International Journal of Aerospace and Lightweight Structures

doi: 10.3850/S2010428612000207

Optimisation of Sandwich Panels for the Load Carrying Structure of High-Speed Rail Vehicles

David Wennberg, Sebastian Stichel and Per Wennhage Centre for Eco² Vehicle Design, Department of Aeronautical and Vehicle Engineering, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Teknikringen 8, SE-100 44, Stockholm, Sweden

ABSTRACT

This paper investigates how various requirements, such as stiffness, strength, buckling, thickness and area density, influence the choice of load carrying sandwich panels for highspeed rail vehicles. Requirements on the load carrying structure are defined where after various sandwich alternatives are chosen to match these requirements. The initial panels are optimised with the software package HyperWorks. Refined optimisation results are then studied by Finite Element Analysis. A total weight reduction of over 30% of the load carrying structure is achieved.

Keywords: Finite element method, Sub modeling, Composites.

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