Automotive Lightweighting with Multiphysics Simulation - Archived

Lightweight composite materials are used to increase the fuel efficiency of automobiles by maintaining their safety and performance while reducing their weight. Plastics and polymer composites, including laminated shells made of carbon fiber-reinforced plastic (CFRP), are commonly used for this application because of their high strength-to-weight ratio. In addition, composites are used for acoustic damping to manage noise emissions of various automotive components. Evaluating these materials for automotive applications involves accounting for different interacting physics phenomena, including structural mechanics, thermal stresses, and acoustic wave propagation.

In this webinar, conducted in collaboration with Efficient Manufacturing, we discuss how multiphysics simulation can aid the R&D of lightweight automotive components and systems. We show several examples and provide a demonstration.

Key Discussion Points:

• Modeling layered composite materials, including fiber-reinforced plastic, laminated plates, and sandwich panels
• Different approaches for modeling composite shells — layerwise theory and equivalent single layer theory
• Evaluating the structural integrity and predicting failure; modeling buckling and delamination
• Evaluating the micromechanical and macromechanical behavior of composites, including nonlinear composite materials
• How to couple composite laminates with multibody structural elements in a multibody system
• How to optimize composite layups, ply thicknesses, fiber orientations, and material properties
• How to model vibroacoustics and acoustic damping materials