Structural and Multidisciplinary Optimization (2018) 58:1275–1289

https://doi.org/10.1007/s00158-018-1949-8

INDUSTRIAL APPLICATION

An efficient structural optimization approach for the modular

automotive body conceptual design
Yu Liu 1 & Zijian Liu 1 & Huan Qin 1 & Haolong Zhong 1 & Cheng Lv 2

Received: 31 October 2017 / Revised: 22 January 2018 / Accepted: 11 February 2018 / Published online: 17 March 2018
# Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2018

Abstract
Appropriate structural analysis and optimization methods are of great significance for automotive body in conceptual design
stage. This paper proposes a mathematical simulation approach to promote the conceptual design of modular body-in-white
(BIW) model fast and effectively, which is based on the method of reverberation ray matrix (MRRM) and the genetic algorithm
(GA). A simplified modular BIW conceptual model is used to predict early-stage static and dynamic characteristics, and a
minimum mass of the BIW model is set as an optimization objective. Then the static and dynamic behaviors of auto-body are
analyzed by the MRRM, and a cross-sectional size optimization model for the BIW structure is formulated and solved by the GA.
Afterward, an object-oriented MATLAB toolbox is constructed to achieve the mathematical simulation method for the fast
modeling analysis and the structural optimization processes of the modular BIW conceptual structure. Lastly, the validity of this
structural optimization approach is demonstrated by a modular automotive body conceptual model.

Keywords Conceptual design . Modular BIW structure . Cross-sectional size optimization . Method of reverberation ray matrix .
Genetic algorithm

1 Introduction present market. Therefore, a modular design method of auto-

Conceptual design is a critical step in automotive body devel-
opment and it has a great effect on later design work
(Mihaylova et al. 2013; Ki et al. 2017; Cavazzuti et al.
2011). At the conceptual design stage, the conceptual model
is usually used to predict the required performance targets at
the early stage, such as static stiffness, NVH (noise, vibration
and harshness), and crashworthiness, which can reduce the
design period and manufacturing risk for detailed design.
And, for the continuous progress of society and the continu-
ous development of the automotive industry, there is a grow-
ing demand for miniaturized and personalized cars in the
Responsible Editor: Mehmet Polat Saka
* Zijian Liu
zijianliu@hnu.edu.cn
1
State Key Laboratory of Advanced Design and Manufacturing for
Vehicle Body, Hunan University, Changsha 410082, China
2
The School of Robot Engineering and Mechanical-Electrical
Engineering, Chongqing University of Arts and Sciences,
Chongqing 402160, China
motive body beam elements has been presented to solve this
problem, which allows designers to use the existing structural
products to construct automotive body (Chapman and Pinfold
2001; Cetin and Saitou 2004; Al-Zaher and Elmaraghy 2014;
Munster et al. 2016; Huo et al. 2017). Either the modular
design method or the traditional design method, the crucial
work is to construct an appropriate computational model to
calculate and optimize body-in-white (BIW) conceptual mod-
el accurately and fast.
In recent years, many simulation methods have been widely
studied to calculate and optimize the performances of BIW mod-
el. A comprehensive study on rectangular cross-section beam
elements of the automotive body was made by Donders et al.
(2009). In his study, a reduced beam and joint modeling approach
was proposed, and the global bending and torsion modes of
vehicle body were calculated and optimized. However, the the-
ory is semi-empirical because the reduced cross-section proper-
ties of beam-like structures need to be acquired from the real
complex cross-section. A similar approach was developed by
Doke et al. (2012). Mihaylova et al. (2012) developed a solution
for the preliminary cross-sectional beams to maintain the simi-
larity of the detailed Finite Element (FE) model by the method of
beam bounding box. This method however did not take other
1276
factors into account, such as spot welds, discontinuities and
cross-section deformations, which can cause some simulation
errors. Torstenfelt and Klarbring (2007) gave a new modular
car body model and proposed a mathematical simulation
approach to analyze and optimize the static characteristics
of global vehicle body based on classical performance and
cost measures. Qin et al. (2017) presented a transfer stiffness
matrix method based on the theory of structural mechanics,
the static and dynamic behaviors of three-dimensional semi-
rigid BIW structure has also been studied. Dai and Duan
(2009) investigated the input/output relationship between
beam element features and crash dynamic characteristics,
and proposed a beam element modeling approach to con-
struct a simplified BIW model to predict the expected crash
dynamic characteristics. Hou et al. (2009) developed an in-
telligent CAE system, auto-body concept design-intelligent
computer aided engineering (ACD-ICAE) system, to ana-
lyze and optimize the automotive body conceptual model.
The simulation analysis results of auto-body static structural
stiffness and vibration modes showed that the software sys-
tem is efficient and accurate. Zuo et al. (2012) applied the
super element technique to investigate the behavior of semi-
rigid beam element which consists of a beam element and
two semi-rigid joints. In his study, a special FE software for
structural modeling and analysis of BIW was developed and
a multi-threaded parallel technology was used to speed up
the mode analysis. Apart from traditional material consisting
of thin-walled structures, the bending behavior of carbon
fiber reinforces plastic (CFRP) composite structures in vehi-
cle body was also investigated by researchers. Koricho and
Belingardi (2015) applied the experimental and numerical
methods to study the transverse bending stiffness of CFRP
composite T-joint and derived the failure modes and failure
locations. In addition, more studies and applications on the
automotive body were given by researchers (Guo and Chen
2007; Duddeck 2008; Mundo et al. 2009; Zuo 2013; Gu et al.
2013; Wang et al. 2016).
In order to promote the conceptual design of BIW model, the
critical work is to construct an appropriate mathematical simula-
tion model to analyze and optimize the complex three-
dimensional frame structure. In 1998, Pao conducted a profound
study on the transient responses and elastic wave transmission of
planar frame structures. And a study on the dynamic bending
strains of planar trusses with pinned or rigid joints was also
carried out by Pao and Sun (2003). In his study, the method of
reverberation ray matrix (MRRM) was firstly proposed, and the
validity of this method is proved by the comparison between the
theoretical results and the experimental results. Based on Pao’s
research, Guo et al. (2008) (2008) applied the MRRM method to
model analysis of complex three-dimensional framed structures.
The predicted natural frequencies and transient response curves
of the 3D frame showed very good agreement with those obtain-
ed from the Finite element analysis (FEA) method. Zhang and
Y. Liu et al
Nie (2015) proposed a developed reverberation ray matrix meth-
od for static analysis of frame structures. The results showed that
the method can be used for parameter analysis of geometrical and
material properties of the framed structures as well as for exact
calculation of anisotropic framed structures. In addition, more
studies and applications on the MRRM were given by re-
searchers (Miao et al. 2016; Tang et al. 2017; Shao et al. 2017).
A MATLAB toolbox with user-friendly graphical user interface
(GUI) has given designers a way of visually understanding ob-
ject-orientated systems and their interactions (Rypl and Patzak
2012). Zander et al. (2014) introduced a finite cell method and
constructed a corresponding object-oriented MALTLAB tool-
box, the toolbox allows for an easy start into this research field
and for rapid prototyping of new algorithmic ideas. Zuo (2015)
used the object-oriented programming to develop a vehicle body
design and optimization software to optimize the cross-sectional
shapes of beam elements and to achieve a lightweight
automotive body frame with a high stiffness. Qin et al. (2017)
constructed an object-oriented MATLAB toolbox to achieve the
structural modeling, analysis and optimization environment for
the spatial frame structure.
In this paper, a simplified modular BIW conceptual model is
established by the thin-walled rectangular cross-section beam
elements which be used to analyze and compare the static and
dynamic characteristics of the BIW structure in the conceptual
design stage, as shown in Fig. 1. And a structural optimization
approach is presented to analyze and optimize the static and
dynamic behaviors of the modular BIW conceptual model under
different test conventions, which is based on the MRRM and the
genetic algorithm (GA). Then, an object-oriented MATLAB
toolbox with user-friendly GUI is developed to achieve the math-
ematical simulation method to promote the conceptual design of
BIW structure, which contains a structure analysis module and a
structure optimization module. In this integrated toolbox, the
static and dynamic characteristics of the three-dimensional
framed structure are analyzed by the MRRM, and a cross-
Fig. 1 The modular BIW conceptual model
An efficient structural optimization approach for the modular automotive body conceptual design 1277

