CAE Analysis And Lightweight Design Of Minibus Door

Car door is an important part of the car body system, and its performance will be directly related to the car’s overall safety, comfort and durability.With one minibus as the research object, the front door was evaluated by CAE analysis based on the finite element method. Firstly, geometry cleaning and meshing cell were performed on the CATIA 3D model of the door in the Hypermesh pre-process software, and the door was assembled according to the actual location of the weld in CATIA. At the same time, material properties and weld properties were loaded on parts of the door and then the finite element model of the door was established. Secondly, modal, window frame stiffness and belt line stiffness were simulated by the Optistruct solver of Hyperworks and the results were obtained by the Hyperview post-process software. It can be found that modal and belt line stiffness met the standard formulated by the enterprise, but window frame stiffness was undesirable. According to the standard of the enterprise, the door droop stiffness was simulated by ABAQUS and the denting resistance stiffness was simulated by LS-DYNA. The maximum deformation and residual deformation of the loading point obtained by the Hyperview post-process software were used to evaluate the door sag stiffness and the load displacement curve was used to evaluate the denting resistance stiffness. It can be found that the door droop stiffness met the standard formulated by the enterprise, but the denting resistance stiffness was undesirable. According to GB 15743-1995 “Passenger car Strength of side doors” regulatory, the crush resistance performance was simulated by LS-DYNA. The load displacement curve obtained by the Hyperview post-process software was used to evaluate the crush resistance performance. It can be found that the crush resistance performance was undesirable, for it didn’t meet the standard in GB 15743-1995.The dissertation belongs to engineering application subject. According to the requirements of the enterprise, lightweight design to the door based on practical engineering experiences was conducted. Also, the lightweight door was evaluated by CAE analysis. Compared with the original door, performances of the lightweight door were not significantly reduced. At the same time, total 1.859 kg weight was reduced on both sides of the front door. And it achieved the goal of reducing cost for the enterprise.