Development of a design methodology for battery electric heavy vehicle chassis focusing on modularisation and cost-efficient manufacturing of composite structures

Industrial (Scania) PhD student: Alisanne Veltman
Start: 2018

The total weight of a battery electric heavy vehicle is higher compared with current combustion engine heavy vehicles, due to the high weight of the required battery packages. The introduction of composite materials in load bearing structures is one method to reduce weight. Design freedom is another advantage of selecting composite materials over metals, as it has the potential to develop other modularisation approaches, as well as new packaging concepts for all required sub-systems. It is not beneficial to only use composites in load carrying structures of large vehicles as it will also be subjected to several cross-functional conflicts involving dynamics, vibrations, economics, etc.