A new method for crashworthiness optimization of vehicle structures is presented, where an early design exploration is done by the optimization of an equivalent mechanism approximating a vehicle structure. An equivalent mechanism (EM) is a network of rigid bodies connected by prismatic and revolute joints with special nonlinear springs. These springs are designed to mimic the force-displacement characteristics of thin-walled beams often found in the vehicle body structures. A computer software is implemented that allows the designer to quickly construct an equivalent mechanism model of a structure using a graphical user interface (GUI) to optimize the model for given objectives prior to final tuning using finite element (FE) models. A case study of a vehicle front substructure consisting of mid and lower rails is presented, which demonstrates that the new approach can obtain a better design with less computational resources than the direct optimization of a FE model.


    Access

    Check access

    Check availability in my library

    Order at Subito €


    Export, share and cite



    Title :

    Design Optimization of Vehicle Structures for Crashworthiness via Equivalent Mechanism Approximations


    Additional title:

    Sae Technical Papers


    Contributors:

    Conference:

    SAE 2004 World Congress & Exhibition ; 2004



    Publication date :

    2004-03-08




    Type of media :

    Conference paper


    Type of material :

    Print


    Language :

    English




    Design Optimization of Vehicle Structures for Crashworthiness via Equivalent Mechanism Approximations

    Hamza, K. / Saitou, K. / Society of Automotive Engineers | British Library Conference Proceedings | 2004



    Design optimization of vehicle structures for crashworthiness via equivalent mechanism approximations

    Hamza,K. / Saitou,K. / Univ.of Michigan,US | Automotive engineering | 2004


    2004-01-1731 Design Optimization of Vehicle Structures for Crashworthiness via Equivalent Mechanism Approximations

    Hamza, K. / Saitou, K. / Society of Automotive Engineers | British Library Conference Proceedings | 2004