Improving Stiffness-to-weight Ratio of Spot-welded Structures based upon Nonlinear Finite Element Modelling

[摘要] Spot welding has been widely used for vehicle body construction due to its advantages of high speed and adaptability for automation. An effort to increase the stiffness-to-weight ratio of spot-welded structures is investigated based upon nonlinear finite element analysis. Topology optimization is conducted for reducing weight in the overlapping regions by choosing an appropriate topology. Three spot-welded models (lap, doubt-hat and T-shape) that approximate "typical" vehicle body components are studied for validating and illustrating the proposed method. It is concluded that removing underutilized material from overlapping regions can result in a significant increase in structural stiffness-to-weight ratio.

[发布机构] Department of Mechanical and Civil Engineering, College of Engineering and Sciences, Purdue University Northwest, United States^1

[效力级别] 无线电电子学

[关键词] Appropriate topology;Non-linear finite-element analysis;Nonlinear finite element modelling;Overlapping regions;Spot welded;Stiffness-to-weight ratios;Structural stiffness;Vehicle body