Title: Research on crashworthiness and lightweight of frame body based on load path and material selection

Authors: Tingting Wang; Ruoyan Dong; Yuechen Duan; Dongchen Qin

Addresses: School of Mechanical and Power Engineering, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, 450001, China ' School of Mechanical and Power Engineering, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, 450001, China ' School of Mechanical and Power Engineering, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, 450001, China ' School of Mechanical and Power Engineering, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, 450001, China

Abstract: A material-structure optimisation framework of multi-material frame body is proposed to improve the lightweight and collision safety at the same time. Firstly, in order to improve the crashworthiness of the frame, the equivalent static load method is used to analyse the load path of the frame body to obtain the optimal structure. Secondly, the crashworthiness evaluation method based on evolutionary structural optimisation (ESO) method is used to evaluate each member of frame body, which provides the basis for material selection. Finally, the material selection method based on bubbling method is used to select materials orderly to match the function of members, and the multi-material frame with the objective selection scheme is obtained. In this study, the proposed method is demonstrated by the lightweight of racing car body. The results show that the body mass is reduced by 25.60 kg after the lightweight design, and the crash safety is improved.

Keywords: frame body; lightweight; load path; material selection; vehicle design; structural optimisation; multi-material body; finite element analysis; collision safety; simulation.

DOI: 10.1504/IJVD.2024.140419

International Journal of Vehicle Design, 2024 Vol.96 No.1, pp.61 - 85

Received: 18 May 2021
Received in revised form: 24 Aug 2021
Accepted: 01 Feb 2022
Published online: 08 Aug 2024 *

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