Title: Evaluation of advanced steel usage on seat construction to reduce bus weight in compliance with FMVSS and APTA regulations

Authors: Mustafa Ozcanli; Gonca Dede

Addresses: Department of Automotive Engineering, Cukurova University, Adana 01330, Turkey ' Automotive Engineering, Amasya University, Amasya 05100, Turkey

Abstract: In this study, advanced steel usage on seat construction was studied to obtain weight reduction, and structural analysis was done by using finite-element analysis (FEA) method. Two different seat frames were used. Different loading conditions were applied. One of the seat frames were made of mild steel which is conventional seat frame material and used as a reference for comparison. The other was made of advanced steel to obtain a weight reduction by optimising thickness and improving the design. The results show that the maximum displacement and maximum stress are decreased for four tests when advanced steel is used. In addition, using advanced steel can provide significant weight reduction for seat frame. Thus, using advanced steel can provide fuel efficiency over the vehicle's operating life and also reduce CO₂ emissions. Besides comparison of the structural safety and weight reduction, this study researches a lightweight seat concept for future electric/hybrid buses.

Keywords: advanced steel; automotive seat frame; FEA; finite-element analysis; structural analysis; vehicle weight reduction.

DOI: 10.1504/IJHVS.2018.091009

International Journal of Heavy Vehicle Systems, 2018 Vol.25 No.2, pp.235 - 247

Received: 02 Sep 2016
Accepted: 25 Nov 2016
Published online: 06 Apr 2018 *

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