Design optimization for automotive applications

In the early product design stage, various design optimization methods should be explored in order to optimize produce performance and reduce product cost. During the past several years, an effort has been going on to develop optimization technology for various product applications in Visteon Automotive Systems. The challenges for the real-world applications are how to optimize products to meet product design requirements and how to convert the optimized design into a feasible design. The product design requirements may be achieved by properly formulating the design optimization problems; however, not all the design specifications can be written in mathematical equations. Alternative approaches need innovative thinking to solve complex design problems. Also, extra efforts are necessary to create a feasible design from the multiple optimized designs. This paper presents the optimization applications on automotive components/systems based on shape and topology optimization methods. These applications show the advantages of design optimization in improving product designs, resolving product issues, and saving product cost through innovative utilization of design optimization.