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Topography Optimization and Parametric Analysis 2010-01-0266

Published
of Bead Layout for Sheet Metal Bracket 04/12/2010

Cheng Wang
Key Safety System Inc, China Operation

Fang Liao
SAIC Motor Technical Center, China

Copyright © 2010 SAE International

limitation. Designers need a new solution of getting the

ABSTRACT optimal bracket beads layout through advanced design
Bracket can be reinforced through laying out beads without concepts and analysis methods.
increasing its thickness, resulting in a lower material cost. To
get the optimal layout of bracket beads, beads parameters are For seeking the best way to lay out beads on sheet metal
discussed through a typical design case. The ways of bracket, bead parameters which affect the bracket bending
specifying bead parameters are given, such as beads height stiffness mostly are studied through a typical case. The theory
and width, by calculating and optimizing geometric of beads layout of the typical bracket are given and the
parameters of bead section. Then, topography optimization optimum bead geometric parameters, such as bead height and
has been applied to get the bracket beads layout. Designers width, are defined by the method of parametric calculations.
can get the best bracket beads layout through topography Then, the method of topography optimization, a method of
optimization software. For improving the first natural concept by which the optimum beads layout of sheet plate is
frequency of an automotive DVD bracket assembly as an sought, is applied to optimize sheet metal bracket beads. A
example, the detailed topography optimization process is detailed process of the bracket beads layout through
described and the beads of the DVD bracket are laid out topography optimization is described, with an example of an
through the method. After being optimized, the first natural automotive DVD bracket.
frequency of the DVD bracket assembly is increased 30%.
The process of beads development can be optimized and the INFLUENCING FACTORS ANALYSIS
design cycle can be shortened through the methods used in
the bracket bead design.
OF BEAD PARAMETER
The theoretic principles of reinforcing bracket by adding
INTRODUCTION bead, the effects of bracket beads are described with a typical
case.
For sheet metal bracket parts, stamping beads on bracket can
reinforce it efficiently without increasing the cost of material.
So the layout of bracket beads is one key point of bracket
design. The shapes of most brackets are complex owing to
the installation space, and the methods are not uniform in the
layout of bracket beads. Now FEA is used in bracket design
widely [1] [2], but most designers improve bracket beads
layout through experiences according to FEA results. For
getting a better design, much time is spent on the circles of Figure 1. A cantilever brackets AB
the design changing and reanalyzing, and the final bracket
beads layout is probably not the best proposal due to time
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According to the theories of mechanics of material [3], for a

cantilever bracket as shown in Figure 1 which undertakes
a load at free end , the equation of the maximum
bending deformation at point can be described as:

(1)

where, is the length of the bracket, E is the modulus of

elasticity of material, Iy is the polar moment of inertia of the
section corresponding to y axis. ELy represents the bending
stiffness of the section corresponding to y axis. The section
plane is parallel to the direction of bracket deformation; and
the normal of the section plane is vertical to the direction.
Figure 2. The shapes of the bracket section with and
According to equation (1), if the load P and the length of without bead
bracket are not changed, the value of yB can be decreased
and the section bending stiffness ELy of the bracket can be After the bead is stamped, the section of the bracket is shown
improved through increasing Iy by the way of changing the in Figure 2(b). The height of the bead is H. The whole section
section shape of the bracket. region is divided to three parts: the region without bead, the
region with bead and the transition region. The symbols of
For sheet metal bracket without bead, the section shape of the the area, the y axis coordinate of the centroid and the y axis
bracket is a rectangle as shown in Figure 2(a). Its centroid is polar moment of inertia of each region are Ai, yi and Iyi (i =
at origin o. The equation of the y axis polar moment of inertia 1,2,3) individually. The total width of the region without bead
Iy of the sectioncan bedescribe d as: is 2w1, and the width of region with bead is w2. After
stamping bead, the centroid of the bracket section is
transferred from origin o to point o′. The equation of y axis
coordinates h of the point o′ can be described as:
(2)

where, is the thickness of the bracket, w is the width of the

bracket.

According to equation (2), the main way of improving the

bending stiffness of the bracket is to increase the thickness of (3)
the sheet metal plate , but the product material cost rises at
the same time. For saving cost, it is desirable that the bracket where, , , .
is reinforced without material cost increasing. For sheet metal
products, the shape of the bracket section can be changed After adding bead, the y axis polar moment of inertia of the
after beads are stamped and Iy of the section is increased bracket section is changed to Iy′ and the equation of Iy′ can be
without changing thickness. And the changerule of Iy will be described as:
discussed in the following texts.

