Topology Optimization of Metal and Carbon Fiber Reinforced Plastic (CFRP) Laminated Battery-Hanging Structure.

Jiaju Chen,Yunkai Gao,Yanan Xu

doi:10.3390/polym12112495

Abstract

This study addressed the topology optimization of a carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP) laminated battery-hanging structure of an electric vehicle. To accommodate parameterization for thickness and orientation of CFRP materials, the discrete material and thickness optimization (DMTO) technique was adopted. To include metal material as a reinforcement structure into the optimization simultaneously, the DMTO technique was extended here to achieve concurrent optimization of CFRP thickness topology, CFRP orientation selection and the topology of the metal reinforcement plate. Manufacturing constraints were applied, including suppressing intermediate void across the thickness direction of the laminate, contiguity constraint and the symmetrical layers. Sensitivities of the objective function were derived with respect to design variables. To calculate analytical sensitivities, finite element analysis was conducted and strain vectors were exported from a commercial software (ABAQUS) into a mathematical analysis tool (MATLAB). The design objective was to minimize the local displacement subject to the constraints of manufacturing and mass fraction. The mechanical performance of the optimized CFRP structure was compared with the original steel structure. To validate the optimization results, a prototype of the CFRP battery-hanging structure was fabricated and experimental testing was conducted. The results show that the total mass of the CFRP battery-hanging structure was reduced by 34.3% when compared with the steel one, while the mechanical property was improved by 25.3%.

Highlights

The transportation sector of the modern world mainly relies on fossil fuel
The novelty of this study includes the following points: (a) this study aimed to conduct concurrent topology optimization of a carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP)-laminated and metal reinforcement plate of a battery-hanging structure; (b) fiber ply orientation, ply thickness and metal plate thickness were regarded as design variables simultaneously, allowing the design room for CFRP optimization to be expanded and signifying an opportunity to achieve better performance of the structures; and (c) a prototype of the CFRP battery-hanging structure was fabricated and experimental testing was conducted
This study extended the discrete material and thickness optimization (DMTO) method to conduct topology optimization of a carbon fiber This extended thebattery-hanging

Summary

Introduction

The transportation sector of the modern world mainly relies on fossil fuel. The use large amounts of fossil fuel is responsible for global warming, air pollution and ozone layer depletion. Excessive usage of fossil fuel in vehicles is causing underground petroleum resources to dwindle. Environmental protection, lowering of tailpipe emissions and energy efficiency are among the most important goals of traffic policies, as transportation contributes to nearly one-third of greenhouse gas emissions [1,2]. Environmental protection by reducing emissions has recently been attracting increased attention. In order to achieve this target, a transition towards electrification of urban mobility and transport is imminent. The immediate need for electric vehicles is driven by the forecasted shortage of crude oil and the necessity to reduce greenhouse gas emissions

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Conclusion