Semi-Monocoque and Spaceframe-Monocoque chassis

[ilsit]

Anyone know of any good sites (ideally otherwise will reference the forum post) where I can get some information about them? Also it would be really useful if it had about their characteristics such as strength etc. Also finally if anyone knows of the cars that first used them again this would be ideal but any car that used them would be really helpful. Thanks in advance. :)

[D-Type]

I'm not sure what you are really looking for. Many cars described as having a monocoque didn't have a true monocoque structure, ie a single structure without a frame or body panels. And likewise many cars described as having a space frame didn't have a true space frame, ie one that was triangulated throughout in 3 dimensions. For example the D-Type Jaguar had a monocoque central section with partially triangulated subframes at front and rear.

I think you need to start by defining what you consider the terms mean and give examples of cars that meet your definitions.

[Humber]

There are a few books around on the subject - usually under racecar design from the late 1960s onwards.
The Race Car Chassis HP1540: Design, Structures and Materials for Road, Drag and Circle Track Open- andClosed-Wheel Chassis: Forbes Aird: 9781557885401: Amazon.com: Books (http://www.amazon.com/The-Race-Chassis-HP1540-andClosed-Wheel/dp/1557885400/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1358807706&sr=8-2&keywords=racecar+design)

There are a few websites.

http://robotics.ee.uwa.edu.au/theses/2011-REV-SAE-SpaceFrame-Waterman.pdf
Race Car Design Tips and Information - Chassis (http://www.gmecca.com/byorc/dtipschassis.html) (this site has links to a greater number of books)

The simulation of how good your design is prior to construction is done by places like MIRA and Ohio Supercomputer(?)

[ilsit]

I'm not sure what you are really looking for. Many cars described as having a monocoque didn't have a true monocoque structure, ie a single structure without a frame or body panels. And likewise many cars described as having a space frame didn't have a true space frame, ie one that was triangulated throughout in 3 dimensions. For example the D-Type Jaguar had a monocoque central section with partially triangulated subframes at front and rear.

I think you need to start by defining what you consider the terms mean and give examples of cars that meet your definitions.

What I mean is Hybrids between various chassis such as ladder, Space frame, monocoque etc. I've now done the semi-monocoque using the Volkswagen Beetle as an example. However at the moment I cant find anything about spaceframe chassis but providing I have two Hybrid chassis designs it doesn't have to be a spaceframe one. Hope this makes it a bit more clearer on what I'm looking for and thanks for replying. Also you don't happen to know how a car manufacturer design a chassis from beginning to end. I now they use CAD packages to design them and Finite Element Analysis to see if loadings are within limit. I've had a look on manufacturers websites but they don't go into much detail. I did find a PDF file about how BMW did theirs but it cost £20 just to get access. Again any help would be very useful thanks in advance.

[ilsit]

Thanks for the reply Humber some very useful information.

[Zico]

Another link about chassis types and their construction. Chassis (http://www.formula1-dictionary.net/chassis.html)