Optimal Design of Lightweight Metal Structures for Future Fuel-Efficient Army Ground Vehicles

"The objective of the proposed research is to develop an advanced methodology for designing and manufacturing lightweight metal structures for future fuel-efficient Army ground vehicles. Emerging engineered materials will be considered as key applicationsof the approach to be developed. These new materials include lattice block materials (LBM), sandwich structures with metallic foams, and functionally gradient materials (FGM). The proposed new methodology, referred to as function-oriented material design(FOMD), is based on the topology optimization method developed at the University of Michigan since 1988 and known throughout the world as the homogenization design method. The proposed methodology is believed to be essential to the development of futureArmy ground vehicles for the following two reasons: First, it will be critical to the material selection process, allowing one to determine which new materials have greatest potential in terms of lightweight and high performance; Second, it will providean effective tool for the design, in an optimal way, of new materials such as the engineered materials mentioned above. With the design tool developed in this program, new materials will be optimally designed to meet directly the requirements for advancedstructural performance. Hence optimal design will then be achieved in terms of both structural performance and material standards. The methodology developed in this program will lea