Abstract
The joint characteristics are necessary to be determined in the early stage of the vehicle body design. Researches on identification of joints in a vehicle body have been performed until the recent year. In this study, the joint characteristics of vehicle struct- ure were expressed as condensed forms from the full joint stiffness and mass matrix. The condensed joint stiffness and mass matrix were applied to typical T-type and Edge-type joints, and the usefulness was confirmed. In addition, those were applied to center pillar and full vehicle body to validate the practical application.
