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Test Set-Up of BIW (Body in White) Stiffness 2013-01-1439

Published
Measurements 04/08/2013

Karan R. Khanse and Shekhar P Pathak

Mahindra & Mahindra

Copyright © 2013 SAE International

doi:10.4271/2013-01-1439

ABSTRACT INTRODUCTION
Physical Validation is an important part of any design
It is repeatedly proved that any minor change in the
process. The automobile body also needs to be validated for
parameters involved in the test set up of BIW Bending and
its structural performance. A physical test set-up was to be
Torsion Stiffness evaluation changes the final test results
developed for testing the Bending and Torsion Stiffness of
significantly.
the Body-In-White. Developing a set-up that furnishes
accurate stiffness results would correctly indicate whether the
The primary aim of the Physical Stiffness Tests, in the
actual manufactured body is performing as per designs and
development stage of an Automotive Body is to ensure CAE
whether the stiffness results co-relate with those obtained in
co-relation. The setup for the physical test must therefore be
CAE. First, a brief background of the relevant concepts is
designed such that the constraints match exactly with the
given. A detailed analysis is put forth as to which points
ones in CAE. This will avoid any issues of correlating the test
should be used to mount the body for the tests. The deflection
conditions. Any deviations in the test results between the two
of the body during these tests was predicted. Considering
can then be studied separately.
these motions, the design of fixtures was finalized.
At first, this paper analytically deals with the mounting points
that should be used on the various vehicle body types based ‘Body in White’ & ‘Stiffness’
on the different types of suspensions they employ. Based on The ‘Body in White’ or ‘BIW’ refers to the stage in
the theoretical conditions, a practical test set-up has been automotive design in which a Vehicle Body's sheet metal
derived for testing the Bending Stiffness and the Torsion components have been welded together- but before painting,
Stiffness separately. or adding any moving parts/ motor/ trims. The basic function
of the BIW is to work as a rigid bracket to hold the various
The paper mainly deals with the various degrees of freedom systems together and also to act as a safety compartment for
that either need to be constrained or kept free to maintain the occupants in case of a collision. There are two types of
appropriate load paths during the test. Guidelines to ensure Bodies that can be referred to, based on whether the vehicle
correct fixture designs for the front as well as the rear uses a ‘Body on Frame Platform’ or a ‘Body Frame
mounting points are also included. Integrated Platform’. A ‘Body on Frame Platform’ uses a
Body that is mounted on the Chassis (/Frame). The road loads
here are taken by the Chassis. Whereas, a ‘Body Frame
Integrated Platform’ comprises of a Monocoque
Construction, where the Body itself takes the entire road
loads.
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There are two basic aspects using which the structural

competency of a Vehicle Body can be defined. They are
Strength and Stiffness. A structure is termed ‘Strong’ if it is
difficult to break it. However, a structure is termed ‘Stiff’, if
it is difficult to change its shape. Mainly, there are two types
of Stiffness' that are dealt with. One is Bending Stiffness and
the other is Torsion Stiffness. Bending Stiffness is defined as
the resistance offered by the Body to deflection, on account
of the Bending which occurs due to the Symmetrical Loads Figure 2. Torsion Case
on the Body. Whereas, Torsion Stiffness is defined as the
resistance offered by the Body to deflection on account of the Thus, for a Torque T applied at the front, the stiffness can be
Torsion that occurs due to Asymmetrical Loads on the Body calculated by using the formula given in Equation 2.
[1].

