performance. Over the years, various designs have been used and each of them has
its benefits and drawbacks. 1.1 Body design concepts The oldest structural vehicle design is the
body-on-frame concept. The frame typically consists of two parallel, connected rails (“ladder
frame”) which the suspension and power train are attached to. The rest of the body, or the shell,
sits on the frame. The ladder frame design (left) as exemplified by the Chevrolet Corvette C3
(right) The body-on-frame concept was used until the early 1960s by nearly all cars in the world.
The original frames were made of wood (commonly ash), but steel ladder frames became common
in the 1930s. Today, the frame design is only employed for light trucks and full-size SUVs. The
frame looks like a ladder, two longitudinal rails connected by several lateral and cross braces. The
longitude members are the main stress member. They deal with the load and the longitudinal forces
caused by acceleration and braking. The lateral and cross members provide resistance to lateral
forces and increase the torsional rigidity. Frames are used on trucks because of their overall
strength and ability to sustain weight. The disadvantage of the frame design is that it is usually
heavy and – since it is a two-dimensional structure − the torsional body stiffness needs to be
improved. Also, the frame tends to take up a lot of valuable space and forces the centre of gravity
to go up. Safety is also compromised in a body-on-frame vehicle because the rails do not deform
under impact; i.e. more impact energy is passed into the cabin and to the other vehicle. Most small
car models switched to the monocoque construction in the 1960s, but the trend already started in
the 1930s with cars like the Opel Olympia. Today, the monocoque design is by far the dominating
body concept. The Ford Crown Victoria (discontinued in 2011) was the last passenger car using
the body-on-frame concept. The monocoque design is a construction technique that utilises the
external skin to support some or most of the load (in contrast to the body-on-frame concept where
the frame is merely covered with “cosmetic” body panels). In this case, the integral floor pan serves
as the main structural element to which all the mechanical components are attached. But there are
also “semi-monocoque” variants, e.g. the Volkswagen platform concept which includes a
lightweight, separate chassis made from pressed sheet panels. In this case, both the chassis as well
as the body shell are used to provide the necessary structural strength.
The monocoque construction is a one-piece structure which defines the overall shape of the
car and incorporates the chassis into the body. In fact, the "one-piece" chassis and body are made
by welding many stamped sheet panels together. The monocoque body structure offers good crash
protection as crumple zones can be built into the structure. Another advantage is space efficiency
since the whole structure is actually an outer shell. Obviously, this is very attractive to mass
production cars. But while the monocoque structure is highly suitable for mass production by
robots, high tooling costs hinder its application for small-scale production. Also the pure
monocoque structure is relatively heavy. The rigidity-to-weight ratio is fairly low as the shell is
shaped to benefit space efficiency rather than strength and the pressed sheet panels are not as stiff
as structures made from tubes or other closed sections and/or threedimensional components.
Consequently most modern car bodies are not true monocoque designs; instead today’s cars use a
unitary construction which is also known as unibody design. This uses a system of box sections,
bulkheads and tubes to provide most of the strength of the vehicle, to which the stressed skin adds
relatively little strength or stiffness. Unibody design concept The unibody design allows a
significant weight reduction of the car body and enables a more compact, yet spacious vehicle
configuration. Also safety is increased because energyabsorbing deformation zones can be
engineered into the unibody. The rigidity of the car body is somewhat compromised because the
basic monocoque assembly is made of sheet panels which are – at least in case of steel designs –
generally spot welded, i.e. only locally connected. However, it is easily possible to increase the
stiffness of the unibody by using continuous joints (e.g. adhesive bonding or laser welding) or by
the addition of tubes, closed sections or other stiffening components. On the other hand, when a
vehicle with a unibody design is involved in a serious crash, it may be more difficult to repair than
a full frame vehicle. Suspension components, as well as the power train, are directly mounted to
the unibody. In many cases, subframes are used as strong mounting interfaces. Additional
important structural parts are the firewall (located between the passengers and the engine
compartment) and, sometimes, also the wall behind the back seats. This is also the case for the
body panels which serve as the skin of the car and give the vehicle its overall shape and appearance.
