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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 recent years, the interior noise of automobile has been becoming a significant problem. In order to reduce the noise, porous materials have been widely applied in automobile manufacturing. In this study, the simulation method and optimal analysis are used to determine the optimum sound absorption of polyurethane foam. The experimental simulation is processed based on the Johnson-Allard model. In the model, the foam adheres to a hard wall. The incident wave is plane wave. The function of the model is to calculate the noise reduction coefficient of polyurethane foam with different thickness, density and porosity. The back propagation neural network coupled with genetic optimization technique is utilized to predict the optimum sound absorption. A developed back propagation neural network model is trained and tested by the simulation data.