It is very essential to have a Stiff Body. A stiffer body (in

case of a Monocoque construction) will provide a rigid
Equation 2
platform for the suspension to allow the lateral loads to be
distributed front to rear in proportion to the roll stiffness of However, the vehicle body is quite complex. Mounting the
the suspension. Predictable handling can best be achieved body at the extreme ends does not particularly yield the most
with a stiffer BIW [2]. Also, a stiffer BIW is more resistant to accurate results. Based on the type of vehicle that is being
vibrations and produces less squeaking noise. This improved dealt with, the body may or may not have an extended
NVH performance of the BIW improves the overall Ride structural portion in the front (for the hood) and in the rear
Quality of the vehicle. Lastly, a BIW that flexes may be (for the boot). In most cases with such extended portions, it is
prone to Fatigue, and further softening with use, eventually not possible to hold the body rigidly enough at the extreme
resulting in failure. ends due to non availability of sufficiently flat surfaces.
Further, these extended structures are inherently weak in
BODY MOUNTING POINTS stiffness as compared to the entire body. Fig. 3 shows such a
week front end. Thus, holding the body in these areas induces
The Bending Stiffness test of any simple component involves localized deflections during loading, and it does not give us
holding the two longitudinal ends of the specimen. The an accurate measure of the body stiffness. The Body should
specimen should be held symmetrically about the therefore be held in places which lie sufficiently within the
longitudinal axis on each side. The load should be applied main structure [3].
symmetrically about the longitudinal axis and exactly on the
centre line. Fig. 1 is a simple representation of this test.

Figure 3. Weak Front End

Figure 1. Bending Case The loads which induce Bending and Torsion on the Body are
basically the wheel loads. These loads are transferred directly
Thus, Stiffness can be calculated by the formula given in to the Body in case of a Monocoque construction via the
Equation 1. suspension. For a vehicle which employs a Body on Frame
construction, the road loads are transferred to the chassis. The
Body is mounted on the chassis at several locations along the
two sides. The deflections due to the road loads that are
Equation 1 transferred through the chassis to the body lie in the plane in
For Torsion Stiffness test, the specimen needs to be held which the suspension is mounted. Therefore, to simulate
rigidly at one end. The other end is the torque application deflection that exists in the real-world condition, the body, in
end. This end needs to be held in such a way that the force case of the Body on Frame construction should be mounted
can be applied at two points. Force on one of these two points on those points which are close to the suspensions. Usually,
is applied in the vertically upward direction and on the other mounting points which couple the body with the chassis are
side in the vertically downward direction. Fig. 2 is a simple found near this plane. They therefore prove to be the best
representation of this test. mounting points that can be used for the tests. Fig. 4 shows
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the two mounting points under the A-Pillar and under the D- The graph in Fig. 6 shows the variation of Load vs.
Pillar that can be used for the tests of an SUV BIW. Deflection for the Coil Spring of the same vehicle:

Figure 4. ‘Body on Frame’ BIW Mounting Points

As stated earlier, for the other type of construction, i.e. the

Monocoque construction, the road loads are transferred
directly to the body through the suspensions. There are Figure 6. Spring Characteristics
various types of suspensions that are found in Monocoque
construction vehicles these days. Depending on the type of Here, [Fig. 6], the spring is single-rated; hence, the load
suspension, the mounting points change accordingly. variation obtained is uniform. Further, it is the same for
However, there are two suspension points that are found close compression as well as for expansion. It is seen that the
to the wheel centre plane. One is the Spring Mounting Point maximum spring load for this vehicle has reached up to
and the other is the Damper Mounting Point. To determine 230kgf.
which points should be used for mounting, tests were
conducted on the Damper and Spring of a particular vehicle The experiments clearly show that the wheel load is
separately. The characteristics of both were studied. transferred to the BIW through the spring and not through the
damper.
Fig. 5 shows the variation of Load vs. Deflection for the
Damper: In cases where the suspensions have the coil spring and
damper mounted separately, the coil spring should always be
used as the mounting point because the actual road loads are
transferred to the body through the springs. In cases where
the Coil and Damper are mounted together, like a McPherson
Strut, the McPherson Strut mounting on the Body should be
used as the mounting point for the tests.

