Types Of Automobile Bodies and Requirement of Automobile Body

Automobile Body : 

The basic form of the modem automobile body is older horse driver carriage. They have a single seat type body construction which provides less safety to the passenger from weather. Larger and more stylish bodies were developed and manufactured with passage of time to provide increased space, safety or protection to the passengers.

Body is the super-structure for all vehicles. It may either be constructed separately and bolted to the chassis or manufactured integral with the chassis (i.e. Frameless construction). The chassis and the body make the complete vehicle.
A body consists of windows and doors, engine cover, roof, luggage cover etc. The electrical system in the body is connected to the chassis electrical units so that the battery and the generator/altemator can furnish the required electrical energy to the system.

Requirements of Vehicle Body

The vehicle body should fulfill the following requirements.
1. It must be strong enough to withstand all types of forces acting on the vehicle.The  forces are including the weight of the car, inertia, luggage, braking and cornering forces.
2. Stresses induced in the body should be distributed evenly to all portions.
3. Weight of the body should be as minimum as possible.
4. It should be able to cope with impact loads of reasonable magnitude.
5. It should have reasonable fatigue life.
6. It must provide adequate space for both passengers and the luggage.
7. It should have minimum number of components.
8. It must have sufficient torsional stiffness i.e., ability to resist the twisting stresses produced by irregular road surface.
9. It should have good access to the engine and suspension elements.
10. It must ensure a quite ride, easy entry and exit.
11. It should create minimum vibration during running.
12. The shape of the body should be minimum drag.
13. It is easy to manufacture as well as cheap in cost.
14. It should be designed in such a way that passengers and luggage are protected from bad weather.
15. It should give appeal finish in shape and colour.

Types of Vehicle Body

For different types of auto-vehicles, passenger space and overall dimensions vary. Various types of bodies for different vehicles can be listed as below.
1. Car
2. Straight truck
3. Truck-half body
4. Truck-platform type
5. Tractor
6. Tractor with articulated trailer
7. Tanker
8. Dumper truck
9. Delivery van
10. Station wagon
11. Pick-up
12. Jeep
13. Buses
14. Mini-buses
15. Three wheeler (i.e., Auto rickshaw)

The car bodies have great resistance to wind. For high-speed vehicles, a special attention is given to streamline the body. The streamlining is the process for shaping the body to reduce resistance. It is mainly used for racing cars.

Straight truck vehicle bodies are constructed into two parts. One is driver cabin and other one is goods carriage. Goods carriage is a closed type with particular standard height. These vehicles are used to carry goods which are affected by weather conditions. Example. Vegetables, sugar, rice, sea foods etc.

Truck half body is having driver cabin as usual but the goods carriage has open at the top. It is used to carry various goods which are not affected by weather. Truck platform type has also a separate driver cabin. Its goods carriage is a platform type. It usually carries goods such as iron billets, barrels, concrete slabs etc.

Tractor consists of small length body in addition to driven cabin. Usually, an articulated trailer is attached to the rear end of the trailer. This trailer has various cabins. Figure 1.25 shows different types of bodies normally designed for different vehicles. It may be an open type or a closed type depending on the purpose of use. It is used to carry passenger cars, mopeds, motor cycles etc. Most of these vehicles have six wheels.

Tanker is the vehicle which consists of a tank to carry fluids of various natures. The tank may be welded or bolted to the chassis frame behind the driver cabin. The tank has an opening at the top to pour  fluid and a drain cock at the bottom to drain the fluid.

Dumper truck has heavy goods carrying panel with open top in the rear side. The rear side can be tilted up and down by hydraulic cylinders. It is used to carry brick, stones, marbles etc.

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