Monocoque

Deperdussin Monocoque, with wooden shell

construction

Monocoque (/ˈmɒnəˌkɒk, -ˌkoʊk/), also

structural skin, is a structural system
where loads are supported through an
object's external skin, similar to an egg
shell. The word monocoque is a French
term for "single shell" or (of boats) "single
hull".[1] A true monocoque carries both
tensile and compressive forces within the
skin and can be recognised by the
absence of a load carrying internal frame.

By contrast, a semi-monocoque is a hybrid

combining a tensile stressed skin and a
compressive structure made up of
longerons and ribs or frames.[2] Other
semi-monocoques, not to be confused
with true monocoques, include vehicle
unibodies, which tend to be composites,
and inflatable shells or balloon tanks, both
of which are pressure stabilised. The term
is frequently misused, particularly as a
marketing term for structures built up from
hollow components.

Aircraft

LFG Roland C.II with wood Wickelrumpf monocoque

fuselage
Zeppelin D.I, the first production all-metal monocoque
aircraft

Early aircraft were constructed using

frames, typically of wood or steel tubing,
which could then be covered (or skinned)
with fabric[3] such as Irish linen or
cotton.[4] The fabric made a minor
structural contribution in tension but none
in compression and was there for
aerodynamic reasons only. By considering
the structure as a whole and not just the
sum of its parts, monocoque construction
integrated the skin and frame into a single
load-bearing shell with significant
improvements to strength and weight.
To make the shell, thin strips of wood were
laminated into a three dimensional shape;
a technique adopted from boat hull
construction. One of the earliest examples
was the Deperdussin Monocoque racer in
1912, which used a laminated fuselage
made up of three layers of glued poplar
veneer, which provided both the external
skin and the main load-bearing structure.[5]
This also produced a smoother surface
and reduced drag so effectively that it was
able to win most of the races it was
entered into.[5]

This style of construction was further

developed in Germany by LFG Roland
using the patented Wickelrumpf (wrapped
body) form later licensed by them to Pfalz
Flugzeugwerke who used it on several
fighter aircraft. Each half of the fuselage
shell was formed over a male mold using
two layers of plywood strips with fabric
wrapping between them. The early
plywood used was prone to damage from
moisture and delamination.[6]

While all metal aircraft such as the

Junkers J 1 had appeared as early as
1915, these were not monocoques but
added a metal skin to an underlying
framework. The first metal monocoques
were built by Claudius Dornier, while
working for Zeppelin-Lindau.[7] He had to
overcome a number of problems, not least
was the quality of aluminium alloys strong
enough to use as structural materials,
which frequently formed layers instead of
presenting a uniform material.[7] After
failed attempts with several large flying
boats in which a few components were
monocoques, he built the Zeppelin-Lindau
V1 to test out a monocoque fuselage.
Although it crashed, he learned a lot from
its construction. The Dornier-Zeppelin D.I
was built in 1918 and although too late for
operational service during the war was the
first all metal monocoque aircraft to enter
production.[7][8]
In parallel to Dornier, Zeppelin also
employed Adolf Rohrbach, who built the
Zeppelin-Staaken E-4/20, which when it
flew in 1920[9] became the first multi-
engined monocoque airliner, before being
destroyed under orders of the Inter-Allied
Commission. At the end of WWI, the Inter-
Allied Technical Commission published
details of the last Zeppelin-Lindau flying
boat showing its monocoque construction.
In the UK, Oswald Short built a number of
experimental aircraft with metal
monocoque fuselages starting with the
1920 Short Silver Streak in an attempt to
convince the air ministry of its superiority
over wood. Despite advantages,
aluminium alloy monocoques would not
become common until the mid 1930s as a
result of a number of factors, including
design conservatism and production setup
costs. Short would eventually prove the
merits of the construction method with a
series of flying boats, whose metal hulls
didn't absorb water as the wooden hulls
did, greatly improving performance. In the
United States, Northrop was a major
pioneer, introducing techniques used by
his own company and Douglas with the
Northrop Alpha. Few metal aircraft are
regarded by some as pure monocoques
however, as they use a metal shell
reinforced with frames riveted to the skin,
although most of the wooden monocoque
aircraft also incorporated some frames.

