Information about Monocoque

Monocoque (French for "single" (mono) and "shell" (coque)) is a construction technique that supports structural load using an object's external skin. This stands in contrast with using an internal framework (or truss) that is then covered with a non-load-bearing skin. Monocoque construction was first widely used in aircraft, starting in the 1930s.

Structural skin is another term for the same concept. Unibody is a related construction technique for automobiles in which the body is integrated into a single unit with the chassis rather than having a separate body-on-frame. The welded "Unit Body" is the predominant automobile construction technology today.

Aircraft

Early aircraft were built up from an internal frame, typically of wood or steel tubing, which was then covered (or skinned) with fabric to give it a smooth surface. The materials vary; some builders used sheet metal or plywood for the skin. In all of these designs the idea of load-bearing structures with separate skins remained.

In 1916 LFG introduced their Roland C.II, which used a fuselage made of "bent" plywood, forming both the external skinning as well as the main load bearing surface. This made the plane immensely strong in comparison with contemporary designs, although it was also quite heavy. Similar designs were also produced by Pfalz Flugzeugwerke, who had originally built the Roland under license.

By the late 1920s the price of aluminium (specifically duralumin) started dropping considerably and many manufacturers started using it to replace the internal framing, and in some cases, the external skin. A classic example of such a design is the Ford Trimotor, which retained the old type structure with new materials. The structure of the plane consists of a trusswork of U-shaped aluminium beams, with a thin skin of aluminium riveted on top, using skin corrugations instead of wing ribs and fuselage stringers.

When these designs started appearing it was realized that the skin itself had significant structural properties of its own. With a sufficient thickness, one could do away with all of the internal structure. However this would be even heavier than the framing would have been. At thinner gauges the skin could easily provide the structure for tension and shear loads (metal resists being pulled apart quite well), and if bent into a curve or pipe, it became quite strong against bending loads as well. The only loading it could not handle on its own — at least for thin "skins" — was compression. Combining this sort of structural skin with a greatly reduced internal stiffening to provide strength against buckling in compression led to what is known as "semi-monocoque".

This converged with higher engine power and greater attention to streamlining to create faster aircraft; this required a stiff skin to support them on the passing air. The maximized torsional stiffness was also important to avoid aerolastic problems in the transition from the well-braced biplane construction. An outstanding early example is the Douglas DC-3, the first aircraft that could move cargo without a subsidy. At the beginning of World War II the technique was still being established and many aircraft still used mixed construction. By the end, all high-performance planes were monocoque or semi-monocoque, while many lower-performance general aviation aircraft (such as the Piper PA-20 Pacer and Taylorcraft) still employed internal frame construction. For the more dispersed loads of even slower aircraft, such as hang gliders and the Gossamer human powered series, a return to external wire bracing was one key to success. When loads are light, it costs proportionately more to provide stiffness against buckling over the same distance, so it pays to concentrate the compression loads into a few masts and as such, using tension members for most of the shape. Bicycle wheels, and even modern tents, use tension members to brace the compression parts against buckling. Where lightweight torsional resistance is the primary need, monocoque construction shows to advantage at lighter loadings than when it is used as a beam.

One disastrous result of metal monocoque aircraft design was the metal fatigue failures of the De Havilland Comet. Once the process of metal fatigue was verified as the culprit, structural changes (like avoiding stress concentrations due to sharp corners) were incorporated to reduce this danger. Aircraft before and since have been safe, even with longer cracks, but regular inspections are still needed to detect them early. When one is found, all parts from that batch are traced and checked carefully or replaced. De Havilland had previously built thousands of wooden monocoque jet aircraft, the Vampires, copying their very successful Mosquito structure.

Composite aircraft have led to additional advances in monocoque construction. By layering the materials in certain ways, the structure can have high strength and stiffness in one direction while not wasting material in another, making them ideal for wing structures. They can also be built to be flexible in useful ways, and no heavier or stiffer than needed at any point. Helicopter blades are now just twisted to adjust the cyclic pitch, instead of being mounted on a pivot.

Automobiles

The first automotive application of the monocoque technique was 1923's Lancia Lambda. Chrysler and Citroën built the first mass-produced monocoque vehicles, both in 1934, with the innovative Chrysler Airflow and the Traction Avant, respectively, and General Motors followed with the Opel Olympia in 1935.

In the post-war period the technique became more widely used. Nash Motors introduced this type of construction in 1941 with the new 600, generally credited with being the first popular mass-produced unibody construction automobile made in the United States. The all-welded steel with sturdy bridge-like girders that arched front to rear made for greater strength, safety, and longer life. Nash engineers claimed that about 500 pounds of excess weight was cut out (compared to body-on-frame automobiles) and the body's lower air drag helped it to achieve excellent gas mileage for its day. Prophetically, the company's 1942 news release text attached to the X-ray drawing describes how "... all auto bodies will built ... as this some day..." The Alec Issigonis Morris Minor of 1948 featured a monocoque body. The Hudson Hornet, along with the rest of Hudson range, featured a monocoque body at the same time.

