Design for Durability - Lightweight Car Bodies and Fatigue

Description

Today lightweight design is of paramount importance in car body development. The objective is to save both material and energy during manufacturing as well as during use. All of this without sacrificing technical function, economy and safety of people and environment. Due to the inherent approach of lightweight construction to reach for the limits the load-bearing capacity of designs are often reached and the demand for durability - that is, adequate fatigue strength over the entire service life - suddenly comes to the fore.

Who should attend?

The seminar is aimed at engineers and technicians in the development departments of automotive manufacturers, suppliers and engineering service providers who deal with the design, construction, simulation and development of vehicle bodies, with special regard to durability.

Course Objectives

In the seminar first the basic principles of durability are presented with particular regard to the design of car bodies. Then the design principles of modern lightweight body construction are taught. In addition, the use of numerical simulation and mathematical optimization within the modern car body development process is explained. After participating in the seminar, the participants will understand the influence of cyclical loading on the design of car bodies, will be able to identify problems in the design and will be able to resolve them using appropriate design methods. They understand how the fatigue analysis and geometric optimization enable the modern virtual development process.

Course Contents

• Remarkable cases of damage
• Loads and stresses during driving
  • Cyclic loading
  • Special loads
  • Misuse load cases
• Crack initiation and fracture behavior
  • Material fatigue
  • Failure criteria
  • Learning from real cases of damage
• Material and component strength
  • Finite life fatigue strength and endurance limit, Wohler curves
  • Fatigue strength under variable stress amplitude, Gassner curves
  • Scatter of fatigue strength
• Influence factors
  • Design, shape
  • Mean stress
• Lifetime (fatigue) simulation
  • Fatigue damage definition
  • Fatigue damage accumulation
  • FEA based fatigue analysis
• Design principles for lightweight car bodies
  • Direct load paths
  • Typical load paths in car body
  • Large moment of inertia
  • Filigree design of structures
  • Support through curvature
  • Intentional stiffening
  • Function integration
  • Framework design vs. shell structures
  • Application to practice-relevant cases

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Udo Jung
THM University of Applied Sciences

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Udo Jung studied mechanical engineering at the Technical University Darmstadt and promoted in the field of fatigue and finite element analysis at the Institute of Materials Science at the TU Darmstadt. At Adam Opel AG, he initially worked as a development engineer in the analysis department and introduced the fatigue life analysis in virtual vehicle development. Subsequently, he took over the management of the simulation and test methodology in the central durability laboratory. Since 2005 he has been a university professor for lightweight design and durability as well as construction and FE methods at the Technische Hochschule Mittelhessen (THM) at Friedberg Campus. In the field of research, he is at the forefront of the Competence Center for Automotive, Mobility and Materials Research (AutoM). He also heads the TransMIT Center for Lightweight Design and Durability of TransMIT Gesellschaft für Technologietransfer mbH, Giessen.

Date	Language	Price	Code
29 Oct 2025	Deutsch	890 EUR  (1090 EUR from 02 Oct 2025 )	4544
Venue
Alzenau (carhs.training gmbh, Siemensstraße 12, 63755 Alzenau)			» Register
Instructor
Prof. Dr.-Ing. Udo Jung (THM University of Applied Sciences)
Seminar hours
Wednesday	09:00 - 17:00

This course is available as an in-house seminar. The trainer comes to your site - you save travel expenses and travel time. Get an offer.

Your contact person

Dr. Dirk Ulrich
Phone.: 06023 - 96 40 - 66
E-Mail: dirk.ulrich@carhs.de

Request now!