Cross-Component Material and Joining Selection for Functional Lightweight Design based on the Extended Target Weighing Approach – A Detailed Application Example

Abstract

Today, shorter development cycles and an improved cost efficiency are stated as the key challenges calling for a more comprehensive stimulation of the innovation process whilst simultaneously limiting potential concepts already in the early phase of product development. Assorted approaches in the field of engineering design as well as material selection try almost exclusively to cover a systematic elaboration of alternative solutions on component level. Within the interdisciplinary scope of lightweight engineering (design, materials and processing), however, a more systemic mindset including individually integrated interrelations coupled with considerations on a cross-component joint section design represents a decisively beneficial factor of success particularly for future multi-material design strategies. By taking into account the aforementioned shortages ensuing a solely component-restricted view in material selection, the function-based concept generation in the Extended Target Weighing Approach (ETWA) is being additionally supported by a mutually technically, economically and ecologically assessed material and joining selection according to all adjacent functional design spaces. In doing so, and paradigmatically outlined on a detailed application example from the automotive industry, the individual choice of material first takes place for all functional design spaces applying specific target equations (e.g., dividing additional costs by weight reduction potentials) inside Ashby’s approach, followed by a subsequent evaluation along with its feasible joining technology possibilities, and finally leading to system-efficiently ranked set-based options of all adjacent material/joining-combinations.