sectional size optimization problem for BIW lightweight design
is formulated and solved by the GA, where the minimum mass of
the automotive body model is set as an optimization objective.
By changing geometric information, such as node coordinates,
cross-section parameters, constraint conditions and so on, then a
new automotive body structure be constructed quickly, and the
structural analysis and optimization results be obtained, the tool-
box could be used to achieve the fast modeling analysis and the
global or local structural optimization processes for the automo-
tive body structure at the same time. At last, the validity of the
mathematical simulation method is demonstrated by a modular
automotive body conceptual model.
where u, v and w are the translational displacements in the x-, y-
and z- directions of the local dual coordinate systems, respective-
ly. θx, θy and θz are the rotational displacements in the x-, y- and z-
directions of the local dual coordinate systems, respectively. Fx,
Fy and Fz are the resultant forces in the x-, y- and z- directions of
the local dual coordinate systems, respectively. Mx, My and Mz
are the moments in the x-, y- and z- directions of the local dual
coordinate systems, respectively. x is the spatial coordinate in the
local dual coordinate system (xJK,yJK,zJK), l is the length of mem-
ber JK (KJ).
2.1 Governing equations

According to the first order shear deformation theory, the

2 Static and dynamic analysis of space frame governing equations of beam element undergoing static or free
structure with MRRM vibration can be represented as follows

