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The requirement for low emissions and better vehicle performance has led to the demand for lightweight vehicle structures. Two new lightweight methods of design and optimization for the lower control arm were proposed in this research to improve the effectiveness of the traditional lightweight method. Prior to the two lightweight design and optimization methods, the static performance, including strength, stiffness and mode, and fatigue performance for the lower control arm were analyzed and they provided constraints for subsequent design and optimization. The first method of lightweight design and optimization was integrated application of topography optimization, size optimization, shape optimization and free shape optimization for the control arm. Topography optimization was first applied to find the optimal distribution form of reinforcement rib for the lower control arm. Size optimization was then applied in this study to optimize the plate thickness.

In this research, the interior noise of a passenger car was measured, and the sound quality metrics including sound pressure level, loudness, sharpness, and roughness were calculated. An artificial neural network was designed to successfully apply on automotive interior noise as well as numerous different fields of technology which aim to overcome difficulties of experimentations and save cost, time and workforce. Sound pressure level, loudness, sharpness, and roughness were estimated by using the artificial neural network designed by using the experiment values. The predicted values and experiment results are compared. The comparison results show that the realized artificial intelligence model is an appropriate model to estimate the sound quality of the automotive interior noise. The reliability value is calculated as 0.9995 by using statistical analysis.

For the purpose of predicting the interior noise of a passenger automobile at middle and high frequency, an energy finite element analysis (EFEA) model of the automobile was created using EFEA method. The excitations including engine mount excitation and road excitation were measured by road experiment at a speed of 120 km/h. The sound excitation was measured in a semi-anechoic chamber. And the wind excitation was calculated utilizing numeric computation method of computational fluid dynamics (CFD). The sound pressure level (SPL) and energy density contours of the interior acoustic cavity of the automobile were presented at 2000 Hz. Meanwhile, the flexural energy density and flexural velocity of body plates were calculated. The SPL of interior noise was predicted and compared with the corresponding value of experiment.