Dagens industri är under en konstant utveckling där stora krav är efterfrågad. Miljöpåverkan, kostander och tidspress samtidigt som bra kvalite och säkerhet som krävs är bara några faktorer som är förväntad från industrier. Genom ett korrekt arbetsmetodik kan den växande efterfrågan överträffas. Syftet med detta arbete är att påvisa att på ett iterativ arbetsätt där FEM och Benchmarking som verktyg kan besvara dessa krav och därmed ge ett effektivare produktutvecklingsfas. Detta examensarbete har genomförtts i uppdrag av ZP Engineering. Det är ett företag som har experter inom Benchmarking samt Cost Reduction. Metoden som användes under arbetetsgång är båda kvantitativ men också kvalitativ. Där rapporten började med en litteraturstudie via böcker, vetenskapliga artiklar samt studie besök hos ZP Engineering. När grunden för en produktutvecklingsfasen är stark och det finns tillräckligt mycket med data förenklas processen och risken för framtida problem minskar. Genom att optimera en crossmember på ett iterativ sätt där FEM och Benchmarking går det att på kort tid lösa avancerade problem med en simpel men adaptiv metodik. Via Benchmarking går det att lära sig av konkurenterna i arbetsmarknaden och inte behöva skapa produkt från början. Och genom att använda sig utav FEM kan produkter modelleras och sättas för tester på ett mjukvaraprogram där statiska analyser görs. Resultatet för arbetet visade sig att utnyttja FEM och Benchmarking inom en CAE driven produktutvecklingsfas ger förbättrad produkt inom en kortare tid. Den egen konstruerade Crossmembern som optimerades gav en viktminsking på 67% jämfört med Poletar 2 och 59% jämfört med Tesla Model 3. / Today’s industry in under constant development where big demands is sought after in areas such as environmental impact, costs and a time pressure. At the same time, some factors such as quality and safety, is expected from industries. Through a correct working method can the growing demand of product exceed. The purpose of this project is to show that using an iterative way of work, FEM and Benchmarking, as tools can answer the demands and therefore give more effective production development. This thesis has been implemented through ZP Engineering, who are a company that has expert in Benchmarking and Cost Reduction. The method that is used for this work is both quantitative and qualitative. This thesis started with a literature study with books, scientific articles and a visit to ZP Engineering. When the foundation for the production development phase is strong and has enough data, then the process become simple and the risk for problem in the future decreases. By optimizing a crossmember in an iterative way where FEM and Benchmarking are used as tools, it become significantly easier to solve advanced problems in a simple but adaptive method. With Benchmarking you can learn from your competitors in the market, and you don’t have to create a product from the beginning. And by using FEM can products be modelled and be tested on a software program were static analyzed are performed. The result from this thesis showed that using FEM and Benchmarking through a CAE driven production phase give an improved product in a shorter time period. The own constructed Crossmember, that was optimized, had a weight loss on 27% compared to Polestar 2 and 36& compared to the Tesla Model 3.

Comfort analyses regarding human induced vibrations It is not too common among civil engineers in Sweden to perform comfort analyses considering the vibrations caused by human activities. In addition, the Swedish standards lack requirements to be used for comfort analyses in design of floor-systems. The demand for large spans in combination with slender slabs, is today a reason to investigate the floor-system constructions, in order to prevent disturbing vibrations and oscillations. The purpose of this thesis is to create a guide for how a comfort analysis, considering vibrations, should be implemented. Göran Svedenbjörk who is an expert in structural dynamics has been interviewed where he presents his latest project Värtaterminalen and answers some questions about vibrations due to human activities. Floor-systems, consisting of concrete slabs supported by steel or concrete beams, have been investigated with simulations in the finite element program Abaqus. In the simulations, the influence of various factors on the natural frequency of floor-systems and the acceleration level caused by dynamic loads, is studied. Properties like elastic modulus, span width, boundary conditions, density, slab thickness and placement the load have been investigated. The influence of reinforcement on the natural frequency and acceleration level has also investigated through numerical simulations. The results showed that the additional stiffness from the reinforcement had little effect on the natural frequency of floor-system. It should, however, be noted that the concrete slab was assumed to be uncracked in the numerical models. This means that the reinforcement may have a higher influence on a cracked concrete slab, due to its reduced stiffness. Reinforcement has a larger effect on the acceleration level and in some of the studied cases, the maximum acceleration is reduced with 25%. The stiffness and the mass of the reinforcement result in lower acceleration values. Even prestressed reinforcement effect has been studied in the numerical models. It was found that the effect of prestressed reinforcement is not significantly different compared to regular reinforcement in this context.