In MRRM (Howard and Pao 1998; Pao et al. 1999; Pao and Sun LðδÞ ¼ 061 ð2Þ
2003), an arbitrary space frame structure is constructed by an
assemblage of members connected at their ends to joints, the where L is a linear differential operator, δ is the displacement
joints are identified by the letters (J, K, L, …), and the members vector on the beam element, 06 × 1 is a 6 × 1 dimensional identity
by two letters at both end joints (JK, JL, KL, …). The coordinate matrix. and
systems and the sign convention of physical variables are 
δðxÞ static
depicted in Fig. 2. In this structure, the total numbers of members δ¼ ð3Þ
δðx; t Þ free vibration
and joints are m and n, respectively, and the number of structural
members meeting at the same joint J is mJ (J = 1, 2, …, n). in which, x is the spatial coordinate in the local dual coordinate
According to the Fig. 2, the relationship of displacements and systems, and t is the time. In order to obtain the solutions of the
internal forces in the local dual coordinate systems can be ob- governing equations, the displacement vector of free vibration
tained needs to apply the Fourier transform method to convert time
domain into frequency domain. The solutions of the displace-
8
JK 
KJ 
nu ðxÞ; v ðxÞ; w ðxÞo ¼ n−u ðl−xÞ; −v ðl−xÞ; w ðl−xÞo
JK JK KJ KJ
>
> ments and internal forces of the member JK can be obtained as
>
>
>
< θx ðxÞ; θy ðxÞ; θz ðxÞ ¼ −θx ðl−xÞ; −θy ðl−xÞ; θz ðl−xÞ
JK JK JK KJ KJ KJ

n o n o ð1Þ δJK ðxÞ ¼ AJK
δ ðxÞa þ DJK
δ ðxÞd
JK JK
static
> δJK ¼
x ðxÞ; F y ðxÞ; F z ðxÞ ¼ F x ðl−xÞ; F y ðl−xÞ; −F z ðl−xÞ
F JK JK JK KJ KJ KJ
>
> n o n o δJK ðx; ωÞ ¼ AJK ð x; ωÞaJK
ðω Þ þ δ ðx; ωÞd ðωÞ free vibration
DJK JK
>
>
δ
: M JK ðxÞ; M JK ðxÞ; M JK ðxÞ ¼ M KJ ðl−xÞ; M KJ ðl−xÞ; −M KJ ðl−xÞ
x y z x y z ð4Þ

KJ
x
KJ
KJ x
K
u
KJ
M x
KJ
KJ
Fy
JK
Fx
KJ KJ y
z
KJ y
z
KJ KJ
JK M M KJ
JK M z y KJ v
v y w
JK JK KJ
JK Fx KJ Fy
y y JK Fz
M x
JK JK
x
JK
u M Y
J JK z
x JK
JK Fz
z
JK
w X
JK
z Z
Fig. 2 The coordinate systems and the sign convention of physical variables
1278 Y. Liu et al

FJK ðxÞ ¼ AJK
F ðxÞa
JK
þ DJK F ðxÞd
JK
static J J
FJK ¼ D JF2 ; …; TJm DJm
FJK ðx; ωÞ ¼ AJK
F ðx; ω Þa JK
ðω Þ þ F ðx; ωÞd ðωÞ
DJK JK
free vibration F . For the free vibration problem, the exter-

ð5Þ nal force vector fJ is a null matrix in (7).

where FJK is the internal force vector on the beam element, 2.2.2 Compatibility conditions of joint
aJK = [a1, a2, a3, a4, a5, a6]T and dJK = [d1, d2, d3, d4, d5, d6]T
represent the arriving and departing wave vectors of joint J In this study, the BIW frame structure is an assemblage of
in member JK, respectively, ai and di (i = 1, 2, …, 6) are the beam elements. For the joint J, therefore, the displacements
arriving and departing wave amplitudes of various waves, between the end of beam and the joint are equal, the result of
respectively. AJK JK
δ and Dδ are the displacement coefficient compatibility conditions of joint J can be expressed as
matrices for the arriving and departing wave vectors, respec-  
tively. AJK JK
F and D F are the internal force coefficient matrices TJK δJK ¼ U J J ¼ 1; 2; …; n; K ¼ 1; 2; …; m J ð8Þ
for the arriving and departing wave vectors, respectively. The
displacement and internal force coefficient matrices are deter- in which, UJ denotes the displacement vector of joint J in the
mined by the cross-sectional size of members (Guo et al. global coordinate system (X, Y, Z). Combining (4) and (8), the
2008). displacement compatibility equations can be explicitly rewrit-
ten as follows
2.2 Equilibrium equations and compatibility A2J a J þ D2J d J ¼ E2J U J ð J ¼ 1; 2; …; nÞ ð9Þ
conditions of joint h i
J J
where A2J ¼ diag T J 1 AδJ 1 ; T J 2 AδJ 2 ; …; TJm AJm
δ , D2J ¼
2.2.1 Equilibrium equations of joint h J J
i
diag T J 1 DδJ 1 ; T J 2 DδJ 2 ; …; TJm DJm
δ and
For the joint J, the number of structural members meeting at E2J ¼ ½I66 ; I66 ; …; I66 T , the element I6 × 6 is a 6 × 6 di-
the same joint J is mJ (J = 1, 2, …, n), then the force equilib- mensional identity matrix.
rium equations of the joint undergoing static or free vibration
can be given by
2.3 Scattering and reverberation ray matrix
8 mJ
>
>
< ∑ T F ð0Þ þ f ¼ 061
JK JK J
static 2.3.1 Scattering matrix
K¼1
ð6Þ
> mJ
>
: ∑ TJK FJK ð0; ωÞ ¼ 061 free vibration Combining (7) and (9), the relationship between the departing
K¼1 and the arriving displacement vectors can be written as fol-
lows
where TJK is the coordinate transformation matrix of member  
 

