Date of Award
2012
Publication Type
Master Thesis
Degree Name
M.A.Sc.
Department
Mechanical, Automotive, and Materials Engineering
Keywords
Applied sciences
Supervisor
Jennifer Johrendt
Supervisor
Vesselin Stoilov
Rights
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
Abstract
In recent years many studies proved that the adoption of polymer composites represents an effective solution to reduce the weight of vehicles. In this context, the goal of this study is the design of a rear suspension cradle made of composite material, with particular attention to aspects such as recyclability and high volume production of the component. Starting from the CAD model of the existing aluminum part, a simplified shape that represented it was designed and FEM analysis was conducted using the software ABAQUS; materials, geometry and fiber orientation were changed in order to obtain a composite model with the same performance as the aluminum model but with lower weight. The performance of the composite and aluminum models were compared. In addition, a manufacturing process and a method of recycling for the optimal composite model solution were provided.
Recommended Citation
Scuccimarra, Davide, "Vehicle lightening with composite materials: Objective performance comparison of material-systems for structural applications" (2012). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 4839.
https://scholar.uwindsor.ca/etd/4839