<p>Highland Group AB was helping a customer of theirs to create an All-Terrain Vehicle (ATV), a project Highland has never been involved with before. For the wishbone arms of the wheel suspension, traditional manufacturing methods and tubes with cylindrical or square shaped cross section was preferred. We performed a simulation where the ATV was driving on a bumpy road too see the forces involved. With the results we proceeded to calculate the strength of the concepts to find out which is best suited for the tough environment in which the ATV is used. The concept that turned out to be the best was a wishbone made of circular cross section, which had good structural strength and did fulfill the demands that we required for the construction. The company where interested in the project and could see themselves proceeding with the work in the future. We helped the company to find interest for computer aided simulation in collaboration with structural strength analysis, which they would like to engage in. The project has given us a larger knowledge in the choices of construction and structural strength analysis as well as experience working with computer aided construction tools.</p>

Highland Group AB was helping a customer of theirs to create an All-Terrain Vehicle (ATV), a project Highland has never been involved with before. For the wishbone arms of the wheel suspension, traditional manufacturing methods and tubes with cylindrical or square shaped cross section was preferred. We performed a simulation where the ATV was driving on a bumpy road too see the forces involved. With the results we proceeded to calculate the strength of the concepts to find out which is best suited for the tough environment in which the ATV is used. The concept that turned out to be the best was a wishbone made of circular cross section, which had good structural strength and did fulfill the demands that we required for the construction. The company where interested in the project and could see themselves proceeding with the work in the future. We helped the company to find interest for computer aided simulation in collaboration with structural strength analysis, which they would like to engage in. The project has given us a larger knowledge in the choices of construction and structural strength analysis as well as experience working with computer aided construction tools.

Obtaining the perfect renewable energy source is one of the most important questions of our lifetime. One renewable energy source that could be of interest in this question because of the characteristics of the power that could be extracted from it is wave energy. There has however not been enough research done to reach a technology viable enough for large scale adoption. This study was made to investigate how to formulate the optimum design guidelines and criteria for a chain and shackle in the connection line between buoy and wave energy converter (WEC). Firstly, by conducting a literature study the material and design of the system was chosen. A main goal of the report was to make it have value in the industry, because of this the choice of design and material was based on industry standards. The material choice became the austenitic stainless steel with the grade R4, and the design of choice became the stud less chain link and the forelock shackle. A value of the expected force in the buoy WEC connection line (buoy line) was extracted from sixteen different data sets given from a wave tank test done in COAST Laboratory of Plymouth University, UK. These tests were done with two different buoys, one with a cylindrical shape and one with a torus shape. They were also done with and without dampening (the dampening was equal to 59 kN). Each of these four configurations had four different tests conducted on them resulting in a total of sixteen different data sets. The force value that occurs in the buoy line from the sixteen different wave tank tests was then scaled up and used in calculating the final diameter of the chain link. A safety factor of 1.35 was used to account for the statistical uncertainties in the characteristic properties of the specific part. These calculations were based on the fact that all chains have to be proof loaded at 70 % of their minimum theoretical breaking load and that a chain should at maximum undergo a force that is equal to 25 % of its minimum breaking load. Extra material was also added to accommodate for the corrosion that will occur in submerged environments. Finally, a finite element analysis was done on one of the chains links. The results showed that the biggest amount of von Mises stress and equivalent plastic strain occur in the inner corner of the chain link. All the contact area and the “crown” were however also shown to have plastically deformed. The plastic deformation in the contact area does not discredit the design because it is a local plasticity in a small region which leads to work hardening which in turn means that the new yield strength is higher at the deformed points, this in turn means that the wave climate will only elastically deform the system under its cyclic load and that the system will not plastically deform more than the results from the proof loading. This is very positive and will give the system a prolonged lifetime. However plastic deformation in the “crown” contributes to crack initiation which with time may lead to fatigue failure and should be considered in future studies.

