Lightweight Composite Seat Development

Peter Benzie Senior Engineer, Altair Product Design

Imperial House, Holly Walk, Leamington Spa, CV32 4JG peter.benzie@uk.altair.com

David Jewell Senior Composite and Plastics Engineer Gordon Murray Design limited
Wharfside, Broadford Park, Shalford, Surrey, GU4 8EP

Abstract
Gordon Murray Design has developed an innovative lightweight thin shelled composite automotive seat. The seat design was analysed and developed in collaboration with Altair ProductDesign using the non-linear composite analysis tools available within HyperWorks. Technology Strategy Board funding helped the partnership to develop accurate composite material models for RADIOSS which were correlated to physical test data, and then enabled the design process to be supported through predictive CAE. Prototypes were then produced and tested for component safety performance. Excellent correlation was seen between test and analysis. This paper presents aspects of the seat design and analysis process and how RADIOSS can be used to model composite materials for non-linear events with a high degree of accuracy.
Keywords: Composites, Simulation, Non Linear Materials, Correlation, Radioss

1.0

Introduction

This work was completed as part of a research and development project that was funded by the Technology Strategy Board. The seat design and development is part of the iStreamDevelopment (iD1) project. The organisational structure of this project was relatively simple with only two consortium members; Gordon Murray Design and Altair ProductDesign. Gordon Murray Design took the project lead role and were responsible for overall project management, design development and prototype manufacture. Altair ProductDesign were responsible for the simulation activities of the material correlation and seat development work packages. The high level organisational structure for the project can be seen in Figure 1.

Altair Engineering 2013

Figure 1: Project Organisational Structure

1.1 The Need for Lightweight Solutions in Todays Market Traditionally weight reduction is focused on major metallic systems such as the body structure, powertrain and chassis systems. However, as interior mass increases and structure design becomes more efficient, OEMs need to look at all systems to achieve their weight reduction targets. An example of one of these areas is vehicle seating; the next generation of fuel efficient cars currently being developed have a need for compact, lightweight and low volume seating that meets the same ergonomic, durability and safety standards as current automotive seating. iStream is the perfect enabler for developing a better seat and this project will deliver a product that can be offered to OEMs and act as a further platform demonstrating the benefits of iStream. Application of the iStream technology enables the development of lightweight solutions through the use of composites to replace traditional materials and creating opportunities to reduce complexity by innovative manufacturing techniques. Simulation plays a key role in the development of these emerging technologies and a current barrier to their adoption is the need for correlated material models. Such models are required in order to predict the behaviour of the composite materials and to lead the design through the use of optimisation techniques. Furthermore the use of composites in safety critical components requires an understanding of non-linear behaviour of the composite materials. It is therefore vitally important to develop correlated composite models in order to be able to use simulation to aid and lead the design process. Further benefits include a reduction in testing and prototype costs as well as reduced time to market through upfront investment in analysis. Altair offers a complete simulation toolset in the HyperWorks software environment including the capability to capture non-linear composite material behaviour in the RADIOSS explicit solver. Altair ProductDesign is able to leverage these tools to provide advanced consulting services in the development of composite systems. 1.2 iStreamtechnology Gordon Murray Design (GMD) have developed a new automotive manufacturing process named iStream. A standard iStream structure uses a combination of large diameter,
Altair Engineering 2013 Lightweight Composite Seat Development 2

thin-walled, manipulated steel tubes and low cost sandwich construction composite materials, which when bonded together form a very strong and stiff structure with uniquely low cost and investment requirements. This flexibility means that the chassis can be used as a standard platform to deliver different vehicle types and model variants e.g. car, urban delivery van, taxi, emergency support vehicle. Combining this flexibility with the separate chassis and assembly lines, means that the same factory could be used to manufacture different variants. Entirely new model variants can be produced with significantly reduced lead times from concept to market. Pre-painted body panels mean that there is no need for a paint shop in the assembly plant which removes the complications associated with vox emissions. Mechanical fixing of body panels is quick and low-energy. It also makes future repairs relatively simple as replacement panels are quicker and easier to fix.

In addition, body panels are made from recycled materials and the chassis is potentially reusable. The lightweight nature will also reduce wear and tear and consequently the requirement for parts and maintenance. Lifecycle testing of an iStream chassis has indicated a body life far in excess of the current generation of stamped steel vehicles.