Elaborate monocoque design is so sophisticated that windshield and rear window glass make an
important contribution to the designed structural strength of the automobile too. For niche
applications, there are two additional body design concepts: the tubular space frame and the
backbone chassis. As the ladder chassis is not strong enough for high performance sports cars and
racing applications, motor racing engineers developed a threedimensional design. The tubular
space frame chassis employs dozens of tubes or other rodshaped components, positioned in
different directions to provide the required mechanical strength against forces from anywhere. The
result is a very complex welded structure. Since the mid 60s, many high-end sports cars also
adopted the tubular space frame design to
enhance the rigidity / weight ratio. However, many of them actually used space frames only
for the front and rear structure and used a monocoque cabin for cost reasons. Tubular space frame
design of the Mercedes-Benz 300SLR racing car The backbone chassis is very simple. It consists
of a strong tubular backbone (usually with a rectangular cross section) which connects the front
and rear axle and provides nearly all the mechanical strength. The whole drivetrain, the engine and
the suspensions are connected to both ends of the backbone. The backbone chassis is strong enough
for small sports cars, but not suitable for high performance sports cars. Also it does not provide
any protection against side impact and off-set crash. . Backbone chassis of the Lotus Elan (Photo:
Lotus) 1.2 Car body design with aluminium Steel car bodies have been traditionally fabricated
from stamped sheet parts joined by resistance spot welding. Newer developments included the
introduction of the hydroforming technology and the laser beam welding technique. Together with
the market introduction of new high and ultra high strength steel grades, it was thus possible to
improve the stiffness and crash worthiness and/or reduce the weight of the steel car bodies at no
or little additional cost. Laser welded, continuous joints significantly increase the rigidity of the
monocoque body structure and structural components and subframes manufactured from thin,
hydroformed steel tubes enable further improvements of the body strength and stiffness. Similar
design and manufacturing principles as used for steel body structures can be applied to realize an
all-aluminium car body. However, simple material substitution leads not always to cost efficient
solutions. It is essential to take a holistic approach and to consider the total system consisting of
the construction material, appropriate design concepts and applicable fabrication methods.
Technically and economically promising aluminium car body concepts are the result of
aluminium-oriented design concepts and properly adapted fabrication technologies. With its
different product forms (sheets, extrusions, castings, etc.), aluminium offers a wide variety of
design options. Therefore an appropriate substitution of steel by aluminium in the body structure
enables not only a significant weight reduction, but influences Version 2013 © European
Aluminium Association (auto@[Link]) 5 the cost efficiency too. The selection of the most
appropriate product form − depending on the type of car and the planned production volume – also
allows the optimisation of the technical performance under the given economical and ecological
boundary conditions. The main elements of a self-supporting car body structure (“unibody”) are:
- load-carrying profiles - stiffening sheets and the required joining elements (nodes). The profile
structure provides the basis for the required high bending and torsion stiffness of the car body
within certain package restrictions. The basic body frame given by profiles and nodes is further
stiffened by the addition of sheets which are also used to form the overall body enclosure. An
additional design requirement is an excellent crash worthiness of the car body (high energy
absorption capability by deformation without crack initiation and fracture). A most important
advantage of aluminium compared to steel is the additional availability of extruded, single- or
multi-hole profiles with complicated cross sections and thin-walled, intricately shaped castings
with excellent mechanical properties. These components cannot be only beneficially used for load-
carrying and/or stiffening functions, but may also serve as joining elements. The proper use of
extruded (and formed) or die cast products enables the development of new, innovative structural
design solutions and, consequently, significant weight and cost savings by parts integration and
the incorporation of additional functions. Aluminium sheets show similar denting and bending
stiffness as steel sheets when their thickness is increased by 40 %, i.e. the weight reduction
resulting from a material substitution reaches up to 50 %. In case of the profiles, the substitution
of steel by aluminium offers in particular potential for weight reduction when the profile geometry
(cross section) can be varied, e.g. by changing from an open to a closed profile or by the
introduction of multichamber profiles. Furthermore, there is a clear potential for the beneficial
application of extruded aluminium profiles when the profile diameter can be increased. The
decisive factor in the selection of the most effective aluminium body design concept is the
envisaged production volume. High volume production looks for minimum material (part) cost
and low assembly cost, but can afford relatively high capital investments (both in tools and
manufacturing equipment). In contrast, low volume production asks for minimum capital
expenditures whereas component and assembly costs play a less important role. Cost of different
aluminium structural body components (schematic) The cost relations shown above for ready-to-
assemble structural car body parts give only a rough indication. In practice, the actual cost of
aluminium body components will vary significantly. The shapes of the components, the required
geometrical tolerances and mechanical properties, etc., are most relevant parameters. The cost of
extruded aluminium components differ significantly depending on the necessary additional
forming and machining steps. 3D-bending and hydroforming operations are particular cost-
intensive. In case of structural die castings, a most important cost factor is the (part-specific) tool
lifetime. Furthermore, the assembly costs can show large differences depending on the
applicationspecific requirements and the geometrical tolerances of the single components. But also
the cost of surface preparation and corrosion protection can be significant. Thus, a detailed analysis
of all the various factors influencing the overall cost will be generally necessary. Version 2013 ©
European Aluminium Association (auto@[Link]) 6 Depending on the planned production volume,
the various product forms − sheets, extrusions and structural die castings − can be used in varying
proportions for the car body structure. Mixed material designs, i.e. the combination with other
material components (steel, magnesium, fibre reinforced composites, etc.) add further possibilities.
