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To compete with the current market trends, there is always a need to develop cost effective frame designs to meet the needs of the customer. During the development of new vehicles, the major focus is on weight reduction, so as to improve the load carrying capacity and fuel efficiency. Due to the introduction of new high strength materials, the static strength conditions can be met by the use of thinner frames, but the dynamic behavior of the frame deteriorates. The dynamic behaviors like ride and handling, comfort are affected by the stiffness of the vehicle frame. The stiffness of the frame is majorly defined by its vertical stiffness, lateral stiffness and torsional stiffness. The vertical stiffness of the frame plays major role in isolating road vibrations to frame mounted aggregates. The lateral stiffness plays a very important role in the handling of the vehicle and cornering ability of the vehicle. Torsional stiffness effects the roll and lateral load transfer distribution.

The cabin or cab is an enclosed space where the driver and co-driver are seated. Structural parameters such as modal and stiffness characteristics are of key importance for its durability study and driver’s comfort. The desired strength and stiffness value of the cabin have to be met at the development phase itself. In developing new cabin models numerical simulations are used for estimating vehicle performance to reduce the development cycle. But, the conventional method of modeling the cabin using 2-d elements and performing subsequent iteration steps to arrive at the desired stiffness and strength value will be cumbersome and time consuming. Thus, a methodology of FE modeling of the truck cabin using 1-D elements has been proposed in this paper which will reduce the analysis time of successive iterations. For this purpose an existing proven driver’s cabin is modeled using 1-D elements.