SAE International Releases New Book on Automobile Body Structure Design

WARRENDALE, Pa., Feb. 28, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- There is a competitive need to bring fresh cars to market quickly. The body--including design, validation, and tooling--is on the critical path in product development. It is therefore imperative to have a body design staff that can make very quick, often intuitive decisions.

SAE International has released a new book that provides readers with a means to gain this intuition.

Fundamentals of Automobile Body Structure Design by Donald E. Malen provides fundamental information on automobile body structure design, done through the use of models intended to provide insight into the behavior of body structural systems not available from complex analysis tools such as finite element analysis. The nine-chapter, 468-page book goes on sale in March 2011 in hardcover print and ebook versions. The latter offering includes either complete ebook or individual echapter downloads, available in a suite of formats that are also saved in a personalized elibrary hosted by SAE International.

The body structure is an important vehicle subsystem; one that serves many functions. Its basic function is to serve as the armature that holds the parts of the vehicle together. It contributes to safety performance in a collision. It also contributes to noise and vibration refinement, which differentiates a luxury vehicle from an economy vehicle. In addition to performing these key functions, the design of the body is the critical path that establishes the program lead time of the model.

Fundamentals of Automobile Body Structure Design provides readers with a solid understanding of the principles of automobile body structure design, illustrating the effect of changing design parameters on the behavior of auto body structural elements. The book addresses such concepts as:

• The best way to shape a structural element to achieve a desired function.
• How the structure behaves relative to performance required.
• Why a structure behaves in a certain way.
• How to improve performance.
  

Emphasizing simple First Order Analysis models of the behavior of body structural systems rather than complex mathematical models, the book looks at the best way to shape a structural element to achieve a desired function, why structures behave in certain ways, and how to improve performance.

The book will be of most interest to college students (graduate and undergraduate) in automotive programs; entry-level engineers at OEMs who wish to specialize in auto body design; vehicle integration engineers who need to understand the influence of vehicle layout on body performance; engineers in the chassis, interior, and powertrain areas who need an understanding of the interaction of their subsystems with the body; test engineers and FEA analysts who need to understand the motivation and context for particular tests or analyses; and academics in traditional disciplines who need to understand the practical aspects of body engineering.

Author Donald E. Malen is an adjunct faculty member at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, where he teaches graduate-level courses in automobile body structures and design for manufacturability. He developed the automobile body course in 1998 and has taught it each year since. This book is based on course notes that have evolved over this 10-year period and benefits from the input of distance learning students from GM, Ford, Chrysler, Toyota, and suppliers. Previously, Malen was an engineering executive at GM Corp. During his 35 years at GM, he worked in the areas of advanced body design and systems engineering. His last assignment before retirement was Director of the GM Innovation Zone. He holds several patents related to automobile body structures and vibration. His education includes a PhD in mechanical and industrial engineering from the University of Michigan, an MS in engineering mechanics from MIT, and a BSME from GM Institute (Kettering University).

Book Details

Individual chapters cover:

• Body structural requirements
• Body structural elements
• Design for body bending
• Design for body torsion
• Design for crashworthiness
• Design for vibration
• Design for vehicle and styling integration
• Material selection and mass estimation in preliminary design

For more information, including free front and back matter, or to order Fundamentals of Automobile Body Structure Design visit: http://books.sae.org/book-r-394 . To request an electronic review copy of the book, email [email protected] . Forward published reviews to Shawn Andreassi at [email protected]  or SAE International, 400 Commonwealth Dr., Warrendale PA, 15096-0001, to receive a print copy of the book or another equivalent SAE International book.

Other related books from SAE International include:

• The Passenger Car Body: Design, Deformation Behavior, Accident Repairs, by Dieter Anselm
• Advanced Vehicle Technology, Second Edition, by Heinz Heisler
• Handbook of Automotive Engineering, Edited by Herman Braess and Ulrich Seiffert

SAE International is a global association of more than 128,000 engineers and related technical experts in the aerospace, automotive and commercial-vehicle industries. SAE International's core competencies are life-long learning and voluntary consensus standards development. SAE International's charitable arm is the SAE Foundation, which supports many programs, including A World In Motion® and the Collegiate Design Series.

- www.sae.org -

Contact: Shawn Andreassi of SAE International, 1-724-772-8522 or [email protected]

SOURCE SAE International