Technical Paper
Effect of Glazing System Parameters on Glazing System Contribution to a Lightweight Vehicle's Torsional Stiffness and Weight
2000-10-03
2000-01-2719
A finite element model of a lightweight vehicle body-in-white has been developed to study the contribution of a lightweight vehicle's glazing system to its overall structural rigidity. This paper examines the effect of the glazing thickness and glazing molding stiffness on the glazing system contribution to a lightweight vehicle's torsional rigidity. The individual stiffness contributions of the front and back glazing were determined, as well as the weight of the glazing as a function of its thickness. In the first set of analyses detailed in this paper, the torsional and bending loadcase was investigated by comparing the baseline model to a no-glass model. It was shown that the glazing system contributes significantly to the overall structural rigidity of the auto-body. The difference was mainly in the torsional rigidity which was 12.4% more rigid than the no-glass model. The bending rigidity was only increased by 0.5% in the glazing model.