Spaceframe or not?
Discussion
Looking at the Roll Royce Phantom blurb, they keep referring to it as having a spaceframe chassis, but it has lots of welded aluminium panels on some extrusions, so as far I could tell, it isn't one.
This got me thinking about the Ultimas. Are they strictly speaking a semi-spaceframe, because they have a welded-in sheet floor and rivetted/bonded aluminium panels that are needed for strength?
Where does one draw the line? Is the naming down to racing regulations?
This got me thinking about the Ultimas. Are they strictly speaking a semi-spaceframe, because they have a welded-in sheet floor and rivetted/bonded aluminium panels that are needed for strength?
Where does one draw the line? Is the naming down to racing regulations?
dandare said:
Looking at the Roll Royce Phantom blurb, they keep referring to it as having a spaceframe chassis, but it has lots of welded aluminium panels on some extrusions, so as far I could tell, it isn't one.
This got me thinking about the Ultimas. Are they strictly speaking a semi-spaceframe, because they have a welded-in sheet floor and rivetted/bonded aluminium panels that are needed for strength?
Where does one draw the line? Is the naming down to racing regulations?
The Ultima is a spaceframe with some stressed panels.This got me thinking about the Ultimas. Are they strictly speaking a semi-spaceframe, because they have a welded-in sheet floor and rivetted/bonded aluminium panels that are needed for strength?
Where does one draw the line? Is the naming down to racing regulations?
dandare said:
Looking at the Roll Royce Phantom blurb, they keep referring to it as having a spaceframe chassis, but it has lots of welded aluminium panels on some extrusions, so as far I could tell, it isn't one.
This got me thinking about the Ultimas. Are they strictly speaking a semi-spaceframe, because they have a welded-in sheet floor
Really?This got me thinking about the Ultimas. Are they strictly speaking a semi-spaceframe, because they have a welded-in sheet floor
Not on mine.
F.C. said:
dandare said:
Looking at the Roll Royce Phantom blurb, they keep referring to it as having a spaceframe chassis, but it has lots of welded aluminium panels on some extrusions, so as far I could tell, it isn't one.
This got me thinking about the Ultimas. Are they strictly speaking a semi-spaceframe, because they have a welded-in sheet floor
Really?This got me thinking about the Ultimas. Are they strictly speaking a semi-spaceframe, because they have a welded-in sheet floor
Not on mine.
Technically chassis made from aluminium extrusions are not spaceframes, they are multitubes.
They are probably called spaceframes for marketing reasons or because they don't want to explain the terms to every customer who asks.
Here's how it works:
Ladder frame - large tubes with some cross or X bracing but no 3D structures
Multitube - smaller dia tubes with some 3D structures to give improved bending stiffness for the weight
Spaceframe - light weight tubes in a triangulated structure, the triangulation being critical to the chassis
monocoque - a sheet structure relying on its 3D structures and/or panels in shear to provide the strength
Most chassis end up a hybrid of the above but, usually, the basic type is obvious.
Don't be fooled by the hype surrounding spaceframes, most of them aren't that stiff and are only about ten percent stiffer for the same finished car weight as a properly designed (i.e. NOT "C" section tubes and properly X braced) ladder frame. The ladder frame also has the advantages of being cheaper, simpler and generally allows easier access.
They are probably called spaceframes for marketing reasons or because they don't want to explain the terms to every customer who asks.
Here's how it works:
Ladder frame - large tubes with some cross or X bracing but no 3D structures
Multitube - smaller dia tubes with some 3D structures to give improved bending stiffness for the weight
Spaceframe - light weight tubes in a triangulated structure, the triangulation being critical to the chassis
monocoque - a sheet structure relying on its 3D structures and/or panels in shear to provide the strength
Most chassis end up a hybrid of the above but, usually, the basic type is obvious.
Don't be fooled by the hype surrounding spaceframes, most of them aren't that stiff and are only about ten percent stiffer for the same finished car weight as a properly designed (i.e. NOT "C" section tubes and properly X braced) ladder frame. The ladder frame also has the advantages of being cheaper, simpler and generally allows easier access.
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