D1J 066 dJ A1J
J  fJ

JK between the local coordinate system (xJK, yJK, zJK) and the ¼− a − ð10Þ
D2J −E2J QJ A2J
06m J 1

g l o b a l c o o r d i n a t e s y s t e m ( X , Y, Z ) , f J ¼ According to the (10) and the local scattering relation ex-

h iT
pression dJ = SJaJ + sJ, the local scattering matrix SJ and the
f xJ ; f yJ ; f zJ ; mxJ ; myJ ; mzJ denotes the external force vector
local source vector sJ of joint J can be expressed as
of joint J in the global coordinate system (X, Y, Z), f xJ , f yJ and  −1 
D1J 066 A1J
f zJ are the external resultant forces in the x-, y- and z- direc- S J ¼ −E J ð11Þ
D2J −E2J A2J
tions, respectively, mxJ , myJ and mzJ are the external moments  −1 
D1J 066 fJ
in the x-, y- and z- directions, respectively. For the static con- s J ¼ −E J ð12Þ
D2J −E2J 06m J 1
dition of BIW structure, there are external forces loaded on the
special nodes. Combining (5) and (6), the force equilibrium in which E J ¼ ½I6m J 6m J 06m J 6 , the dimension of the ma-
equations can be rewritten as follows trix EJ is determined according to the number of members
connected to the joint J.
For a space frame structure with n joints and m members,
A1J a J þ D1J d J þ f J ¼ 061 ð J ¼ 1; 2; …; nÞ ð7Þ the global scattering relations can be expressed as

h iT h iT
d ¼ Sa þ s ð13Þ
;A1J ¼
J J
where a J ¼ a J 1 ; a J 2 ; …; aJm ;d J ¼ d J 1 ; d J 2 ; …; dJm
h i  where d = [d1, d2, …, dJ, …, dn], a = [a1, a2, …, aJ, …, an],
J J
T J 1 A JF1 ; T J 2 A JF2 ; …; TJm AJm
F and D1J ¼ T J 1 D JF1 ; T J 2 S = diag [S1, S2, …, SJ, …, Sn] and s = diag [s1, s2, …, sJ,
An efficient structural optimization approach for the modular automotive body conceptual design 1279

…, sn]. a and d are the global arriving and departing wave
vectors of the space frame structure, respectively. S and s are
the global scattering matrix and the global source vector of the
space frame structure, respectively. The size of a, d, S and s in
(13) can be determined from the number of members in the
structure. For the free vibration problem, there are no external
forces applied at the joints of the structure, the global source
vector s is a null matrix in (13).
forces of the entire structure from (4) and (5). While for the
free vibration problem, (19) can be rewritten as
½I−RðωÞd ¼ 0 ð20Þ
in which, R is a matrix about the natural frequency ω. To obtain
a non-trivial solution of the global departing wave vector d, the
coefficient determinant of (20) should vanish, namely
jI−RðωÞj ¼ 0 ð21Þ

2.3.2 Reverberation ray matrix which is the equation of natural frequencies of the space frame
structure. To find the roots of this equation, a hybrid searching
According to the (1), the displacement vector in the local dual method is applied, which consists of the stepwise search meth-
coordinate systems for an arbitrary member JK (KJ) should od and the golden section method and solves the natural fre-
satisfy quency problem very well as demonstrated by Tang et al.
(2016), then the corresponding departing wave vector d can
δJK ðxÞ ¼ TδKJ ðl−xÞ ð14Þ be calculated from (20), and a, δ and F can be obtained from
corresponding equations.
where T = diag [−1, −1, 1, −1, −1, 1] represent the displace-
ment vector relation matrix. Substituting (4) into (14) yields
the local phase relations 3 Formulation of cross-sectional size
optimization
aJK ¼ PJK dKJ ð15Þ
In this study, the GA is used to minimize the mass of the
−1  
in which P ¼ A ð0Þ
JK JK
TDKJ
lδ
KJ
is the local phase matrix modular BIW conceptual model, which can decrease emission
of the joint J in the member JK, according to the relationship and increase fuel economy. The optimization for the BIW
between joints and members, the joint phase relations and conceptual model is quite a complex problem. The GA has
global phase relations can be obtained as follows to deal with multiple design objectives, such as bending stiff-
ness, torsional stiffness and natural frequency for different
J
~
aJ ¼ PJd ð16Þ working conditions. Therefore, the weight of global body
should be as light as possible when performance targets satisfy
~ design requirements. In cross-sectional size optimization pro-
a ¼ Pd ð17Þ
h i cess, the BIW conceptual model is composed of modular
J
where P J ¼ diag P J 1 ; P J 2 ; …; PJm and P = diag [P1, P2, beam elements, the cross-sectional shape of the modular beam
…, Pn] represent the joint and global phase matrices, respective- elements is a thin-walled rectangular section, as shown in
ly. d ~ denote the joint and global departing wave vectors,
~ J and d Fig. 3, where the width (w), height (h) and thickness (t) of
respectively. Note that d~ and d contain the same elements ar- section are designated as design variables. The design
ranged in different order, the relation between d~ and d is

~ ¼ UP d
d ð18Þ

where UP is the permutation matrix composed of 1 and 0, the

detailed form of the permutation matrix is determined by the
global departing wave vector d.
Substituting (17) and (18) into (13) yields

