Design optimization for automotive applications

In the early product design stage, various design optimization methods shou ld 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 Automo tive Systems. The challenges for the real-world applications are how to opt imize products to meet product design requirements and how to convert the o ptimized design into a feasible design. The product design requirements may be achieved by properly formulating the design optimization problems; howe ver, not all the design specifications can be written in mathematical equat ions. Alternative approaches need innovative thinking to solve complex desi gn problems. Also, extra efforts are necessary to create a feasible design from the multiple optimized designs. This paper presents the optimization a pplications on automotive components/systems based on shape and topology op timization methods. These applications show the advantages of design optimi zation in improving product designs, resolving product issues, and saving p roduct cost through innovative utilization of design optimization.