Optimización topológica en la estructura del asiento de un bus interprovincial mediante las herramientas cae del ensayo estático según Norma INEN 2708.

Abstract

The seat manufacturers for bus bodies in the country perform their construction in an empirical way in terms of useful weight. It leads them not to consider different stages such as design and structural strength tests, compromising the passengers’ safety and dead loads on the body, as well as the selection of an adequate construction process. Therefore, the objective of this research work was to perform the topological optimization of the structure of an interprovincial bus seat in compliance with INEN 2708 standard, with the help of CAE tools. A research methodology was chosen, with qualitative and quantitative approaches, where different models of seats built in our country were analyzed; Later, review the characteristics of the most important structural components of the seat and the stresses they support. After performing this analysis, a topological improvement of its composition was carried out, reducing its mass, and maintaining its structural resistance within the optimum design parameters. According to the applied methodology, the seat geometry was obtained, which was subjected to different static analyses with different loads according to the INEN 2708 standard. These tests were simulated in the ANSYS program, which determined the critical elements that were optimized in the same program, reducing the mass by 20%. In this way, a new seat model was created, which maintains important aspects such as mechanical-structural resistance of the original model, but with a lower weight. In this context it was concluded that it is possible to create a new design in auto parts such as seats which meets the requirements of the INEN 2708 standard while maintaining the strength of its predecessor, but with a lower weight of the seat structure that improves fuel efficiency by reducing the weight of the bodies.