For aluminiumintensive car body structures, however, only three basic car body design concepts
are used today:  Extrusion-intensive frame structures (straight and 2D-bent extrusions) 
Spaceframe structures including formed extrusions and large, thin-walled castings  Sheet-
intensive unibody structures. Aluminium-intensive car body design concepts 1.3 Sheet-intensive
aluminium body structures 1.3.1 Early developments Sheet designs are primarily directed towards
higher production volumes because of the high investments in stamping tools and presses. On the
other hand, sheets are a relatively inexpensive product form. Sheet-intensive body design concept
are established and proven for steel car bodies. They can be also realised with aluminium sheets.
The Panhard Z1 model can be mentioned as a first example. Series production started in 1953 with
the use of EN AW-5754 (AlMg3) alloy sheets. In the early eighties, several aluminium concept
cars were produced, in general just by the substitution of steel sheets by aluminium alloy sheets in
existing car models. As an example, a Porsche 928 sports car with an all-aluminium body was
exhibited 1981 at the IAA Frankfurt. The aluminium body was a joint development with Alusuisse,
it was built using Anticorodal®- 120 (EN AW-6016) alloy sheets (thickness 1.2 mm for the
closures, 2.5 mm for the structure). The weight of the aluminium body was 161 kg, representing a
weight reduction of 106 kg compared to the steel body. Soon afterwards, Audi began to study
aluminium intensively again; in due course, an aluminium body based on the Audi 100 was
developed. Version 2013 © European Aluminium Association (auto@[Link]) 7 Aluminium sheet
concept car based on the Audi 100 (1985) (Photo: Audi) The first production car with an all-
aluminium body was the Honda Acura NSX, introduced in 1989. The Honda Acura NSX, a high
performance, two-seater sports car, was assembled by hand in very small numbers. It featured an
all-aluminium monocoque body with a weight of 163 kg, incorporating some extruded aluminium
profiles in the frame and the suspension. The application of aluminium in the body alone saved
nearly 200 kg in weight over the steel equivalent while the aluminium suspension saved an
additional 20 kg. The exterior had a dedicated paint process, including an aircraft type chromate
coating designed for chemically protecting the aluminium bodywork. The body structure utilized
high-strength aluminium alloys and special construction techniques, making it stronger than a
comparable steel body, yet 40 % lighter. A combination of spot and MIG spot welding was used
to join the structure together. In addition, the NSX-T offered a removable, aluminum roof panel.
This panel was designed to be lightweight, yet durable, and has its own storage compartment under
the rear glass hatch. Honda Acura NSX the first production car with an all-aluminium monocoque
body In the early 1990s, Alcan Aluminum Ltd. partnered with Ford to develop an
aluminiumintensive vehicle. Ford then built a test fleet of 40 vehicles based on the design and
mechanical components of its Taurus volume production midsized sedan. The P2000 features a
stamped aluminium unibody similar to a conventional steel body, but it uses advanced design and
fabrication technologies to achieve a stiff and safe structure. The front shock towers, for example,
are aluminium castings, eliminating the need for a heavier, complex and costly three-piece stamped
aluminium assembly. The P2000 also features epoxy adhesive weld bonding to improve rigidity.