FIXTURE CONCEPTUALISATION
Bending Case
Fixtures that are used to simulate the actual conditions need
to be designed carefully taking all parameters into account.
Upon loading, when the body is bending, it essentially sags.
Figure 5. Damper Characteristics The motion is as shown in the Fig. 7.
The upper part of the graph [Fig. 5] (from Left to Right) is
when the damper goes from full compression to full
expansion. The lower part of the graph (from Right to Left) is
when the damper goes from full expansion to full
Figure 7. Sag during Bending
compression. This lower part represents the motion when the
wheel hits a bump and when the BIW experiences load for
the first time. It is observed that the maximum load in this The fixtures need to account for this shift due to the sag. To
stroke at lower frequencies does not exceed 5kgf and at account for this motion, the fixtures can either be mounted on
higher frequency, does not exceed 30kgf. The damper always Rollers or they can use a Universal Joint (/ Ball Joint) which
provides damping in the return stroke. The forward stroke is accounts for this motion.
not a major contributor to the damping action or to the
transfer of any significant load.
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While the fixtures comply with this motion, they should be Torsion Case
doing so with no restraint. If the fixtures exhibit any sort of
Fixtures that are designed to simulate this motion, should take
resistance to this motion, it will reflect as an added stiffness
into consideration all the motions that will occur practically
of the Body and it would not be a correct indication of the
on the test body. When a body undergoes torsion, there will
overall Body Stiffness.
always be bending accompanying the twist. Practically, there
is never a case of pure torsion. The mechanics of the body in
Ideally, the axis of rotation should be placed exactly at the
torsion are as shown in Fig 10.
mounting point. However, as this is practically not possible,
the axis which permits rotation should be placed as close to
the mounting point as physically possible. Taking this axis
further away from the mounting point will change the
Instantaneous Centre of Rotation of the body resulting in
inappropriate test conditions [3].

Figure 10. Movement of the front points in Torsion

As shown in the Fig. 10, the motion of the front points is in

three-dimensional space, as projected on the yz and xz
planes. To accommodate such a motion, the fixtures need to
Figure 8. Axis of rotation to be as close to the mounting permit motion in three dimensions. For the same reason, the
as possible fixtures should use a Universal joint or a Ball Joint which
permits such a motion.
The body in its side view should be treated as a simply
supported beam; also, in its rear view, the two axes that The front mounting points are also the force application
permit rotation should be exactly horizontal and co-linear [3]. points [4]. The force applied in the positive direction on one
Failing to maintain this will induce an additional horizontal side should be equal to the force applied in the negative
reaction force, which would be a deviation from the actual direction on the other side. The best way to ensure this is to
conditions that need to be maintained. An exaggerated view use a twist beam which is pivoted at the centre. Using the
of this condition is shown in the Fig. 9. twist beam, force can be applied on any one end of the beam,
mechanically or hydraulically. It is then safe to assume that
the resulting force acting on the two mounting points will be
exactly the same. Vertical arms are used to connect this twist
beam to the body. The vertical arms cannot be connected
rigidly to the twist beam. To maintain the twist axis of the
body, they should be connected with ball joints. Mounting the
vertical arms rigidly will keep the twist axis at the centre of
the twist beam. This case is shown in Fig. 12. However, if the
Figure 9. Undesired horizontal force component vertical arms are connected using ball joints, the twist axis
will be maintained right at the centre of the two mounting
points, where it is desired. This case is illustrated in Fig. 13.
Finally, the body needs to be loaded at exactly the centre line
[4]. Many a times, application of a uniformly distributed load
at the centre line is not physically possible. Force, then,
should be applied on the two sides/ two lateral ends
symmetrically.

Figure 11. Vertical Arms to Twist Beam Connection

(Torsion)
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The following is a representation of the designed test set-up.

