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Electric vehicle makers have largely relied on aluminum to make their cars lighter in hopes of offsetting the weight of the battery pack and reducing overall weight. Distortion of Aluminum welding is a big issue due to Aluminum’s high coefficient of expansion ratios. This paper presents an effective numerical approach to minimize weld-induced distortion in Electrical Vehicle Aluminum assembly structures using welding sequence optimization. A numerical optimization framework based on genetic algorithms and Finite Element Analysis (FEA) is developed and implemented. The shrinkage method calibrated using transient approach, is used for the weld sequence optimization to reduce the computation time. The optimization results show that the proposed calibration approach can contribute substantially to reduce distortion by optimizing weld sequences. It enhances final aluminum assembly quality while facilitating and accelerating design and development.

A new artificial intelligence (model order reduction) / finite element coupled approach will be presented for the risk assessment of battery fire during a car crash event. This approach combines standard crash finite element for the main car body with a reduced order model for the battery. Simulation is today used by automotive engineering teams to design lightweight vehicle bodies fulfilling vehicle safety regulations. Legislation is rapidly evolving to accommodate the growing electrical vehicle market share and is considering additional battery safety requirements. The focus is on avoiding internal short circuit due to internal damage within a cell which may result in a fire hazard. Assessing short circuit risk in CAE at the vehicle level is complex as there involves phenomena at different scales. The vehicle deforms on a macroscale level during the impact event.

Electric vehicles are becoming a rapid growing part of the automotive scene. Batteries are considered as one of the most important and challenging components in the development of electric vehicles. The mechanical performance of the battery module is of great interest and the crashworthiness analysis of the battery module is always a critical design aspect. In crash and other severe events, the battery module is subject to impact loads from different directions. The module is designed with a capability to be deformed and collapsed in a controlled manner to mitigate safety critical damage to battery cells inside the module. In the design process, it is necessary to consider the distribution of the impact loads during the crash to minimize the local damage. In this paper, a finite element model is developed and used as an efficient simulation tool to analyze the dynamic behavior of a generic battery module upon crushing and shocking.