In the inherent impression of all people, hard-core off-road vehicles have always been non-load-bearing body structures, because the body has to withstand a lot of impact and distortion, so the body rigidity requirements are very high, and the general bearing body rigidity is not competent, so off-road vehicles usually use non-load-bearing bodies with girders. However, with the listing of a new generation of Land Rover Defenders, off-road vehicles with load-bearing body structures break people's inherent thinking, and many people can't help but wonder, can the strength of off-road vehicles in this structural form reach the standard? Why is it that off-road vehicles with load-bearing body structures are becoming more and more popular. Today, let's talk about this topic.
In fact, the main reason why hardcore off-road vehicles have always adopted non-load-bearing body structure is that the body is more rigid, especially for some complex road conditions, the non-load-bearing body can better show its strength, and the load-bearing body is more lightweight, so it is completely unattainable in terms of strength.
In addition, the design chassis and shell of the non-load-bearing body are separated, and all the driving systems of this car are built based on the chassis, which is commonly known as the girder, and then rely on the chassis, on which the corresponding shell is installed. Therefore, all the weight of such a structure body is basically mounted on the chassis, and the shell itself will not withstand too much high strength.
For the load-bearing body structure, the shell and chassis adopt an integrated design, so there is no chassis in the strict sense, and the chassis of this car only includes the front and rear subframes and front and rear suspension, which cannot be regarded as a complete chassis, and the shell itself is a carrier. In addition, the load-bearing body design itself is more lightweight, so the strength of the whole vehicle and the non-load-bearing body are completely two levels.
However, the load-bearing body also has its own advantages, in addition to the lightweight we just mentioned, the center of gravity of the body is also lower, and the actual driving stability and handling are better. Moreover, the bearing body is also better insulated and comfortable than the non-loader body. Therefore, most family cars and urban SUVs use a load-bearing body structure. So why do classic hardcore off-road vehicles like the Land Rover Defender suddenly use a load-bearing body structure? It can not meet the same strength requirements as non-load-bearing bodies.
The new Land Rover Defender adopts a load-bearing body structure, but it is still very different from the load-bearing body we imagined. According to official publicity, the new Land Rover Defender's load-bearing body strength is 3 times higher than that of the most advanced non-load-bearing body and 10 times higher than the load-bearing body. Although this set of data does not know who Land Rover is compared to, but the new Guard in order to achieve the same body strength as non-loader, the whole vehicle is made of body aluminum alloy material, compared to the traditional steel body, can achieve lighter weight, smaller volume. And its maximum torsional rigidity of the body reaches 30,000 N·m. And while ensuring the high-strength body, the weight of the vehicle is also controlled within a reasonable range. In addition, in the chassis components, the subframe is also made of forged steel, which can improve the robustness and durability of driving in extreme road conditions.
Speaking of which, many users may think that the strength of aluminum alloys is not as good as steel, in fact, under the same volume or mass, the strength of aluminum alloys has far exceeded that of steel. Under the same strength as steel, the volume and mass of aluminum alloy are smaller, which has a significant effect on body lightweight. Moreover, compared with steel, aluminum alloy has better corrosion resistance, for off-road vehicles that often wade through mountains and waters, so the use of aluminum alloy body is undoubtedly the best choice.
In addition, in order to make the load-bearing body reach the same strength as the non-load-bearing body, so many places need to use the riveting process, compared to the traditional common welding process, riveting can better fix the two to prevent being torn. However, the riveting process is often more expensive than welding, which also puts forward higher requirements for construction difficulty.
In addition to the quality of the body itself, the structural design of the suspension is also very critical. In this regard, the new generation of Land Rover Defender front and rear suspension uses a double wishbone independent suspension structure, which allows the tires to better adhere to the ground, thereby improving the grip of the tires. Moreover, when high-intensity off-roading is required, the multi-link is more flexible than the overall bridge supported by the non-load-bearing body, which can handle different cross-axle pavements.
summary
Prior to this, hardcore off-road vehicles have always adopted non-load-bearing body structure design, which is largely due to the fact that this structural design has inherent advantages in improving torsional rigidity and other aspects, but with the development of technology and the emergence of high-strength aluminum alloy materials, the bearing body created by special structure can also achieve the strength of non-bearing body structure. Just like the new generation of Land Rover Defender mentioned in this article, although it adopts a non-load-bearing body structure, its integrated body structure has even three times the torsional strength of the non-load-bearing body. With the emergence of a new generation of Land Rover Defender, or will break the traditional concept that hardcore off-road vehicles must be non-loaded body, with the rapid development of automotive technology, I believe that there will be more hard-core off-road vehicles with bearing bodies in the future, because it can not only meet the needs of off-road players in the body anti-torsional rigidity, but also take into account comfort and handling, why not?