A Study on Optimal Spot-weld Layout Design of the Car Body Structure Using Topology Optimization

위상최적설계를 이용한 차체 점용접 배치 최적화 연구

In this paper, we propose the efficient technique that reduces the number of spot-welds and increases the structural rigidity by using the topology optimization technique. Eigen value analysis is used to evaluate the rigidity of the optimized model. As a first step, the topology optimization is performed to find optimal spot-weld distributions. In this study, the design objective is to maximize the weighted frequencies. The volume fractions of the weld components are used as design constraints, and also the densities of each element in the individual design space are used as design variables. And then, to consider the possibility of spot-weld failure, the contribution rate analysis was performed by using the orthogonal array method of DOE. The spot-welds in the rear panel part are reinforced according to estimation results of the contribution rate analysis. Finally, we obtained optimized spot-weld layout model which has the reduced number of spot-welds and the improved dynamic stiffness.