An efficient structural optimization approach for the modular automotive body conceptual design

Appropriate structural analysis and optimization methods are of great significance for automotive body in conceptual design stage. This paper proposes a mathematical simulation approach to promote the conceptual design of modular body-in-white (BIW) model fast and effectively, which is based on the method of reverberation ray matrix (MRRM) and the genetic algorithm (GA). A simplified modular BIW conceptual model is used to predict early-stage static and dynamic characteristics, and a minimum mass of the BIW model is set as an optimization objective. Then the static and dynamic behaviors of auto-body are analyzed by the MRRM, and a cross-sectional size optimization model for the BIW structure is formulated and solved by the GA. Afterward, an object-oriented MATLAB toolbox is constructed to achieve the mathematical simulation method for the fast modeling analysis and the structural optimization processes of the modular BIW conceptual structure. Lastly, the validity of this structural optimization approach is demonstrated by a modular automotive body conceptual model.