The resulting body-in-white has a mass of 182 kg, compared with 398 kg for a conventional steel
version. Overall, the P2000 is made of about 332 kg of aluminium as well as significant amounts
of magnesium and plastics, contributing to a total car weight of about 907 kg (compared to 1505kg
of the steel production Taurus model). Version 2013 © European Aluminium Association
(auto@[Link]) 8 Ford P2000 prototype car (1998) produced using Alcan’s Aluminium Vehicle
Technology The Ford P2000 was developed as a purpose-designed aluminium-intensive mid-sized
sedan where Ford took full advantage of the primary weight saving from the aluminum body-in-
white structure to reduce the weight of all the vehicle’s secondary systems. The aluminium body-
inwhite was built using Al-3%Mg structural sheet material (EN AW-5754, 0 temper). The
construction benefited from the application of Alcan’s Aluminum Vehicle Technology (AVT)
structural bonding system. Structural bonding (combined with resistance spot welding)
significantly increases the stiffness of the body structure, particularly the torsional stiffness. This
enables an increase of the weight saving compared to steel to over 50%, thereby improving the
economics for using aluminium. Compared to spot welded steel, the AVT system also improves
the fatigue endurance and the impact energy absorption capacity. The AVT system was first used
in a production vehicle for the front longitudinal crash energy management beams for the Jaguar
Sport XJ220, a limited production, high performance sports car produced in the years 1992-1994.
The body structure technology used in the P2000 program was transferred later to the platform of
the prototype hybrid electric vehicle (HEV) Ford Prodigy family sedan. The Prodigy's total mass
was 1083 kg, approximately 454 kg less than an average family sedan. The AVT structural bonding
system (adhesive bonding plus spot welding) was also applied for the production of the frame of
the General Motors EV1 electric vehicle. The GM EV1 was the first mass-produced sedan
purpose-designed for electric propulsion. It was produced and leased by GM from 1996 to 1999.
The car's body panels were made of plastic rather than aluminium for improved dent resistance.
The body-in-white was an adhesively bonded and resistance spot welded aluminum structure and
weighed only 132 kg, a savings of about 40 percent over the steel equivalent. The bonding used
an aerospace-grade structural adhesive, a first for a production vehicle General Motors EV1 with
an AVT body structure A low-risk test bed for aluminium materials was the Plymouth Prowler
(built in 1997 and 1999- 2002). In 2001, the car was branded as a Chrysler vehicle. The Prowler
contained more than 400 kg aluminium (including body, chassis frame and suspension parts). The
aluminium chassis frame consisted of 42 extrusions and 8 castings which were joined by
automated MIG welding. The body panels (AlMgSi outers, AlMg inners) were joined by self-
piercing rivets and epoxy adhesive. The rivets hold the panels in place while the epoxy cures in
the primer paint oven. Thixo-casting was used for the production of the control arms in the front
and rear suspension. Version 2013 © European Aluminium Association (auto@[Link]) 9
Aluminium body components and chassis of the Prowler (Photos: Plymouth) 1.3.2 Joining
technology – the key to success The realisation of a sheet-intensive (“monocoque” or “unibody”)
structure requires a very large amount of joining. As a consequence, the properties of the joints
have a significant effect on the overall properties of the whole structure including global stiffness,
NVH (noise, vibration, harshness) and crashworthiness. The most important difference between
aluminium and steel designs is the prevailing joining technique. Compared to steel, aluminium
alloys show a high electrical and thermal conductivity and − correspondingly − low electrical
resistance. When the resistance spot welding technique, traditionally used with steel, is applied to
aluminium, the welding current must be significantly higher. Consequently, conventional
resistance spot welding of aluminium proves to be energy-intensive, unreliable and costly (need
for special welding equipment, sheet surface preparation prior to welding, frequent electrode
cleaning, etc.). Proper solutions for these problems have been developed, but resistance spot
welding of aluminium nevertheless require special effort. A specific problem is the low electrode
lifetime. A possible solution is the frequent cleaning of the electrode surface, e.g. by regular
surface machining or brushing (“electrode buffing”). Successful resistance spot welding of
aluminium can be also achieved with the Fronius DeltaSpot technology. In this case, the robot
welding gun is equipped with a process tape which runs between the electrodes and the sheets
being joined. The continuous forwards movement of the process tape results in an uninterrupted
process producing constant quality, reproducible welding points and ensuring high electrode
service life. Version 2013 © European Aluminium Association (auto@[Link]) 10 Fronius
DeltaSpot robot welding gun with a process tape that runs between the sheets and the electrodes
(Photo: Fronius) Most important for the break-through of aluminium in car body construction was,
however, the further development of mechanical joining techniques and in particular the
application of clinching and self pierce riveting processes in the assembly plant. Whereas the use
of clinching processes is in practice limited to non-load bearing joints, self-piercing rivets (SPRs)
are also suitable for joining of structural components. The mechanical joining methods are less
energy-intensive than resistance spot welding and can be highly automated. Furthermore, the
resulting SPR joints have better fatigue strength properties than spot-welded aluminium joints.
