Abstract

Achieving Fuel Economy through Multi-Disciplinary Stochastic Optimization in Vehicle Architecture Design Process

The new vehicle fuel economy standard puts the focus on lightweighting and vehicle electrification which in turn drives the complexity of vehicle program execution. These trends spur the need for new tools and processes to address and improve the early phase of vehicle development. A systematic approach to optimize the mass and performance of a typical body structure has to be developed to meet those challenges. The innovation in methodology involves the identification of critical design progressions to efficiently handle new vehicle configuration such as battery electrical vehicle, new performance requirements, new materials and efficient light weight designs. A multidisciplinary stochastic optimization approach to achieve the optimal balance between performance, mass and cost, while accounts for design variations and their impact on the performance reliability, has been developed to meet those new challenges with great success.  The totally integrated process allows design and performance engineers to synthesize design concepts in a more seamless fashion.  The benefit of this approach is innovative designs for new vehicles, balance of major load requirement and reduction of total body mass, material and construction cost.

About the Speaker

Dr. Simon Xu, General Motors Company