Research on Three Main Lightweight Approaches for Automotive Body Engineering Considering Materials, Structural Performances and Costs

Fei Lei; Xin Chen; Xiao Ping Xie; Jing Zhu

doi:10.4271/2015-01-0580

Lightweight automotive body can be obtained by developing new body constructions, using lightweight materials and structural optimizations, etc. Usually, lighter materials and structural optimizations are main aspects considered in lightweight automotive body engineering. In fact, material costs and manufacturability play more important roles than others in lightweight design.

Three lightweight design approaches are considered. The first approach of lightweight design is to replace steels with lighter materials using equal rigidity design method. The second approach is a single objective optimization of mass reduction with materials selection and cost penalty. The third approach is a multi-objective optimization of mass reduction and cost reduction using multi-material concept. These three approaches are applied to an automotive body design problem considering the side impact.

Different optimization methods are used to obtain different results. Design aspects, such as sizes of components, types of materials and costs can be optimized. Type of lightweight optimization is then a choice of manufacturer's concern.

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Research on Three Main Lightweight Approaches for Automotive Body Engineering Considering Materials, Structural Performances and Costs 2015-01-0580

SAE MOBILUS