Topology optimization of Shell Eco - Marathon vehicle door opening and locking system in PLM environment

Abstract

In order to design the hinges and opening system of the Shell Eco-Marathon vehicle, an analytic analysis of door opening performance has to be done, in order to firstly decide what type of opening is the most suitable, and later arrive an agreement between the parts and the opening system that will hold the door open. At this moment topology optimization software is a very promising tool that gives the opportunity to designers to achieve final designs very efficiently. However, it needs some post-processing so as to achieve a very easy and manufacturable, hence, cheap, design. While the project has been developed, some new ideas have come to it and some of them analysed in deepness, while others have not been integrally developed but they have neither been discarded, as a further study is required in order to assure they are not a better solution than the one proposed.