A collaborative FEA platform for rapid design of lightweight vehicle structures

This paper presents a novel methodology for rapid design of sustainable vehicle structures using a collaborative Finite Element Analysis (FEA) platform. The developed platform utilises FEA substructures in a novel way to increase the vehicle development efficiency by speeding up analysis and reducing the number of iterations in the product development process. It also allows rapid validation of design changes early in a design and therefore reduction of computational effort and time without compromising accuracy. The underpinning methodology was described and illustrated here using a case study dealing with the design and optimisation of a car seat actuator assembly.