Automated Performance Evaluation of a Vehicle’s Space-Frame Design Parametric Model 2009-01-1238

Vehicle’s structure design requires the use of several Computer Aided Engineering (CAE) tools for conducting analyses in order to evaluate its performance. The iterative construction of Finite Element Analysis (FEA) models requires experts to consume valuable effort and time, and yet an optimal solution may not be achieved. The integration of Computer Aided Design (CAD) and CAE areas is possible through automated scripts which communicate inside a multi objective optimization model. This paper describes the methodology suited for optimization of a space-frame vehicle’s architecture with rectangular steel beams and seam welded joints. The proposed model varies the beams sizes and topology, and performs stiffness, modal, rollover, fatigue, and frontal crash finite element analyses. It finds the solution that best fits the performance attributes established by the analyst, and reduces computational design time through an optimization based in the response surface methodology (RSM), the multi objective genetic algorithm (MOGA), and the multiple criteria decision-making (MCDM) technique.