Road vehicles

1981 McLaren MP4/1, with a carbon fiber composite

monocoque

In motor racing, the safety of the driver

depends on the car body which must meet
stringent regulations and only a few cars
have been built with monocoque
structures.[10][11] An aluminum alloy
monocoque chassis was first used in the
1962 Lotus 25 Formula 1 race car and
McLaren was the first to use carbon-fiber-
reinforced polymers to construct the
monocoque of the 1981 McLaren MP4/1.
In 1992 the McLaren F1 became the first
production car with a carbon-fiber
monocoque.[12]

Commercial car bodies are never

monocoques but instead most cars use a
method called variously unibody/unitary
construction/unitary body/chassis or body
frame integral construction,[13] which uses
box sections, bulkheads and tubes to
provide most of the strength of the vehicle,
while the skin adds relatively little strength
or stiffness. The term monocoque is
frequently misused when referring to
unibody cars.[14]

Armoured vehicles

Some armoured fighting vehicles use a

monocoque structure with a body shell
built up from armour plates, rather than
attaching them to a frame. This reduces
weight for a given amount of armour.
Examples include the German TPz Fuchs
and RG-33.
Two-wheeled vehicles

A monocoque-framed motorcycle was

developed by the Spanish motorcycle
manufacturer, Ossa, for the 1967 Grand
Prix motorcycle racing season.[15]

1968 Ossa 250 cc Grand Prix racer

Although the single-cylinder Ossa had 20

horsepower (15 kW) less than its rivals, it
was 45 pounds (20 kg) lighter and its
monocoque frame was much stiffer than
conventional motorcycle frames, giving it
superior agility on the racetrack.[15] Ossa
won four Grand Prix races with the
monocoque bike before their rider was
killed during the 1970 Isle of Man TT,
causing the Ossa factory to withdraw from
Grand Prix competition.[15]

Notable designers such as Eric Offenstadt

and Dan Hanebrink created unique
monocoque designs in the early 1970s.[16]
The 1973 Isle of Man TT was won by Peter
Williams on the monocoque-framed
Norton John Player Special that he helped
design.[17] Honda also experimented with
a monocoque Grand Prix racing
motorcycle named the NR500 in 1979.[18]
However, the bike also featured other
innovative features, including an engine
with oval shaped cylinders, and eventually
succumbed to the problems associated
with attempting to develop too many new
technologies at once. In 1987 John Britten
developed the Aero-D One, featuring a
composite monocoque chassis that
weighed only 12 kg.[19]

The first time an aluminium monocoque

frame appeared on a mass-produced
production motorcycle was the 2000
Kawasaki Ninja ZX-12R.[20] This was
Kawasakis flagship production sportbike
aimed at being the fastest production
motorcycle.

Single-piece carbon fiber bicycle frames

are sometimes described as monocoques
however as most use the components to
form a frame structure (even if molded in a
single piece),[21] these are frames and not
monocoques, and the bike industry
continues to refer to them as framesets.

Rockets
Falcon 1 rocket first-stage

Various rockets have used pressure-

stabilized monocoque designs, such as
Atlas[22] and Falcon 1.[23] The Atlas was
very light since a major portion of its
structural support was provided by its
single-wall steel balloon fuel tanks, which
hold their shape while under acceleration
by internal pressure. Balloon tanks are not
true monocoques but act in the same way
as inflatable shells. A balloon tank skin
only handles tensile forces while
compression is resisted by internal liquid
pressure in a way similar to semi-
monocoques braced by a solid frame. This
becomes obvious when internal pressure
is lost and the structure collapses.

