Thickness of stamped-sheet steel panels that comprise the majority of a modern vehicle’s body-in-white (BIW) has a direct effect on vehicle dynamic performance. Despite the ongoing increase in workstation processor speed, computational time still creates limitations on performing modal calculations. These limitations are even more pronounced than for static and quasi-static structural calculations. Gauge sensitivity methodologies allow a designer to make quick, accurate estimates of structure natural frequencies based upon only a few baseline analyses. This paper performs gauge sensitivity analysis to assess changes in the vehicle body natural frequencies due to changes in material thickness. Corresponding algorithm for computational implementation is presented. Gauge sensitivity results of rods in longitudinal vibration, beams in transverse vibration, and shafts in torsional vibration are provided to validate the proposed gauge sensitivity method. Application studies are conducted to calculate changes in the natural frequencies of a commercial light duty truck cab and its components when subjected to thickness modifications. Gauge sensitivity results are compared to finite element based results and the agreement is good.
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