½I−Rd ¼ s ð19Þ

where R = SPUP is the reverberation ray matrix of the space

frame structure. Note that for the static problem, the global
departing wave vector d can be obtained from (19), then the
global arriving wave vector a can be calculated according to
(13), and finally obtaining the displacements and internal Fig. 3 Simplified cross-sectional shape
1280 Y. Liu et al

variables, objective function and constraint conditions used in conditions, where the definition of constraints as shown in
the optimization technique will be described in the following. Fig. 4, respectively. Nf is the natural frequency of modular
Define x as the design variable vector BIW conceptual model undergoing free vibration. K ~ b, K
~ t and
N~ f are the allowable limit values for Kb, Kt and Nf, respec-
x ¼ ½w; h; t ð22Þ
tively, the allowable limit values are determined according to
in which w = [w1, w2, ⋯, wn], h = [h1, h2, ⋯, hn] and t = [t1, the relevant BIW design criteria. During the iteration process,
t2, ⋯, tn], n is the number of modular beam elements to be each individual in the population needs to calculate the static
optimized. and dynamic behaviors of BIW structure by the MRRM, and
The mathematical form of the size optimization problem the calculated results are checked to see if the static and dy-
for the mass of the BIW conceptual model is given by (23) namic constraint conditions are met. LB and UB are the lower
8 and upper bound row vectors of x, respectively.
>
>
> 8 ¼ f ð xÞ
minm In Fig. 4, the loads and boundary constraint conditions
> ~b
< >
> >
> K b ¼ g 1 ð xÞ ≥ K of the modular BIW static analysis can be determined by
<
~ ð23Þ
> s:t: K t ¼ g 2 ðxÞ≥ K t
>
the static analysis rules of the traditional BIW structure.
>
> >
> N f ¼ g3 ðxÞ≥ N ~f For the static bending condition, the external force Fb is
: >
> :
LB ≤ x ≤ UB set as 1668 N, the z-direction translational degree of free-
dom of the front suspension mounting points are
where m is the mass function of modular BIW conceptual constrained, and the translational degrees of freedom in
model which can be calculated by material parameters and the directions of x-, y- and z- for the rear suspension
geometric parameters. Kb and Kt are the bending stiffness mounting points are also restrained, as shown in Fig. 4a,
and the torsional stiffness of modular BIW conceptual model, the digital 1, 2 and 3 in the figure represent the transla-
respectively, which can be derived from (28) and (30). The tional degrees of freedom in the directions of x-, y- and z-,
bending and torsional stiffness are related to the maximum respectively. For the torsional loading condition, the
vertical displacements under the bending and torsional boundary constraints of the rear suspension are the same

Fb

Constraint Constraint

(a) B lh , B r h

Ft Deformed
T lh
Initial
Trh
w Ft
(b)
Fig. 4 Static load-cases defined to estimate the BIW stiffness: (a) Bending condition, (b) Torsional condition
An efficient structural optimization approach for the modular automotive body conceptual design 1281

Fig. 5 The main architecture of

MATLAB toolbox Structural analysis module Structural optimization module

Pre-process Process Post-process

as the bending test convention, and the middle position of
the front bumper beam is fixed, as shown in Fig. 4b. The
loading condition of the automotive body requires that the
pair of forces coming from the front suspension mounting
points must be equal and opposite, and the torque be-
tween the front suspension left and right loading points
should be equal to 2000 Nm, according to the distance
between the two loading points, the external loading Ft
is set as 2600 N.
The BIW cross-sectional size optimization is a constrained
optimization problem, several methods have been proposed to
deal with this problem in the GA, e.g., rejecting method,
repairing method and penalty method. In this study, the pen-
alty method is applied to transform the constrained optimiza-
tion problem into an unconstrained one. The penalty functions
are formulated as follows
where pi (i = 1, 2, 3) are the penalty coefficients, which is
used to determine the fitness values of feasible points and
infeasible points, the method to access the penalty coefficients
is presented as follows:
Step 1: Set the crossover rate, mutation rate, and conver-
gence precision as 0.8, 0.05 and 10−6 respectively; Step 2:
Set the number of population and the maximum number of
generations as 30 and 200 respectively; Step 3: Estimate that
p1 = 0.01, p1 = 0.001, p1 = 0.5 according to the order of mag-
nitudes; Step 4: Run GA several times and observe the
returned values of the constraint conditions and fitness func-
tion, tune the penalty coefficients by manual regulation
method based on experience. If a constraint condition al-
ways violates the allowable value, then try to raise the co-
efficient value. If a constraint condition meets the allowable
value, but the fitness function value is much larger than the
(   minimum for the first few generations, then try to reduce the
p1 K~ b −K b for K b < K~b coefficient value; Step 5: Run GA several times and observe
P 1 ð xÞ ¼ ð24Þ
0 otherwise the fitness function curves, if the curves are not acceptable,
(   try to set appropriate values of the number of population and
p2 K~ t −K t for K t < K~t the maximum number of generations. Then, the number of
P 2 ð xÞ ¼ ð25Þ
0 otherwise population and the maximum number of generations are set
(   as 40 and 400, respectively; Step 6: If one still cannot obtain
p3 N~ f −N f for N f < N ~f an acceptable configuration, try to change values of the
P 3 ð xÞ ¼ ð26Þ
0 otherwise

