| LIGHTWEIGHT CONCEPT DESIGN OF AN ECONOMICAL
MULTI-MATERIAL VEHICLE DOOR WITH FIBER-REINFORCED
THERMOPLASTICS |
| Xiangfan Fang , Danshi Li |
| Institute of Automotive Lightweight Design, University of Siegen |
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| ABSTRACT |
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The vehicle door, as a major steel-intensive closure, can achieve potential weight savings through the use of
lightweight materials and new design principles. The different stiffness and strength requirements in different areas of vehicle
doors under static and crash-loading cases mean that multi-material construction using metal and fiber-reinforced plastics can
be an effective way to achieve lightweight design with minimal additional cost. Here, a new door structure design concept is
introduced, developed, and verified virtually for efficient material utilization. This concept includes a major load-bearing ring
structure as a framework and a highly function-integrated inner panel which can also serve as a shear web to carry a minor part
of the load. In this concept, every part and all portions of the different materials must contribute to the load-carrying function.
Lightweight materials, such as aluminum, long-fiber thermoplastics, and unidirectional tapes, and corresponding massproduction-
oriented manufacturing methods are used. Anisotropy analysis under different loadings guarantees an effective local
usage of unidirectional tapes. Effective section-wise topology and parameter optimization provide a design suggestion for a rib
structure made of long-fiber thermoplastics. The final door concept achieves an approximately 20 % weight reduction and
comparable or improved mechanical performance compared to a steel reference door. |
| Key Words:
Vehicle door, Lightweight design, Multi-material construction, Fiber-reinforced thermoplastics, Structural
optimization, Finite element analysis |
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Corresponding Author.
Xiangfan Fang , Email. 
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