Exploration of the Influence of Additive Manufacturing Design Potentials on Vehicle Conception

This thesis analyzes the potential impact of additive manufacturing-related design freedom on vehicle conception. In this context, the term Additive Manufacturing (AM) incorporates the technology field often referred to as 3D-Printing. The motivation for this work is derived from alternative design solutions presented in state-of-the-art AM use cases, in which additional design freedom is leveraged to achieve significant product-and process-related improvements. This thesis aims to systematically explore the impact of AM-related design freedom on vehicle con-ception, leveraging novel design potentials from the part to the complete vehicle leve l.
Based on the fundamentals of the research fields Design Methodology (DM), VehicleConception(VC), and DesignforAdditiveManufacturing(DfAM) state-of-the-art approaches to AM-based vehicle design are analyzed, and key application categories are identified. Engineering design challenges derived from those cat-egories, e.g., mass individualization and functional integration, are addressed by elaborating tangible automotive use cases. DfAM application principles are then leveraged from the part to the complete vehicle level, focusing on lightweight potentials and alternative approaches to vehicle body design. Necessary adap-tions to development approaches, computer-aided design workflow, and tools are derived and suggested.
The customer-oriented DfAM-focused application concepts and engineering design approaches developed in this work conclude how additional AM-based design freedom might impact upcoming vehicle conception.