Fig. 6 The mathematical

simulation model of modular
BIW conceptual structure
1282
Fig. 7 Displacement diagrams of the original FE model: (a) Bending
condition, (b) Torsional condition
crossover rate and the mutation rate in step 1 and repeat
steps 2–5.
In this paper, according to the results of program
debugging, the values of the penalty coefficients are specified
as 0.001, 0.0006 and 0.2, respectively. Hence, the fitness func-
tion of GA for the BIW cross-sectional optimization problem
can be expressed as follows
fitnessðxÞ ¼ f ðxÞ þ P1 ðxÞ þ P2 ðxÞ þ P3 ðxÞ
4 The development of MATLAB toolbox
In this paper, an object-oriented MATLAB toolbox with
user-friendly GUI is developed to analyze and optimize
the modular BIW conceptual model, which contains the
Y. Liu et al
structure analysis module and the structure optimization
module, and the module is composed of three parts, i.e.,
preprocess, process and post-process. The main frame of
the object-oriented MATLAB toolbox is shown in Fig. 5,
which is similar to that of the general CAE software. For
the process part of the object-oriented MATLAB toolbox,
the exact structural analysis method is introduced in the
second section, in which the displacements and internal
forces of the entire structure can be obtained by the
MRRM. And the structural optimization method is men-
tioned in the third section, where the cross-sectional size
optimization problem for the modular BIW conceptual
model can be solved by the GA. Then the post-process
part of the object-oriented MATLAB toolbox can be ob-
tained according to the analysis and optimization results.
According to the geometrical model of modular BIW con-
ceptual structure shown in the Fig. 1, a three-dimensional
wireframe model for the preprocess part of the object-
oriented MATLAB toolbox can be established, which consists
of points and lines on the geometric space, as shown in Fig. 6.
The coordinate values of points and length of lines are extract-
ed from the geometric parameters of the centroidal axis of
beam elements. And the cross-sectional properties of mem-
bers can be obtained from the automotive body. In the Fig. 6,
the jth joint is identified by ‘Jj’, and the ith member is identi-
fied by ‘Mi’.
5 Numerical examples
In this study, a simplified modular BIW conceptual model is
selected to demonstrate the validity of the mathematical sim-
ulation method, as shown in Fig. 1. The FEA results (includ-
ing the initial FE model analysis results and the optimized FE
model analysis results) and the mathematical simulation anal-
ysis results are presented and compared, e.g., bending stiff-
ness, torsional stiffness, bending stiffness curves, torsional
stiffness curves and natural frequency, etc. The results are
provided in following subsections.
5.1 Static comparison
In order to validate the proposed approach, bending stiffness
and torsional stiffness of static indicators of the global auto-
body performance are considered. These indicators are calcu-
lated from the original modular BIW conceptual model and
ð27Þ
the mathematical simulation model. The test conventions are
shown in Fig. 4.
The bending stiffness Kb can be expressed by the following
equation
2F b
Kb ¼ ð28Þ
Bz
An efficient structural optimization approach for the modular automotive body conceptual design 1283

Fig. 8 Displacement diagrams of

the mathematical simulation
model: (a) Bending condition, (b)
Torsional condition

Blh þ Brh
Bz ¼ − ð29Þ the lower part of the right rocker rail, Bz is the average of the
2 maximum z-direction displacement value of the left and right
where Kb is the bending stiffness of BIW conceptual model, rocker rails, as shown in Fig. 4a.
Fb is the external force applied to the left and right rocker rails The torsional stiffness Kt is determined as
for the BIW bending test convention, Blh is the maximum z-
direction displacement value of the lower part of the left rock- Ft  w
Kt ¼ ð30Þ
er rail, Brh is the maximum z-direction displacement value of α

Table 1 Static and dynamic

performance targets of the Evaluation index Original FE model Mathematical simulation model Δ(%)
original FE and the mathematical
simulation models Bending stiffness (N/mm) 12,967.9 13,587.3 4.78%
Torsional stiffness (Nm/deg) 22,646.1 25,601.9 13.05%
1st Torsion mode (Hz) 49.26 51.03 3.59%
1284 Y. Liu et al

180 T lh −T rh
α¼  ð31Þ
π w
where Kt is the torsional stiffness of BIW conceptual model, Ft
is the external force applied to the front suspension mounting
holes for the BIW torsion test convention, w is the distance of
the y-direction between the left and right suspension loading
points, α is the twist angle of the section captured at front
suspension loading points, Tlh is the z-direction displacement
value at the left loading point of the front suspension, Trh is the
z-direction displacement value at the right loading point of the
front suspension, as shown in Fig. 4b. The bending stiffness
Fig. 9 Measured points of the BIW stiffness curves
and torsional stiffness properties are obtained from the result
models, as shown in Figs. 7 and 8, by performing the static
analysis for the original FE model and the mathematical sim-
ulation model.

