A lightweight method of thin-walled beams based on cross-sectional characteristic

Abstract Thin-walled beams have wide application on car body of which the stiffness and mass are greatly affected by the cross-sectional characteristic parameters. A lightweight design of thin-walled beams was proposed on the basis of sensitivity analysis classification and cross-sectional optimization. Suggested strategies for typical cross-sections and beam structures were revealed based on cross-sectional parameters optimizations. The optimization result indicates that the car body has a weight reduction of 5.3 kg as well as slightly improved modal performance.