Use of Profiled Tubes to Create Three-Dimensional Frame-and-Panel Systems for Tractors and Automobiles

Profiled steel tubes of square cross section, being lighter and containing less metal than solid steel bars of the same cross section, are nonetheless comparable in strength to the latter. New opportunities to create three-dimensional frame-and-panel systems for tractors and automobiles are being pursued in order to expand the use of tubes of special shapes. The problem of designing and building such systems has gained more urgency in connection with the worldwide trend toward the greater use of polymers and composites in the structural elements of vehicle bodies and cabs. This article gives specific examples of advances that have been made in the mass production of automobiles and tractors and the development of new vehicle designs. A new superstructure that makes it possible to standardize design changes has been developed for VT-155D and VT-200 tractors (at the Volgograd Tractor Plant). A new design concept has been developed for the appearance of the products currently mass-produced by the Kharkov Tractor Plant and products that are in the planning stage. The concept includes the construction of a fully unitized two-seat cab of frame-and-panel design. Among the products that have been developed and put into mass production is the frame-and-panel cab of the Silant line of small transport vehicles (made by the Avtospetsoborudovanie company in Velikii Novgorod). A new prototype school bus that satisfies existing safety standards has been developed by installing a load-bearing frame made of steel tubes on the chassis of a mass-produced truck. The principle of using profiled steel tubes to create the load-bearing system of the cab is part of the concept behind all-wheel-drive trucks and tractors that are being made for agricultural use. At the current stage of development of three-dimensional frame-and-panel systems for the bodies and cabs of trucks and tractors (with production now reaching 100,000 cabs per year), the use of such systems offers the following advantages: lower weight for a body or cab of the same given dimensions; the lower cost of providing anti-corrosion protection; the possibility of making quick upgrades and design modifications; the possibility of making a large number of modifications with little capital investment; lower production costs; the use of less energy in the production process.