Light Weight BIW Solutions for Improving Functional Properties: A Review

Body in white (BIW) forms a major structure in any automobile. It is responsible for safety and structural rigidity of the vehicle. Also, this frame supports the power plant, auxiliary equipments and all body parts of the vehicle. When it comes to judging the performance of the vehicle, BIW is analyzed not only for its strength and shape but also the weight. Light weight BIW structures have grown rapidly in order to fulfill the requirements of the best vehicle performance in dynamic conditions. Since then lot of efforts have been put into computer-aided engineering (CAE), materials research, advanced manufacturing processes and joining methods. Each of them play a critical role in BIW functionality. Constructional designing, development of light materials with improved strength and special manufacturing practices for BIW are few research areas with scope of improvement. This paper attempts to review various factors studied for BIW weight reduction. Some of the major findings are briefly discussed and few suggestions are made for the future research.