Self-pierce riveting is also suitable for mixed material joints (as long as both materials are
significantly ductile) and is often combined with adhesive bonding. As an example, the figure
below shows the cross sections of a three layer aluminium/steel joint (centre) and a joint of two
aluminium sheets with an adhesive (right). Self-pierce riveting of aluminium (Photos: Böllhoff)
The other important joining technology for aluminium body designs is adhesive bonding. The
properties of joints can be significantly improved by use of heat-cured epoxy adhesives. Normally
adhesive bonds are applied in a linear form. Such joints exhibit excellent stiffness and fatigue
characteristics, but should normally be used in conjunction with spot-welding, riveting or other
mechanical fastening methods in order to improve resistance to peel in large deformation (i.e.
during crash). Also, surface pretreatment is necessary for long-term durability of adhesively-
bonded structural joints. MIG welding is usually applied for joining of structural aluminium
components (extrusions, castings and thicker sheets (> 2 mm). This is also the case for laser
welding although laser welding can be also used for thinner sheets. These joining techniques are
suitable for situations where there is no access to both sides of the joint or where a continuous joint
is required. In special applications, also friction stir welding can be beneficially applied. Version
2013 © European Aluminium Association (auto@[Link]) 11 1.3.3 Jaguar’s Light Weight Vehicle
Technology a) Jaguar XJ (X350) The industrial break-through of the aluminium body in sheet
monocoque design took place in 2003 with the Jaguar XJ (X350). It was the first volume-
production car to use an all-aluminium monocoque chassis. Its design and fabrication concept was
conceived to be suitable for high volume production (> 100.000 units per year). The body structure
featured the first industrial use of the rivet-bonded joining technology, with self-pierce rivets and
epoxy structural adhesive joining together the aluminium pressings, castings and extrusions. The
extensive use of aluminium made the new XJ up to 200 kg lighter than the model it replaced,
despite the fact that the new car was longer, taller and wider than its predecessor, offering improved
headroom, legroom and shoulder-room for all the occupants. In addition to being 40 % lighter than
that of the previous XJ, the bodyshell of the new car was 60 % stiffer, offering valuable
improvements in body strength and driveability. The application of the AVT system developed by
Alcan (later Novelis) with EN AW-6111 sheets for the outer skin, EN AW-5182 inner panels and
EN AW-5754 structural sheets permitted the purposeful exploitation of various cost reduction
potentials existing in the entire processing chain. The weight of the painted body-in-white was 295
kg. Aluminium body-in-white of the Jaguar XJ (X350) (Photo : Jaguar) The X350 body structure
consisted of 273 aluminium sheet stampings, 22 extruded aluminium components and 15
aluminium castings. Aluminium product forms in the Jaguar XJ (X350) (Source: Jaguar) Version
2013 © European Aluminium Association (auto@[Link]) 12 The main joining method is adhesive
bonding supported by self piercing rivets offers - as a result of the continuous joint line - a
significant increase of the torsion stiffness of the body. Joining technologies applied in the Jaguar
XJ (X350) body-in-white b) Jaguar XJ (351) Jaguar XJ (X351) (Photo: Jaguar) Production of the
successor model (X351) started end of 2009 with first deliveries being made in 2010. The current
XJ features a lightweight aluminium body with 50% recycled material content based on the X350
chassis and retaining a large proportion of the earlier floor pan. The weight saved - an average of
150kg compared to its competitor models - also has benefits with respect to performance and
agility of the car.
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