Selection of the main parameters of passenger automobiles D, E and F classes
The object of the study are passenger automobiles of D, E and F classes according to the European classification, manufactured in 2010-2015 at more than 80 enterprises in all the automotive countries of the world. The purpose of the study is to establish the dependencies of the curb and fully loaded weight of passenger cars on their main classification parameter - overall length. The novelty of the work is that models of modern automobiles were investigated, whereas similar studies were performed on automobiles that were mastered in production at the beginning of the 21st century, most of which have now been withdrawn from production. The performed work is actual, since its results make it possible to scientifically and reasonably choose the most important design parameters of passenger cars: curb and fully loaded weight. Based on the statistical processing of the initial data, analytical and graphical dependencies of the curb and fully loaded weight of automobiles on their overall length in each class were obtained and, in addition, in classes D and E, these dependences were established separately for automobiles with sedan, hatchback, coupe and cabriolet bodies. A total number of 1165 automobile models were analyzed. A large volume of the investigated models allowed to obtain statistically reliable results. The article shows that, with an error of 6.8% to 27.9%, the relationship between the masses and the overall length of cars of all the studied classes can be approximated by polynomials of the second order. The results of the research are recommended to be used in the design and research organizations of automobile concerns for a reasoned selection of the design parameters of the designed automobiles.