Abstract

Rooted in the #xA3;29 million Low Carbon Vehicle Technology Project (LCVTP), Coventry University has continued to conduct research into lightweight Body In White (BIW) design and lightweight crash structure development utilising structural optimisation for alternatively fuelled vehicles such as Hybrid Electric Vehicles (HEV). This paper explains how a lightweight HEV front end crash structure has been developed, refined and validated using numerical analysis. This is based on structural optimisation results, benchmarking of similar sized vehicles and previous experience of crash structure development.