Introduction: Despite the unique act of actively using the head as part of the game in soccer, insufficient attention is paid to its potential harmful effects. There is an increased concern regarding head trauma in soccer and its impact both in the short- and long-term. Only a few studies have examined the ability of head protection to mitigate head trauma, and opinions differ regarding its effectiveness. Objective: The purpose of this project was to investigate the injury mechanisms behind concussions in soccer and its short- and long-term effect. Furthermore, the project aimed to evaluate the ability of head protection to protect against head impacts in soccer. Methods: Two finite element models of THUMS version 4.02 pedestrians were used to simulate head collisions between two players, with the aim of mimic an aerial duel in soccer. Different impact angles and impact points were simulated, after which worst case scenarios were selected for further evaluation with head protection. The kinematics of the head and the strains of the brain tissue were used to evaluate the head's response to impacts and to evaluate the effectiveness of head protection. Results: The study showed that the maximum strain of the brain tissue as well as the kinematics of the head were sensitive to the point of impact, while the angle of impact did not show any significant influence. Head protection showed a good ability to reduce the kinematics of the head and the strain of the brain tissue. A thicker head protector had an increased ability to reduce the max values and a low friction head protector had the capacity to further reduce the max values in certain types of impacts. Conclusion: Head protection showed promising ability to reduce head kinematics and the maximum strain of the brain tissue. / Introduktion: Trots den unika handlingen av att aktivt använda huvudet som en del av spelet i fotboll, ägnas otillräcklig uppmärksamhet åt dess potentiella skadliga effekter. Det finns en ökad oro kring huvudtrauman inom fotboll och dess påverkan både på kort och lång sikt. Endast ett fåtal studier har undersökt huvudskydds förmåga att mildra huvudtrauman och olika åsikter råder angående dess effektivitet. Syfte: Syftet med detta projekt var att undersöka skademekanismerna bakom hjärnskakningar inom fotboll samt dess kort- och långsiktiga påverkan. Vidare ämnade projektet till att utvärdera ett huvudskydds förmåga att skydda vid huvudislag inom fotboll.  Metoder: Två finita element modeller av THUMS version 4.02 fotgängarmodell användes för att simulera huvudkollisioner mellan två spelare, i syfte att imitera en luftduell i fotboll. Olika islagsvinklar och islagspunkter simulerades varpå värsta scenarier valdes för vidare utvärdering med huvudskydd. Huvudets kinematik samt töjningar av hjärnvävnaden användes för utvärdering av huvudets respons på islag samt för att undersöka huvudskydds effektivitet.  Resultat: Studien visade att den maximala töjningen av hjärnvävnaden samt kinematiken av huvudet var känslig för islagspunkt medan islagsvinkeln inte visade på någon signifikant inverkan. Huvudskydd visade på god förmåga att reducera huvudets kinematik och töjningen av hjärnvävnaden. Ett tjockare huvudskydd hade en ökad förmåga att reducera maxvärdenaoch ett huvudskydd med låg friktion hade kapaciteten att reducera maxvärdena ytterligare vid vissa typer av islag.. Slutsats: Huvudskydd visade på lovande förmåga att reducera huvudets kinematik och den maximala töjningen av hjärnvävnaden.

A steel slitting process is simulated using FEM (Finite Element Method) in order to see potential defects along the edge in a steel sheet after it has been cut. The model's results were compared to microscope images of the steel sheet in order to verify accuracy. The purpose is conceptual and to find a model that successfully simulates a steel cutting process and (hopefully) how the edge depends on different parameters. The model developed seems to achieve this task, and a more thorough calibration of the model could result in (more) optimal parameters for the machine to use.

