Effect of side stiffening plates on the stiffness of the bus structure

Bus developers focus on creating new bus structures that are safe for the passengers and friendly to the environment. By developing new bus structures with high stiffness and low weight, both requirements can be met. Lowering the weight of the structure can be achieved by several methods, the most common being by using lightweight materials (i.e. aluminum alloy) or by reducing the number of parts of different components of the structure. This paper studies the effect of side stiffening plate on the stiffness of the bus structure. By knowing how the stiffening plate affects the stiffness of the structure, it can be optimized, either by choosing lighter materials, or by reducing the size or the thickness of the plates. The lower stiffening plate slightly influences the stiffness of the structure, and can thus be made of aluminum, while the upper stiffening plate has a greater influence on the stiffness. (paper)