Fig. 10 BIW stiffness curves: (a)

Bending stiffness curves, (b)
Torsional stiffness curves
An efficient structural optimization approach for the modular automotive body conceptual design
Fig. 11 The 1st torsion mode of
the original FE model
In Figs. 7 and 8, the z-direction displacement contours
of the modular BIW model are revealed. The z-direction
displacement values of Blh, Brh, Tlh and Trh of the original
FE model under the static loading condition are obtained,
as illustrated in Fig. 7. The z-direction displacement value
of the point at any position on the mathematical simula-
tion model under the static stiffness test convention is
calculated by the MRRM, as shown in Fig. 8, the blue
line in the figure represents the initial position of BIW
structure, and the red line is the final position of the de-
formation. According to the (28) and (30), the bending
and torsional stiffness values of the original FE model
and the mathematical simulation model are calculated,
Fig. 12 The 1st torsion mode of the mathematical simulation model
1285
respectively, and the relative error values of static stiff-
ness between the original FE model and the mathematical
model are given, the result values are listed in Table 1. It
could be found that the static stiffness values of the math-
ematical simulation model are larger than that of the orig-
inal FE model, which is caused by the different connec-
tion modes between beam elements in the two models.
The relative error value of bending stiffness between the
original FE model and the mathematical simulation model
is 4.78%, which indicates that the mathematical simula-
tion approach can be used to effectively predict the bend-
ing stiffness performance of the modular BIW conceptual
model. For the torsional condition, however, there is a
significant discrepancy between the original FE model
and the mathematical simulation model, the relative error
value is 13.05%, which shows that the connect modes
between beam elements in the two model under the tor-
sional test condition have a much higher effect than the
Table 2 Computation time under different conditions
Computation time Original FE model Mathematical
simulation model
Bending condition 29 s 1.24 s
Torsional condition 25 s 1.28 s
Free vibration 90s 1.57 s
Structural optimization / 752 s
1286
Fig. 13 Cross-sections
optimization of the BIW model
models under the bending test condition, it is reasonable
because there are many features in the mathematical sim-
ulation model are simplified and the relative error value is
no more than 20% (Hou et al. 2009).
Figure 10 shows the stiffness curves of the global auto-
body model (including the original FE model, the mathemat-
ical simulation model and the optimized FE model) for the
bending condition and torsional condition results, the opti-
mized FE model will be described in the following subsection.
The method of drawing the stiffness curve: selecting a series
of points at a certain distance along the middle position of
lower plane of the front rail, rocker panel and rear rail, as
shown in Fig. 9. Then, connecting these points with PLOT
element (Nastran Sol101) to measure z-direction displacement
values (bending condition) and twist angle values (torsional
condition). Finally, according to the z-direction displacement
and twist angle values of the measured points, drawing the
bending and torsional stiffness curves along the x-direction,
respectively. The horizontal axis value of the measured points
Fig. 14 The convergence of 92
fitness function
90
88
Mass(kg)
86
84
82
80
78
0 50
Y. Liu et al
3 4
2
5
1
7
6
is the corresponding x-direction coordinate value in the global
automotive body coordinate system. It should be noted that
there are overlap and gap in each stiffness curve, which is
reasonable because the stiffness curve is composed of three
different segments, the values of the three different segment
curves are extracted from the front rail, rocker panel and rear
rail, respectively, the three components have overlap and gap
in the x-direction of the global automotive body coordinate
system, as shown in Fig. 9. The curves on the Fig. 10 show
the change of automobile body stiffness. The black line shows
the stiffness of original FE model, the blue line shows the
stiffness of mathematical simulation model, and the red line
shows the stiffness of optimized FE model. The bending stiff-
ness curve can be obtained directly from the z-direction dis-
placement and horizontal axis values of the measured points,
while the torsional stiffness curve needs to be obtained by the
formulation of twist angle.
The twist angle formulation of (32) can be expressed as
follows
100 150 200 250 300 350 400
Generation
An efficient structural optimization approach for the modular automotive body conceptual design 1287

Table 3 The initial, bounds and optimized values of the design variables

No. Design variables

w (mm) h (mm) t (mm)

Initial LB UB Optimum Initial LB UB Optimum Initial LB UB Optimum

1 120 80 150 92.427 100 80 120 89.364 1 0.8 1.5 1.107

2 90.5 60 120 75.326 100 80 120 81.292 1 0.8 1.5 1.038
3 90.6 60 120 81.279 100 80 120 88.945 1 0.8 1.5 0.964
4 200 150 250 160.351 100 80 120 82.853 1 0.8 1.5 1.036
5 158.7 100 200 131.934 100 80 120 101.103 1 0.8 1.5 1.142
6 150 100 200 148.496 100 80 120 105.439 1 0.8 1.5 1.259
7 100 60 120 82.371 100 80 120 95.024 1 0.8 1.5 1.194

result demonstrates that the MRRM is an accurate and ef-

180  ΔZ
β¼ ð32Þ fective method for analyzing the modular BIW conceptual
πY model.
where β is the twist angle, ΔZ is the z-direction displacement
value of the measured point, Y is the y-direction coordinate
value of the measured point.
5.3 Cross-sectional size optimization

