An integrated design method for aluminum vehicle frame combining conceptual and detailed stages

To address the difficulty of traditional steel frames in meeting the long-range endurance requirements of electric commercial vehicles, an integrated aluminum frame design method that combines conceptual design with detailed design is proposed. Starting from the architectural layout and conceptual design, the overall layout of the aluminum battery frame, the section shape and thickness parameters of components are determined by using the multi-condition topology optimization method. The rationality of the new structure is verified through full-load strength and equivalent reinforced pavement fatigue performance analyses. Then, the Kriging model, the second generation non dominated sorting genetic algorithm, and TOPSIS decision-making method are combined to carry out multi-objective optimization of the frame structure, and the optimal lightweight scheme of the frame is obtained. The effectiveness of the simulation analysis and lightweight scheme of the aluminum frame is validated via tests under the most stringent torsion fatigue conditions. Compared with the original steel frame, the results show that the integrated design achieves 34% weight reduction, and meets the requirements of fatigue life. This method provides a design method for the development of aluminum frames.