Bending

Figure 12. Incorrect case of Torsion

Figure 15. Bending Stiffness Test Set-Up

Fig. 15 shows the test set-up for Bending Stiffness

measurements. The four vertical arms are rigidly mounted to
the base. Spherical Rod Ends were mounted atop these arms.
These rod ends permit the rotation of the pin about all the
Figure 13. Correct case of Torsion due to Ball Joints three axes. Fig. 16 shows the rod ends that were used:
The rear points should be mounted in such a way that one
side is completely rigid, permitting no motion. A ball joint
should however be used, only to accommodate the rotation
produced by the flexing surfaces. The other side should be
such that it does not permit motion in the longitudinal
direction. It should however utilize ball joints in such a way
that that particular point is permitted lateral motion. This is
required because while the body undergoes twist, the surface
between the two rear mounting points undergoes flexing. Figure 16. Rod End
This condition is as shown in the Fig. 14:
Fig. 17 shows the end brackets that were used to connect the
Rod Ends with the Body:

Figure 14. Rear Flex induced due to body torsion

TEST SET-UP
Figure 17. End Bracket
Based on the theory derived above, a set-up was designed for
testing Stiffness' of BIWs. The whole set-up was so designed
that it could be used for any Vehicle Body. Maximum This is a representative design of the End Bracket. As
adjustability was incorporated so as to accommodate all mentioned it varies with the design of the mount on the body.
possible vehicular lengths and widths. All parts of the set-up However, the end bracket should be designed so as to ensure
were standardized, except for the end brackets which finally maximum area of contact with the body in the mounted
hold the Body. The design of these brackets will vary based condition. A greater contact patch will transfer the load more
on the design of the body. It will be different for ‘Body on effectively without possible localized deflections [4]. This
Frame’ BIWs and ‘Monocoque’ BIWs. Also, for Monocoque combination of the Rod End and the End Bracket provides
Bodies, the design of these brackets will vary depending on the perfect freedom for motion.
the type of suspension mount and its dimensions.
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Fig. 18 shows the arrangement of the rod end- end bracket Reactions on the supports in torsion stiffness tests are
combination when mounted on the surface of the BIW with a alternately in the vertically upward and downward direction.
McPherson Strut type front suspension. Similar mounting can These types of reactions cannot be provided by rollers, as
be employed on the rear suspension depending on the spring they do not clamp the body in any way. Hence, only the rod
seat design. end-end bracket combination can be used for these tests.

SUMMARY
In conclusion, this paper discusses the mounting points that
need to be employed while performing stiffness tests on a
BIW. The mechanics of the Body Mounting points were
studied based on which fixtures were designed. The fixtures
were designed in such a way that they would provide
appropriate freedom and constraints in the right directions.
Thus, fixtures designed based on the concepts presented here
would lead to accurate test results. A lot also depends on the
manufacturing accuracy reached in fabricating these fixtures.
Efforts were made to make the design of these fixtures highly
universal. This will reduce the total time and money spent on
testing different BIWs each time. Further, the exact same
Figure 18. Arrangement as mounted on the vehicle setup can also be used to measure the Bending Stiffness and
the Torsion Stiffness of a chassis with slight modifications in
Apart from this rod end - end bracket combination, bending the end brackets.
tests can also be performed by using rollers as shown in the
Fig. 8. For bending tests, the reactions on these supports are REFERENCES
only in the vertically upward direction, which these rollers
1. ‘Motor Vehicle Structures- Concepts and Fundamentals’-
can provide.
by Brown Jason C., Robertson John and Serpento Stan T..

Torsion 2. ‘Race Car Vehicle Dynamics’- by Milliken William F. and

Milliken Douglas L..
Fig. 19 shows the test set-up for Torsion Stiffness
measurements. The rear left arm is mounted rigidly to the 3. ‘Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd.- Internal Body Test
base. The rear right arm permits the required lateral motion Standards’
by using spherical rod ends at the bottom. At the top, both the
4. ‘The Automotive Chassis: Components Design, Volume
rear arms utilize spherical rod ends along with end brackets,
1’- Genta G., Morello Lorenzo
similar to the bending set-up. The front uses a Twist beam,
which is pivoted at the centre. The two vertical arms are
connected to the Twist beam as shown in detail in Fig. 11.
The top of these two vertical arms again use the rod end- end
bracket combination.

Figure 19. Torsion Stiffness Test Set-Up

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