The purpose of this master thesis has been to investigate the possibility to increase the damping capacity of shear walls with the use of glue in combination with nails. It has been done with experiment and with FE-simulations.   The first experimental part is tensile tests of four different glue types which have been analyzed to get material data. The second experimental part is analysis of glued-nail joint in shear test. FE-simulations of glued-nail joints are finally done in Abaqus/CAE.   The experiments in shear tests of glued-nail joints showed that two glues failed and could not be used for further analysis. The two other glues had an increase in damping capacity compared with results from nail joint.   Further FE-simulations of glued-nailed joints have to be done in order to calibrate the FE-model with the results of glued-nailed joints in shear tests. The uncertainty is found in the material properties of the glue, experimental test data was not adequate. The conclusion is that glued-nail joints can increase the damping capacity in shear walls. / Damping capacity, shear wall, hysteresis, shear test, finite element method, Abaqus/CAE

In this thesis we derive a coupled system of Cahn-Hilliard equations posed in a domain with moving boundary using arguments from thermodynamics. The physical setting we have in mind is a ternary solution observed during one species evaporation as a moving boundary problem. The mixture is made of two types of polymers blended in a solvent that is allowed to evaporate at part of the surface of the domain. After formulating the evolution system as a moving-boundary problem with kinetic interface condition, we fix the moving boundary to facilitate a suitable numerical approximation. We project the resulting model equations on a finite element space and then integrate the obtained system in Python using FEniCS. We show numerically the formation of morphologies and track the evolution of the remaining solvent and of the moving boundary position. The conjecture is that such a system would produce phase separation and that the resulting morphologies are mappable to the observations of organic solar cells. Finally, we study the effect of the most relevant parameters on the output of our Cahn-Hilliard system, particularly on the speed of the moving boundary and of the morphology formation. / I denna tes härleder vi ett kopplat system av Cahn-Hilliard ekvationer fomulerad i en tidsberoende domän med hjälp av termodynamiska argument. Den fysiska miljön vi tänker oss är en trekomponents lösning observerad under avdunstning med hänsyn till en tidsberoende domän. Blandningen består av två polymerer utspädda i ett lösningsmedel som tillåts förånga vid en av domänens gränser. Efter att vi formulerat evolutions ekvationerna i en tidsberoende domän med kinetiska gränsvillkor så utförs en transformation till en tidsoberoende domän för att underlätta en lösning med finita elementmetoden. Vi projicerar de resulterande ekvationerna på ett diskret rum skapat m.h.a. finita elementmetoden för att sedan integrera systemet med hjälp av FEniCS platformen skrivet i Python. Vi visar nummeriska lösningar för morfologiformationen och följer evolutionen av lösningsmedlet samt positionen för den rörliga gränsen. Vår förmodan är att ett sådant system kommer producera fas-seperation och den resulterande morfologin kommer vara jämnförbar med det som observeras hos organiska solceller. Slutligen studerar vi hur variationer av dom mest relevanta parametrarna påverkar på vårt Cahn-Hilliard system, i synnerhet positionen som en funktion av tid hos den rörliga gränsen samt morfologiformationen.

In the year 2006, only 10 years after the steel- concrete composite bridge, Vårby bridge was built, fatigue cracks were found during an inspection. To further investigate the reasons and the potential danger of the cracks, an investigation under the commission of the Swedish Transport Administration was issued in 2009. After the detection of fatigue cracks, several measurements were carried out in order to monitor the static behavior by the use of strain gauges at selected positions along the bridge. The measurements from the strain gauges monitoring the global behavior were then used to calibrate an finite element model.   The present report is part of the research of understanding the behavior of steel-concrete composite bridges. Numerical analysis and model updating have been used in order to understand and determine how different parameters affects the strain range and the global behavior. The numerical analysis and parameter study were performed in the Finite Element software Abaqus and programming language Python. The outcome of the parameter study was then used to perform the model updating by the method of falsification in MATLAB.   The results from the parameter study and the model updating showed that the measured strains could be reached with a wide range of parameter combinations. Even with unreasonable parameter values, the measured strains were obtained. To investigate the reason for this, a multiple linear regression analysis was performed which showed that the strain range is strongly correlated to the Young’s modulus of steel and concrete and also to the connector elasticity, which resembles the studs in the real bridge.   Two different finite element models, with two completely different input parameter values, obtain the same strain range for the global behavior. It is therefore not certain to assume that a model is accurate and valid based on the fact that the predicted strain range from the finite element model is close to the measured strain range since the global behavior of a steel- concrete composite bridge can be modeled by many different sets of parameters.