(4)

To sure the format of equation (2) is similar with equation

(4), it is transformed as below:
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maximum utilizing the forming characteristic of the bracket

material, the key way of maximizing the value of ΔIy is to
specify an optimal value of the bead width w2 in order to
reinforce the bracket further. For getting a best value of w2
and maximizing the value of ΔIy, the method of parametric
analysis is used in the geometric parameters of the bracket
The equation of Iy is changed as following after setting section shown in Figure 2(b) (w=100mm, t=2mm, H=3mm).
The bead width w2 is changed from 0mm to 90mm every
other 10mm, and the section centroid height h and the y axis
polar moment of inertia of the bracket section Iy′ are
calculated individually. The results of parametric analysis are
summarized in Table 1.

(5) Table 1. Parametric calculation results of h and Iy′

corresponding to w2.
According to equation (4) and (5), the y axis polar moment of
inertia of transition region is changed from Iy30 to Iy3 after
stamping bead. The calculation formula of Iy3 is complex for
its irregular shape. But Iy3 > Iy30 is obvious, and the width of
the transition region is less compared with the one of the total
bracket in actual bracket products, so the effects of Iy3 and
Iy30 on Iy′ and Iy is little and will be omitted in following
discussions. Equation (5) being subtracted from equation (4),
the equation of the increment of the y axis polar moment of
inertia *ΔIy after stamping bead can be described as:

(6) According to the data in Table 1, the curves of h and Iy′

corresponding to the bead width w2 can be drawn as Figures
According to equation (3) and equation (6), the following 3:
conclusions can be deduced:
• After stamping bead, the thickness t and total width w of the
bracket is not changed basically and the material cost of the
bracket is not increased; the increment of the y axis polar
moment of inertia of the bracket section is equal to ΔIy owing
to the change of the bracket section shape;
• The height of the bracket centroid h rises due to the increase
of the height H of the bead. Because ΔIy is direct ratio to the
square of H and h, the value of H should be increased
possibly if Iy′ need be enhanced;
• ΔIy alters with conic rule, and the parameters of h, w1, and
w2 are decided by each other. If H is constant, there is a
unique solution of w2 corresponding to the maximum of ΔIy Figure 3. The curves of h and Iy′ corresponding to w2.
in equation (6). So defining an optimal value of w2 is helpful
to improve ΔIy.
According to Table 1 and Figure 3, the value of the y axis
Due to the limitation of the sheet metal material forming and polar moment of inertia of the section after adding bead is 3
the process of stamping [4], the maximum of the bead height times at least (w2=90mm), or 7.5 times at most (w2=50mm)
H is restricted. After the value of H is confirmed through
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higher than the one without bead (w2=0mm). It proves that is bead pattern optimization in order to increase the stiffness
the bracket can be reinforced effectively by stamping bead. of shell structures.

Along with the rise of the bead width w2, the height of the For the beads layout of the bracket through topography
section centroid h increases with linear rule and Iy′ changes optimization, the following works are required before
with conic rule. The value of Iy′ reaches the maximum when optimization calculation: the FEA models are established
including meshing and boundary conditions; the optimization
the bead width w2 is equal to 50mm which is half of the total
object is confirmed; the geometric parameters of beads are
bracket width and the section centroid height h is equal to specified including the bead height, the minimum width and
1.56mm which is in the middle of the bracket height range the drawn angle; the designable regions of the bracket are
(−1mm, 4mm). defined. After those works are finished, the optimal beads
layout of the bracket can be gotten by the calculations of
The width of the bracket bead has a great effect on the y axis topography optimization software, such as OptiStruct
polar moment of inertia Iy′. The maximum of Iy′ (w2=50mm) (trademark of Altair). If the results of topography
is more than two times of the one when the bead width is too optimization can not meet the requirements still, it proves that
small (w2=10mm) or too big (w2=90mm). the final design proposal can not be gotten by the way of
improving bracket stiffness just through adding beads. For
THE INTRODUCTION OF meeting the requirements, initial design must be changed.
TOPOGRAPHY OPTIMIZATION IN The design period spent on the bracket beads layout is greatly
BEADS DESIGN PROCESS reduced by this design process and the whole bracket design
In the actual process of the beads layout design, the regions process is optimized. The flow chart of the bracket beads
where beads will be stamped can not be defined easily and optimization procedure is shown in Figure 4.
quickly because the shape of the bracket is complex for the
restriction of loads, assembles and positions. The theories
discussed above just give an instruction for beads layout, but
the best proposal of beads layout can not be given quickly.
The traditional methods of trial and error are still necessary.
With the increasing requirements of shortening design period
and improving quality, a quick and convenient way is needed
to fulfill the best proposal of bracket beads layout.

