• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.34 no.3
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• pp.353-359
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• 2010

For achieving economical fuel consumption, an increase in the load bearing capacity, and for environmental conservation, there is a constant demand for lightweight frames of commercial vehicles used in the transportation industry. In this study, a structural analysis of the frame of a heavy flat-bed trailer was performed to determine the optimal design of a new lightweight frame made of high-strength steel. To identify the key design parameters of the trailer frame, Taguchi's orthogonal array was used in the experiments. Using ANSYS, a commercial FEA program, the frame structure was optimized with respect to stress, deflection, and torsional stiffness by performing stress and vibration analyses. A physical model of the trailer was also built to verify the validity of the numerical analyses. Finally, an on-road fatigue test of the new lightweight frame made of the high-strength steel, ATOS80, was performed to confirm the durability of the new design.