Chassis Design and Passenger Compartments

An Automakers Conundrum

The predominant rule of thumb in chassis design in the current motor industry is driven by regulatory safety laws and cost. In essence, car makers are driven to find the cheapest ways to make their cars safe.

What is needed can only be a product of a new business model under which higher quality manufacture is possible.

If given this chance, there are a raft of materials that can be used to improve safety above and beyond the dictates of law makers.

Such materials are currently prohibitive for automakers to use due to cost, but also due in part for the necissity to turn over more product to stimulate cash flow in their business.                  

Great Example Chassis Designs...

Ferari designer Pinan Farina came up with this using the shape of an egg. He incorporates all the strength of the egg shape while cushioning the paseeneger inside with shock abosrbing springs for impact scenarios.

The Pivo has a tidy little 3 person cabin. Of special note is the center oriented driving position, and the perfectly round interior. All of this is placed above the working parts of the car. The driving experience is probably superior due to increased visibility from the drivers viewpoint.

The BMW Gina is totally wrapped in space material which can stretch and mould to the chassis of the vehicle. One added feature is the ability to alter the cahssis shape to create various air foils. The shape of these planes can be dynamically controlled based on a myriad of driving situations

The Nissan Land Glider is a great example of a tandem driving position. The leaning concept helps a whole bunch as well, but the main feature has to be the cockpit area. 

The actual cockpit interior is something drawn from a fighter jet cockpit. To imagine driving this car, one has images of diving through clouds and chasing the next corner. Thankfully Nissan have provided all needed to attain this sensation.

Imagine driving a sports car one day, then the next, an SUV. Need to move house? Try the mini van attachment. Seperating the passenger compartment from the powertrain allows the GM Skateboard to be every car and any car it wants to be.

Alternative Materials

There are in abundance several types of materials readily available to the market that car manufacturers have not yet explored.

Materials that are stronger, lighter, and more resilient to heat are expensive to producesince there are no current manufacturers geared to meet the demands of a mass market roll out.

The scope of development in this space has capaicity to grow, but only if the consumer places a higher value on quality than they have for the past 50 years. Innovation in this field is truly hard to find out there. Mainly this can be atributed to the classic car design and the limitations in dveloping other areas due to lack of a different platform to design around.

Science is a wonderful thing, but rarely does it get to show its true qualities until a need arises. The key message is then 'embrace the new!'

Form and Function

What has not really been explored in my mind is the avenue of looking towards design in nature as a guide for design in cars. Especially in chassis design, there exists a strong element of catering to the lateral forces applied to a vehicle as well as the protection of passengers.

Cars are made to withstand extreme forces during collision. These forces have resulted in chassis that are strong, yes, but they also lack in regards to understanding the full dynamic of applied force during a crash.

Just having the chassis as part of the overarching structure makes little sense. Turning to designs proven in nature may prove more effective than any others.

Alternatively, if the cassis could break away from the rest of the vehicle, then forces applied to occupants could be reduced to more tolerable limits.

Additionally, the forces applied whilst cornering call for the integration of anti roll and lateral support structures.

All together, this makes the performance of a modern day car very rigid and prones to carry external forces through the entire chassis.

With a change in an overall car platform, this tendency could be changed to be safer and more dynamic.

 
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