See also
Backbone chassis
Body-on-frame
Chassis
Coachbuilder
Space frame
Thin-shell structure
Vehicle frame
 Lists
List of carbon fiber monocoque cars

References
Citations

1. Merriam-Webster Dictionary, 2011

2. Airframe and Powerplant Mechanics
Airframe Handbook (Publication AC65-
15A). Washington, DC: US Department of
Transportation Federal Aviation
Administration Standards Division. 1976.
p. 4. ISBN 0-16-036209-1.
3. Megson, 1972, p.198
4. Robertson, 1996, pp.1–2
5. Aeronautics, 1912, p.112
6. FAA, 2001, p.1.2
7. Terry, 1981, pp.97–117
8. Grosz, 1998
9. Haddow, Grosz, 1988 pp. 289–293
10. [1] Monocoque – Survival Cell,
Technical F1 dictionary
11. [2] Passive car safety, Steven De
Groote, 26 Mar 2006
12. "1994 McLaren F1" .
13. NAAA Structural Damage Policy dated
1 January 2011, retrieved 29 March 2012
14. Allan, Rob. The Killeen Cars
Accessdate:October 2014
15. Robinson, James (September 2001).
"Santiago Herrero – Spanish Flyer". Classic
Racer (91): 35–40. ISSN 1470-4463 .
16. "8W – Who? – Eric Offenstadt" .
Forix.autosport.com. Retrieved 2010-10-20.
17. "Motorcycle Technology – Future
Perfect – Up To Speed" .
motorcyclistonline.com. Retrieved
17 December 2011.
18. "The Unconventional: Adopting a
"Shrimp Shell" Frame" . Challenging Spirits
of Honda. Honda Motor Co., Ltd. Retrieved
2009-12-26.
19. "The Aero Bike" . Britten Motorcycle
Company. Retrieved 2009-06-19.
20. "Kawasaki Technology" . Kawasaki
Heavy Industries Motorcycle & Engine.
Archived from the original on January 12,
2017. Retrieved December 18, 2016.
21. "Carbon Fiber" . Archived from the
original on February 24, 2013. Retrieved
February 16, 2013., Velocite-bikes.com
22. Wade, Mark. "Encyclopedia
Astronautica – Atlas" . Retrieved
14 November 2011.
23. Wade, Mark. "Encyclopedia
Astronautica – Falcon 1" . Archived from
the original on 11 November 2011.
Retrieved 14 November 2011.

Bibliography
Grosz, Peter (1998). Dornier D.I.
Windsock Mini datafile # 12.
Hertfordshire, UK: Albatros Publications.
ISBN 9780948414923.
Haddow, G.W.; Grosz, Peter M. (1988).
The German Giants - The German R-
Planes 1914-1918 (third ed.). London:
Putnam. pp. 289–293.
ISBN 0851778127..
Megson, T.H.G. (1972). Aircraft
Structures for Engineering Students.
London: Edward Arnold Publishers LTD.
ISBN 0-7131-3393-7.
Robertson, Bruce (1996). WWI British
Aeroplane Colours and Markings.
Berkhampstead: Albatros Publications
Inc. pp. 1–2. ISBN 0-948414-65-0.
"Monococque definition" . Merriam-
Webster Dictionary. Encyclopædia
Britannica. 26 September 2011.
Schatzberg, Eric (1999). Wings of Wood,
Wings of Metal: Culture and Technical
Choice in American Airplane Materials,
1914–1945. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton
University Press. ISBN 978-0691087733.
Terry, Gerard (1981). "The Development
of Dornier Landplanes 1914–1918".
Cross & Cockade Great Britain Journal.
Society of WW1 Aero Historians. 12 (3):
97–117.
 Acceptable Methods, Techniques, and
Practices – Aircraft Inspection and
Repair (Publication AC 43.13-1B).
Washington, DC: US Department of
Transportation Federal Aviation
Administration Standards Division.
2001. p. 1.2. ISBN 0-16-036209-1.
Unknown (1912). "unknown".
Aeronautics (October): 112.

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