Figure 2: iStreamChassis
Although the original focus has been on the application of iStream for chassis applications investigations has shown significant opportunities to apply the same approach to other applications. This includes the application of iStream to a wider range of road, rail and air vehicles, and from chassis to sub-system and component applications. The development of an iStream vehicle seat will illustrate in the best way that iStream is a process that can be applied across a wide range of platforms and products, and will result in a unique package of IP that will be attractive to VMs of small city cars globally.

2.0
2.1

Thin Shell Composite Seat

Introduction to Seat Design Approach

Altair Engineering 2013

Lightweight Composite Seat Development

The work that was carried out on the iStream seat comprised benchmark evaluation, styling, tool design, pattern manufacture, mould manufacture and FEA modelling and correlation. By applying iStream manufacturing methods to a vehicle seat the aim was to produce a product that is far lighter and slimmer than anything currently on the market. This is of particular relevance to small city cars which are restricted for internal package space. GMDs usual rigorous approach was taken to the design process to ensure the resulting product was suitable for a production vehicle and has been designed with automotive restraint loading standards and full ergonomic functionality in mind. To date, iStream has only been applied to vehicle bodies; the exercise of designing an alternative product with it is brand new and will demonstrate the flexibility of iStream as a manufacturing method. The seat that results will also be a genuine enabler toward the design of increasingly small and lightweight vehicles throughout the automotive industry, where seat function is increasingly being compromised in order to accommodate the passenger within a small volume. There is currently no metallic/composite combination lightweight seat on the market that offers the required range of functionality to replace an automotive equivalent.

Figure 3: Seat Concept Design

The iStream seat design process creates an efficient design by focusing structure where the load paths require it, and eliminating unnecessary material whilst accommodating the back adjustment, fore/aft adjustment, restraint systems and ergonomic supports that are expected of an automotive seat. The use of simulation tools are vital in this process in order to provide the design team with data on the performance at the global level down to the detailed of the stress seen in individual plys. The resulting design will be available as an off-the-shelf product to vehicle manufacturers, with particular emphasis on those involved with GMD on iStream vehicles. It is expected that the seat will significantly enhance the product offering for manufacturers of small city cars and provide a new opportunity for UK manufacturing to contribute to these programs. Initial estimates suggest that an iStream seat could be 50% of the weight of a current typical automotive equivalent, which would bring associated benefits to material use during manufacture and vehicle fuel consumption.

Altair Engineering 2013

Lightweight Composite Seat Development

Although this work is automotive focused, the opportunities for development of lightweight seating cover many different industries including transport applications such as aerospace and rail. 2.2 Design Process

The design process consisted of two design and simulation loops with additional sub iterations focusing on the layup detailing in the composite panels. Simulation was used heavily to develop the design and layup of the composite components to pass the loadcases whilst minimising the component weight. The process from concept through development to prototype manufacture and testing was completed in under 3 months. This compressed timing was made possible due to the availability of correlated material models and composite analysis methods. The learning from this project has also highlighted further opportunities to optimise and refine the design to remove additional weight and complexity from the design. The successful test prediction adds confidence to the simulation techniques and their application on future development activities. 2.3 Loadcases

Five loadcases were developed to assess the structural performance of the seat in order to meet the regulations that would apply to a full seat system. I. II. III. IV. V. Applied displacement to the seatback (benchmark test) Moment Load (references ECE Regulation 17), illustrated in Figure 4 Deceleration Load (references ECE Regulation 17) Deceleration Load (references ECE Regulation 17) Lateral Load

The criteria set for loadcases II,III,IV and V was for no rupture to occur in the composite components.

Figure 4: Moment Loadcase Set Up

A benchmark test was also carried out on a conventional pressed steel seat for additional comparison data with the new GMD design. The seat was rigidly fixed via its runners to the base plate and pulled from behind by a hydraulic ram. 2.4 Materials

Altair Engineering 2013

Lightweight Composite Seat Development

The iSeat is fundamentally constructed from two composite panels. The brackets and rails are made from steel components. The composite panels are made up from multiple layers of GRP in both CSM and UD fabrics. The simulation and development of these panels was possible due to the availability of correlated material models that were validated at both coupon and subsystem levels. These models were developed in a separate work package that is not covered in this report.

