Lightweight Body in White Design Using Topology-, Shape- and Size Optimisation

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    Abstract

    As focus on the world climate rises, so does the demand for ever more environmentally friendly technologies. The response from the automotive industry includes vehicles whose primary propulsion systems are not based upon fossil fuels. On this basis a Low Carbon Vehicle Technology Project (LCVTP), partly funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), has been completed. The project included designing a lightweight Body In White (BIW), specifically tailored to suit the drive train and general packaging requirements associated with a Hybrid Electric Vehicle (HEV). The future opportunities for optimising the new lightweight vehicle architecture have been investigated using a technique entitled topology optimisation, which extracts the idealised load paths for a given set of load cases, followed by a shape- and size optimisation in order to provide local areas of the vehicle with more definition. An appropriate shape- and size optimisation process for frontal crashworthiness scenarios has been developed by comparing and combining different point selection methods and applying various metamodelling techniques.

    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)137-148
    Number of pages12
    JournalWorld Electric Vehicle Journal
    Volume5
    Issue number1
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 30 Mar 2012
    Event26th Electric Vehicle Symposium 2012 - Los Angeles, United States
    Duration: 6 May 20129 May 2012

    Keywords

    • Hybrid Electric Vehicle (HEV)
    • Electric Vehicle (EV)
    • optimization

    ASJC Scopus subject areas

    • Automotive Engineering
    • Electrical and Electronic Engineering

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