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Ride and handling are important areas for safety and improved vehicle control during driving. To meet the demands on ride and handling a number of measures can be taken. This master thesis work has focused on the early design phase. At the early phases of design, the level of details is low and the design freedom is big. By introducing a tool to support the early vehicle body design, the potential of finding more efficient structures increases. In this study, topology optimization of a vehicle front structure has been performed using OptiStruct by Altair Engineering. The objective has been to find the optimal topology of beams and rods to achieve high stiffness of the front structure for improved ride and handling. Based on topology optimization a proposal for a beam layout in the front structure area has been identified. A vital part of the project has been to describe how to use topology optimization as a tool in the design process. During the project different approaches has been studied to come from a large design space to a low weight architecture based on a beam-like structure. The different approaches will be described and our experience and recommendations will be presented. Also the general result of a topology-optimized architecture for vehicle body stiffness will be presented.

Several environmental issues are incrementing systematically, and many of them are linked to manufacturing activities. To mitigate these issues, it is necessary to develop sustainability solutions in the early stages of the innovation process, where there is room for creativity and innovation. The integration of sustainability at the strategic level of the company, where the essential decisions, the strategic plan, and the portfolio are developed, might ensure the implementation of sustainability aspects in products and services. Many companies develop product portfolios to organize and offer services, products, technologies and operations following the company strategy and targets. The portfolio components are assessed and selected using evaluation criteria. The most common criteria include: cost, quality, risk, revenue, time and market position. Usually sustainability is not included in the portfolio evaluation criteria. The aim of this research is to obtain a better understanding of how sustainability can be integrated in the product portfolio development of manufacturing companies. The main research targets are to: 1) define sustainability product portfolio based on a comprehension of the academic and industry perspectives, 2) identify how companies currently implement sustainability in their portfolio, 3) determine which evaluation criteria and tools are used for portfolio development and 4) how the product portfolio is developed, implemented and managed. A systematic literature review was performed to understand the state of the art about sustainability product portfolio. The literature review results supported the development of semi-structure interviews with companies and field experts. The interviews outcome provided a better understanding of the industry perspective. Afterwards, a workshop helped to understand what aspects are more significant for the portfolio evaluation criteria. Finally, a strategic sustainability assessment tool SLCA 2.0 was used to assess a technology product portfolio of a specific industry case. The results from the studies created a foundation to: a) determine the state of art of the sustainability product portfolio field and its relevance for integration and implementation of sustainability in the early stages of the product innovation process, b) define the concept of sustainability product portfolio, c) have a better understanding of the setting and the application of the portfolio evaluation criteria and how to include sustainability in the evaluation, d) identify key factors to integrate and implement sustainability in the product portfolio, e) apply and test a tool for assessing a technology portfolio from a sustainability perspective and f) create a prototype of a model to develop  the product portfolio with a strategic sustainability perspective. This research provides a knowledge foundation of how sustainability can be integrated in product portfolio. In future research a model will be developed to support companies of how to include a strategic sustainability perspective into their product portfolio to enhance development of more sustainable solutions. / <p>Contact the author to receive a pdf of the full thesis (papers included): dcv@bth.se or telephone +46455385569</p>