Other automakers incorporated this type of construction and the terms unit body and unibody became more common in general use. The Ford Consul was the first Ford built in England using a unibody. American Motors (AMC) continued its engineering heritage from Nash and Hudson with breakthroughs such as in 1963 of combining separate parts into single stampings. The Rambler Classic had "uniside" door surrounds from a single stamping of steel that reduced weight and assembly costs, as well as increasing structural rigidity and improving door fitment.

Spot welded unibody construction is now the dominant technique in automobiles, though some vehicles (particularly trucks) still use the older body-on-frame technique.

Some American automobiles, such as the 1967-81 Chevrolet Camaro and Pontiac Firebird, 1968-79 Chevrolet Nova and virtually all Chrysler Corporation automobiles from 1960 until the early 1980s, used a compromise design with a partial monocoque combined with a subframe carrying the front end and powertrain. The intention was to provide some of the rigidity and strength of a unibody while easing manufacture, although the results were mixed, in large part because the powertrain subframe contained the greatest single portion of the vehicle's overall mass, and thus movement of the subframe relative to the rest of the body could cause distortion and vibration. Subframes or partial subframes are still sometimes employed in otherwise monocoque construction, typically as a way of isolating the vibration and noise of powertrain or suspension components from the rest of the vehicle.

In automobiles, it is now common to see true monocoque frames, where the structural members around the window and door frames are built by folding the skin material several times. In these situations the main concerns are spreading the load evenly, having no holes for corrosion to start, and reducing the overall workload. Compared to older techniques, in which a body is bolted to a frame, monocoque cars are less expensive and stronger.

Monocoque design is so sophisticated that windshield and rear window glass now often make an important contribution to the designed structural strength of automobiles. Unfortunately, when a vehicle with a unibody design is involved in a serious accident, it may be more difficult to repair than a vehicle with a full frame. Rust is also more of a problem, since the structural metal is part of the load bearing structure making it more vulnerable, and must be repaired by cutting-out and welding rather than by simply bolting on new parts (as would be the case for a separate chassis). Older cars with separate chassis can still pass vehicle inspection tests (such as the British MoT) with quite advanced rust in the sills (rocker panels) and pillars, whereas in more modern cars these parts are structural and would lead to a test failure. In the United States, vehicles will not pass state inspections if rust has perforated components such as rocker panels, floor pans, or pillars - regardless of the type of body construction.

Monocoque designs are favored amongst high-performance cars and racing cars today for their overall structural integrity and the fact that one can design a monocoque out of lightweight materials such as carbon fiber and expect the resulting vehiicle to be light, stiff, and stable at high speeds and in tight corners. These types of particularly advanced monocoques can even be molded to create diffusers and ground effects which generate huge amounts of downforce.

Architecture

The term has also been used for architecture (building construction) by Future Systems of the United Kingdom. The NatWest Media Centre which they designed for Lords Cricket Ground in 1999 was designed as a monocoque structure (in aluminium), which was manufactured by Pendennis Shipyard in Falmouth, drawing on boatbuilding experience.

An igloo (and any uniform dome) is of full monocoque design, while a geodesic dome is a hybrid design, combining monocoque and frame elements. An adobe house typically uses a monocoque design for the walls and a frame for the roof.

Boats and ships

Small boats, like kayaks and canoes, are typically of monocoque construction, while large ships tend to have frames. Mid-sized ships and boats (including submarines) may be of either design, or a hybrid of the two.

Bicycles

Primarily due to the widespread use of carbon fibre in bicycle frame construction monocoque framesets are becoming increasingly common. The American company Kestrel USA pioneered the use of carbon fibre monocoques in bike frame manufacture in the 1980s and since then the technique has becoming increasingly widely used due to its stiffness and light weight. Items such as seatposts and other components are now made employing the technique.

Motorcycles

A Grand Prix motorcycle racing monocoque motorcycle was developed in 1967 by Ossa, a Spanish motorcycle brand. Honda also experimented with a monocoque motorcycle in 1979 with its NR500. Monocoque construction has begun to see application in motorcycle chassis production, for example, the 2005 model year Kawasaki Ninja ZX-14.

Scooters

Scooters produced by Vespa and other companies are made from a pressed steel monocoque frame. This innovative design lead to the light weight and high fuel economy of scooters, and contributed to their popularity.

Rockets

The Falcon I rocket recently developed by SpaceX uses a graduated monocoque, flight pressure-stabilized design for its first stage. This pressure-stabilized design is also used by the Atlas II rocket.

See also

• Strut Bar
• Body-on-frame
• Coachbuilder
• Superleggera
• Backbone chassis

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