Abstract: The stiffness of car body structure is one of the most important mechanical properties. The experimental equipments are developed for studying the bending stiffness and torsional stiffness of Chang’an minibus. The stiffnesses of white body are determined experimentally. Also, the stiffnesses are investigated by using finite element analysis. It is found that the results of finite element analyses are in good agreement with the that of experiments. The conclusions of this study can provide significant basis and method for analyzing and optimizing of car body structure of the same kind.

Key words: Car body, Finite element analysis, Stiffness