In this study, cross-sectional size optimization is adopted to

5.2 Dynamic comparison
In order to compare the original FE model and the mathe-
matical simulation model in terms of dynamic behavior, the
natural frequencies and modal shapes of the global BIW
model are calculated under free vibration condition. For
the original FE model, the dynamic behavior is studied
through an FE modal analysis (Nastran Sol103) in the
low-frequency range of 0-80 Hz, there are 10 more relevant
diagrams for BIW conceptual structure are obtained, the first
six modes are rigid body modes, and the non-rigid modes
are found from the seventh graphs. However, most of non-
rigid modes involve an irregular global deformation or a
local deformation of the structure which could not be accept-
ed, and only the 1st torsion mode of the BIW structure is
rational according to the FEA displacement contour, the cor-
responding natural frequency value is 49.26 Hz, and the
modal shape is illustrated in Fig. 11. For the mathematical
simulation model, the natural frequency value of 1st torsion
mode for the BIW structure is 51.03 Hz, which is calculated
by the MRRM, and the corresponding modal shape is given
in Fig. 12. In Table 1, the natural frequency and relative
error values of both models are given, it could be found that
the relative error value is small for the natural frequencies
between the original FE model and the mathematical simu-
lation model. And the computation times of the mathemati-
cal simulation model and the original FE model under dif-
ferent conditions are listed in Table 2, the results show that
the computation time of the mathematical simulation model
is much faster than that of the original FE model. Hence, the
lighten the vehicle mass while maintaining mechanical perfor-
mance targets, and the optimization method is introduced in
the third section. To give an example, the left and right side
frames of the auto-body to be optimized are shown in Fig. 13.
Considering the symmetry of the BIW structure, the left and
right side frames have the same optimized values on the cor-
responding beam elements, therefore, only the left side frame
beam elements are identified by the numbers (1, 2, …, 7) in
the figure, and the corresponding cross-section optimal values
will be given in this paper. The rocker panel of auto-body
consists of member 18 and member 19, so members 18, 19
are defined to share the same cross-section properties and are
identified by the number 6, and so are members 7, 20, as
illustrates in Fig. 13. The allowable limit values of constraint
conditions in the BIW optimization model, i.e., K ~ t and N
~ b, K ~f
are set as 12,000 N/mm, 20,000 Nm/deg. and 45 Hz, respec-
tively, which are originated from an enterprise standard. It is
important to choose the appropriate parameters in the GA-
based optimization procedure, according to the practical opti-
mization problem in this paper, the number of population is set
to 40, the maximum number of generations is set to 400, the
crossover rate is set to 0.8, the mutation rate is set to 0.05 and
the convergence precision is set as 10−6.
By calculation, the mass convergence curve for the cross-
sectional size optimization process is obtained, as illustrated in
Fig. 14, in which the cross-sectional size parameters are set as
design variables and the fitness value represents the total mass
of the modular BIW structure. And the optimized values of
cross-sections are given in Table 3, the initial and bounds
values of design variables are also listed in the table.
1288
Fig. 15 Cloud pictures of the optimized FE model: (a) Bending
condition, (b) Torsional condition, (c) 1st Torsion mode
Table 4 Performance indexes of
BIW structure before and after
optimization
Y. Liu et al
According to the optimized values of cross-sections, the opti-
mized FE model is established to obtain the FEA results and
stiffness curves, as shown in Figs. 15 and 10, respectively. The
performance targets of the modular BIW conceptual model
before and after optimization are listed in Table 4. It can be
seen that the mass of auto-body decreases by about 5.8 kg
(from 84.2 kg to 78.4 kg), the relative error value between
the both models is 6.89%, and the bending stiffness, torsional
stiffness and 1st torsion mode natural frequency of the opti-
mized body decrease by certain degrees, which are fit to the
defined design constraints to be larger than 12,000 N/mm,
20,000 Nm/deg. and 45 Hz, respectively. And the computa-
tional time for the optimization process is about 752 s.
Consequently, the results demonstrate that the structural opti-
mization approach is feasible and efficient.
6 Conclusions
In this paper, a structural optimization approach is presented to
analyze and optimize the modular BIW conceptual model,
which is based on the MRRM and the GA. And an object-
oriented MATLAB toolbox is developed to verify the validity
of the proposed method, where the modular BIW conceptual
model is replaced by equivalent wireframe structure. The stat-
ic and dynamic behaviors of the mathematical simulation
model and the original FE model are calculated and compared.
The results show that there are relative errors of the static and
dynamic indicators between the both models, 4.78%, 13.05%
and 3.59%, respectively, it is reasonable because the relative
error values are within an acceptable range. And a comparison
between the original FE model and the optimized FE model
has been performed as well, the total mass of the BIW con-
ceptual structure decreases by 6.89%, the static and dynamic
indicator values of the optimized FE model are worse than that
of the original FE model, the corresponding relative error
values are −7.02%, −9.57% and −1.26%, respectively, while
the performance targets of the optimized FE model satisfy
design requirements. Hence, the quantitative results demon-
strate the validity of the mathematical simulation method. In
summary, an efficient structural optimization approach for the
modular automotive body conceptual design is realized,
which can accurately calculate the global static and dynamic
characteristics of space frame structure and fast optimize the
Performance index Original FE model Optimized FE model Δ(%)
BIW mass (kg) 84.2 78.4 −6.89%
Bending stiffness (N/mm) 12,967.9 12,058.2 −7.02%
Torsional stiffness (Nm/deg) 22,646.1 20,479.5 −9.57%
1st Torsion mode (Hz) 49.26 48.64 −1.26%
An efficient structural optimization approach for the modular automotive body conceptual design
cross-section of beam elements. It is helpful for researchers to
study the modular automotive body structure.
Acknowledgements This research is supported by the National Natural
Science Foundation of China (No. 51475152).
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