Caricamento in corso...
Body and interiors design
01USTLO
A.A. 2025/26
Course Language
Inglese
Degree programme(s)
Master of science-level of the Bologna process in Automotive Engineering (Ingegneria Dell'Autoveicolo) - Torino
Course structure
| Teaching | Hours |
|---|
Lecturers
| Teacher | Status | SSD | h.Les | h.Ex | h.Lab | h.Tut | Years teaching |
|---|
Co-lectures
Context
| SSD | CFU | Activities | Area context | ING-IND/11 ING-IND/14 ING-IND/21 |
2 2 2 |
D - A scelta dello studente D - A scelta dello studente D - A scelta dello studente |
A scelta dello studente A scelta dello studente A scelta dello studente |
|---|
2024/25
The design of a vehicle body and interiors is a complex multi-disciplinary task in the design and development of a vehicle. The engineers involved in the process must insure adequate level of passenger comfort and safety as well as to be compatible with other functions such as hosting the powertrain (conventional, hybrid, and electric), the chassis components, and being safe in case of accident.
Course’s purpose is to give a solid platform of requisite knowledge and skills in body and cockpit design. It will provide notions relating to design specific methodology and materials, according to production technologies of body and cockpit components: graphical representation systems, body, movable parts such as locks, hinges, windows; notions of biomechanics from passive safety tests, restraint systems, dashboard, interior trims, seats, conditioning systems, bumpers, grilles, moldings, spoilers, sill covers, seals, glasses and mirrors, wipers, lights. Furthermore, design and assembling problems will be analysed.
The design of the vehicle body and interiors is a complex multi-disciplinary task in the design and development of a vehicle. The engineers involved in the process must ensure adequate level of passenger comfort and safety as well as compatibility with other functions such as hosting the powertrain (conventional, hybrid, and electric), the chassis components, and safety in case of accident.
Course’s purpose is to give a solid platform of requisite knowledge and skills in body and cockpit design. It will provide notions relating to design, specific methodology and materials, according to production technologies of body and cockpit: body configurations and functions, body in white, movable parts; restraint systems, dashboard, interior trims, seats, conditioning systems, bumpers. Furthermore, design and assembling problems will be analyzed.
The student must acquire knowledge concerning setting criteria and design; notions relating to technologies and body/cockpit components configurations and design, with a special attention to comfort, safety and economics. Furthermore, the student will be able to know and critically recognise main architectural solutions and conditioning fundamentals, applied to automotive design, and design based on bio-mechanical criteria coming from passive safety tests and rating.
The student must acquire knowledge concerning setting criteria and design of vehicle body and interiors; notions relating to technologies and body and cockpit configurations and design, with a special attention to comfort, safety and costs. Furthermore, the student will be able to know and critically recognize the main architectural solutions and conditioning fundamentals, applied to automotive design.
The student has to be able to apply the acquired knowledge and the design methodologies participating in design activities working in product development teams.
Notions of Car Body Design and structural analysis (from Numerical Modelling and Simulation) are requested.
Notions of Car Body Design and more generally about the structural analysis (Course of “Fundamental of machine design”, “Numerical modelling and simulation”) are requested.
1. INTRODUCTION:
- Historical evolution of car body
- Definition of body, body in white, chassis
2. BODY:
- configurations
- assembly
- functions: structural, safety, aerodynamics, insulation, visibility, reliability
- body in white breakdown
- BEV platforms
3. MATERIALS AND TECHNOLOGIES
- materials for body in white
- assembly technologies
4. MENTIONS ABOUT COMMERCIAL AND INDUSTRIAL VEHICLES
5. MOVABLE PARTS
6. INTERIOR
- Dashboard modules: functions and types, design solutions, assembly technologies and main components.
- Door panels, pillar coatings, parcel shelves and car roof coatings: functions, main manufacturing technologies and materials, design solutions.
7 SEATS
- Front and rear seats: functions, main components analysis, manufacturing technologies and materials. Design solutions of the whole seat and its components. Mentions about baby transport.
8 MOVABLE PARTS DOORS
- Door type classification, design.
- Static and dynamic rigidity, Resistance to permanent deformations, Impact resistance
- Technologies
- Hinges and block devices, Door lacks, Door brakes
- Door modules
- Delivery testing
- Sliding doors
- Trunk lid, liftgate, tailgate
- Technologies
- Twin rear doors
- Engine hood cover
9 WEATHER STRIPS
- Mission of weather strip,
- Body joints finishing, Door weather strip,
- Aging resistance, Acoustical insulation, Air and gas infiltration, Water seal, Powder and snow seal
- Innovations
10 GLASSES AND MIRRORS
- Fracture lines and surfaces
- Windshield
- Door glasses
- Rear window
11 WIPERS, REAR WIPERS AND SPRAYERS
- Wiper components
- Rear wiper components
- Technical specifications and tests
12 LIGHTS
- Light sources
- Alternative technical solutions for lights
- Tests
15 EXTERNAL FINISHINGS
- Bumpers: evolution, functions. Design criteria, manufacturing technology and materials. Types of bumpers. - Grilles, sill covers, mouldings, spoilers: functions, design criteria with manufacturing technologies and materials.