Figure 5: iSeat FE Model

2.5 Prototype Seat

A deliverable of the project was the construction of a fully trimmed fully functional prototype seat. The completed seat can be seen in Figure 6 and was trimmed using state of the art recycled materials and foam products. The seat performed well in the three ECE reg. 17 tests. The seat passed the relevant regulatory tests making it suitable for use in a future vehicle with confidence. The seat was half the weight of the benchmark pressed steel seat. The use of composite materials was optimised, encapsulating all iStream principals including the use of recycled and recyclable materials in the construction of the trim.

Altair Engineering 2013

Lightweight Composite Seat Development

Figure 6: Completed iSeat

3.0

Composite Simulation Techniques

The FE model was constructed from the CAD provided by GMD with the composites represented by shell elements. Pre-processing was completed using both HyperMesh and HyperCrash toolsets. The composite material cards were populated from the parallel material correlation project. These include the validation of the complex non-linear properties of the composite materials from coupon through to system level analysis. It is also important to consider the influence of strain rates on the composite and adhesive component materials. The approach enabled multiple ply layups to be assessed in rapid succession to develop a lightweight design that was able to meet the performance requirements. This includes the optimal distribution of UD layers as well as control of the ply thicknesses. 3.1 RADIOSS Material Modelling

The composite materials were modelled using /MAT/LAW25 (COMPSH) with the TSAI-WU formulation. This enables the non-linear orthotropic material properties to be characterised. A wide range of tests and validation work is required to populate all the relevant fields in the material card. Correlation using a single common material model was achieved for all test correlation items.

Altair Engineering 2013

Lightweight Composite Seat Development

Figure 7: Material Correlation

In order to capture the non-linear behaviour it is necessary to include failure modelling. In this case failure was controlled using the /FAIL/CHANG. In this form failure is controlled by stress. It was also possible to control the element deletion options between individual ply failures or for all layers. This method was used as the acceptance criteria during the ply layup development work. 3.2 Post Processing

To assess composite performance based on individual ply failure in addition to the conventional element deletion (rupture) approach. Post processing macros were written within HyperView in order to visualise using a contour plot the individual ply failure information that is written to the .out file. The macro is able to plot layer and number of ply failures for each time step. This is particularly useful in being able to understand which ply and material are driving the material failure.

Figure 8: Composite Stress Plots

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Stress based ply failure with stress distribution per layer was assessed in order to determine failure. This method was used to highlight regions where material could be added or removed. This information was used in the ply layup development process.

4.0
4.1

Test Correlation
Test Results

The prototype seat successfully passed the testing which included the moment and deceleration loadcases. This work was carried out at MIRA UK. 4.2 Moment Test Correlation In order to correlate to the test a specific FE model was built which captured the load distribution of the back form through the foam material. This model can be seen in Figure 9.

Figure 9: Correlation Model Set Up Moment Loadcase

To monitor the deformation during the test, displacement pots were used to measure displacement vs time during the complete test. In order to get good correlation to this test the model had to be run at a very slow rate to avoid dynamic effects in the results. The test saw a displacement of 72mm and 78mm compared to an analysis value of 72.1mm and 78.4mm respectively. This represents an error of less than 1%. 4.3 Deceleration Loadcases Correlation The prototype tests passed both forward and rearward deceleration loadcases without any damage. In order to match test an accelerometer was positioned as per test, as shown in Figure 10.

Altair Engineering 2013

Lightweight Composite Seat Development

Figure 10: Correlation Model Set Up Deceleration Loadcases

Excellent correlation was seen between test and analysis as can be seen in Figure 11. The plots show that in test energy is lost to damping effects that are not included in the FE analysis model.

Figure 11: Deceleration Correlation Results

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5.0

Conclusions

An innovative seat design was developed in a very compressed timescale that met the performance and mass targets set out at the start of the project. Advanced simulation techniques played a vital role in the design process. This was enabled through the creation of correlated material models for the composite components that were able to capture the non-linear and failure characteristics of the composite parts. The prototype seats that were produced as part of this project passed the safety tests that were carried out and excellent correlation was seen between the test and analysis results. The success of this process demonstrates the capability of simulation within the HyperWorks environment utilising the RADIOSS explicit solver to model composite materials in safety component applications.

Altair Engineering 2013

Lightweight Composite Seat Development

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