Modelling and Optimal Design of a Carbon Fibre Reinforced Composite Automotive Roof

Structural optimisation was used to carry out the design of an all-composite roof for a late model passenger car. CAD modelling procedures were used to develop the simplified geometric model of the composite roof starting with production CAD data and to create a shell mesh. The shell element roof model was combined with a beam model of the entire body in order to carry out the full-body optimis-ation. Optimisation results yielded a roof which was 71% lighter than the steel automotive roof, which weighed 94 lb (42.7 kg). Although this paper focuses on the use of commercially available software, it demonstrates a level of automation which is not typically used in the automotive industry.