BODY Design (50% of the course)
1. Introduction (10% of the Body design):
- Historical evolution of car body
- Definition of body, body in white, chassis
2. Body (65% of the Body design):
- Configurations
- Assembly
- Functions: structural, safety, aerodynamics, insulation, visibility, reliability
- Body in white breakdown
- BEV platforms
- Movable parts: doors, bonnet, tailgate (type classification, design)
3. Materials and technologies (20% of the Body design):
- Materials for body in white
- Assembly technologies
4. Mentions about commercial and industrial vehicles (5% of the Body design)
INTERIORS Design (50% of the course)
5. Interior plastic components (55% of the Interiors design):
- Dashboard: functions and types, design solutions, assembly technologies and main components
- Door panels, function and types, design solutions
- Floor Console functions and types
- Soft Trims, functions and types
- Hard Trims, functions, and types
- Processes transformation, Injection molding, H&C, FIM, Blow Mold, RIM
- Processes for joining parts; Ultrasonic welding, vibration welding, laser welding, glue.
6. Seats (10% of the Interiors design):
- Front and rear seats: functions, main components analysis, manufacturing technologies and materials
- Design solutions of the whole seat and its components
- Mentions about baby transport
7. HVAC (10% of the Interiors design):
- Main components (compressor, condenser, evaporator, expanse valve, refrigeration work cycle, commands, ventilation)
8. Plastic material for interior (10% of the Interiors design):
- Overview for plastic materials used on Interior, Blend, additive, Technical Characteristics
9. Testing (10% of the Interiors design):
- Main test on Interior component (environmental, physical and mechanical, functional, regulatory and durability)
10. Perceived quality (5% of the Interiors design):
- Overview on method and testing. Customer quality perception
The Interiors design part is taught by external teacher, coming from automotive company.
The Interiors design part is taught by external teacher, coming from automotive company.
In order to get in touch with course’s purposes, students will visit companies and make a report.
The course is organized in classroom lessons, tutorials in classroom, practices in LAIB and external visits.
The tutorials and practices will be devoted to analyze study cases related to body and interior design.
For the body part, the LAIB practices will deal with simplified structural analysis of some body components, as in the real vehicle design process. The analysis will be carried out by means of numerical codes. For this part, a technical report is requested. In the technical report the students have to show the procedures followed to perform the activities and clearly present the results. The results of the activities have to be critically commented and discussed by the students.
The maximum score of the report for the body part is 3/30.
• The technical report consists in a short technical presentation that has to be made in .pptx format (or similar) and it must be submitted in .pdf format
• The report must be submitted within a defined deadline
• The report must be submitted with upload operation on the course webpage (“Portale della Didattica”, section “Elaborati”)
• The deadline for the upload of the report is mandatory: reports uploaded after the deadline will not be taken into consideration for any reason
• The deadline for the report will be communicated during the lectures and through the webpage of the course (“Portale della Didattica”)
• The deadline is usually fixed at least two weeks after the end of the lectures
• The report can be done by teams of students: the teams must have a maximum number of students equal to 3
• A single upload has to be made for each student’s team. On the technical reports the members of the student’s team have to be clearly indicated
Morello L, Rosti Rossini L, Pia G, Tonoli A. The Automotive Body, Volume I and II. London: Springer, 2011
The teaching material used during the lectures and useful for preparing the exam is made available on Portale della Didattica. It can include slides, notes, and recorded lectures.
Further reading to gain a deeper insight can be found in the following books:
Morello L, Rosti Rossini L, Pia G, Tonoli A. The Automotive Body, Volume I and II. London: Springer, 2011
Slides; Dispense; Video lezioni dell’anno corrente; Video lezioni tratte da anni precedenti; Materiale multimediale ;
Lecture slides; Lecture notes; Video lectures (current year); Video lectures (previous years); Multimedia materials;
Modalità di esame: Prova orale obbligatoria; Elaborato scritto prodotto in gruppo;
Exam: Compulsory oral exam; Group essay;
...
The exam consists in an oral test with five/six questions where the different topics of the course are examined first with a global overview and the focusing on some details. The total evaluation takes into consideration the quality of reports prepared during the semester. In particular, the maximum score of the oral exam is 28/30, whereas the final score of the exam is given by the sum between the score of the oral exam plus the score of the technical reports.
Gli studenti e le studentesse con disabilità o con Disturbi Specifici di Apprendimento (DSA), oltre alla segnalazione tramite procedura informatizzata, sono invitati a comunicare anche direttamente al/la docente titolare dell'insegnamento, con un preavviso non inferiore ad una settimana dall'avvio della sessione d'esame, gli strumenti compensativi concordati con l'Unità Special Needs, al fine di permettere al/la docente la declinazione più idonea in riferimento alla specifica tipologia di esame.
Exam: Compulsory oral exam; Group essay;
The exam consists in an oral test (for a total of about 30’) with four-six questions where some of the topics of the course are discussed first with a global overview and then focusing on some details. In the discussion, the student must show the knowledge about the design criteria and the technologies of body and cockpit solutions. Moreover, they must recognize the main architectural solutions and the design principles adopted in the vehicle body and interiors design.
The total evaluation takes also into consideration the quality of the technical reports prepared during the semester. The aim of the technical reports is to show the application of the acquired knowledges and of the design methodologies, in design activities of simplified real product working like in product development teams.
In particular, the maximum score of the oral exam is 27/30, whereas the final score of the exam is given by the sum between the score of the oral exam plus the score of the technical reports. The maximum score of the report for the body part is 3/30 while the maximum score of the report for the interior part is 2/30. The report must be submitted before the exam within a defined deadline, with upload operation on the course webpage (“Portale della Didattica”, section “Elaborati”). The evaluation of the report is common and equal for each team member.
In addition to the message sent by the online system, students with disabilities or Specific Learning Disorders (SLD) are invited to directly inform the professor in charge of the course about the special arrangements for the exam that have been agreed with the Special Needs Unit. The professor has to be informed at least one week before the beginning of the examination session in order to provide students with the most suitable arrangements for each specific type of exam.