The traditional method of optimization is mainly size

optimization, which focuses on optimizing some specific size
parameters of products, such as the bracket thickness, and the
structure and the shape of the products are not changed at the
same time. The method can not be applied in bracket beads
design because the bracket structure is greatly changed after
laying out beads.

For meeting the development requirements, some new

methods of optimization come into being and are applied in
the process of products development. Topography
optimization is one of typical representative. Topography
optimization is an optimization technique that allows
improving the curvature of the structures which are typically
assembled with shell elements [5] [6]. Topography
optimization can be treated as a special type of shape
optimization (grid location optimization) [7]. In topography Figure 4. The flow chart of bracket beads topography
optimization, grids of the designable regions are allowed to optimization
move either in the normal direction of the shell elements or in
any other specified direction. The optimizer searches the best
solution by searching the best linear combination of grid
pattern. An important application of topography optimization
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AN EXAMPLE OF BRACKET BEADS of the assembly is 51.3Hz, and the mode shape of the
assembly can be characterized as simple first-order bending
LAYOUT BASED ON TOPOGRAPHY mode. The first mode shape of the bracket is that the bracket
OPTIMIZATION bottoms below 2 underside fixed holes bend, as shown in
Figure7.
An automotive DVD and bracket assembly is shown in
Figure5, and the intial design of the DVD bracket without
beads is shown in Figure 6. The bracket is fastened on
automotive body by the four fixed holes in the middle of
bracket. The design requirment is that the first natural
frequency of the assemble is above 60Hz

Figure 7. The first mode shape of the initial bracket

Figure 5. An automotive DVD and bracket assembly

THE APPLICATION OF TOPOGRAPHY
OPTIMIZTION IN THE BRACKET
DESIGN
The first natural frequency of the DVD bracket assembly is
lower than 60Hz and the design must be improved to meet
the requirement. The bending stiffness of the whole assembly
is decided by the bracket, so the first natural frequency of the
assembly will be increased through reinforcing the DVD
bracket. For saving cost, the best way to reinforce the bracket
is to stamp beads.

For improving the first natural frequency of the assembly, the

bending stiffness of the bracket locating at xy plane (as shown
in Figure 7) should be increased. For decreasing the trend of
the region below 2 underside fixed holes bend and improving
bracket bending stiffness along with y axis, the y axis polar
moment of inertia of the bracket section which locates at xz
plane corresponding to z axis will be increased by stamping
beads along with y axis direction according to the theories
Figure 6. Initial design of the DVD bracket discussed above.

The initial bracket FEA model is used in topography

THE ANALYSIS OF INITIAL DESIGN optimization, which is helpful to locate beads. The
For calculating the first natural frequency of the assembly, preprocessor and solver of topography optimization are
the FEA model of the assembly is built in Hypermesh Hypermesh [A product of Altair Corporation [8], Michigan,
(trademark of Altair). Each part of the assembly is meshed by USA] and Optistruct [9] respectively. The designable regions,
shell elements and material parameters are input. All parts are the bead parameters and the optimization object will be
connected with beam elements the radius of which is equal to specified before calculation.
the one of the actual fasten parts. 6 DOF of the 4 fixed holes
are constrained, and then mode shape is calculated in The regions where beads are not required will be excluded
Optistruct (trademark of Altair). The first natural frequency from designable regions firstly, such as the regions of fixed
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holes and buffer zone for stamping and punching process, etc;
then, the regions of bracket bending continually or the normal
angle of the meshes changing acutely will be excluded from
designable regions also to avoid non-convergence of
optimization iteration due to coming about poor quality of
meshes in those regions. The surplus regions of the bracket
are defined as the designable regions as shown in Figure 8.
The normals of all elements in designable regions are
adjusted to point at one direction only. This is the direction
the bead will be stamped.

Figure 9. Topography optimization results of the DVD

bracket

THE LAYOUT OF BRACKET BEADS

BASED ON THE RESULTS OF
TOPOGRAPHY OPTIMIZATON
The final bracket design is shown in Figure 10 according to
the results of topography optimization. As shown in Figure
10, in the regions below 2 underside fixed holes of the final
Figure 8. The definition of designable regions on the bracket, the difference of the width size between the regions
bracket with beads and without beads on the final bracket y axis
section along with the direction of x axis is small which
means the results of topography optimization agree with the
In the geometric parameters definition of beads, the drawn theoretical conclusions about beads layout summarized
height, the minimum bead width and the drawn angle will be above. Along with the y axis direction, the y axis polar
specified. The drawn bead height is specified as 3mm moment of inertia of the final bracket section which locates
according to the material characteristics of forming. The on xz plane corresponding to z axis is increased greatly after
number of optimization iteration will be increased largely laying out beads, and the bending stiffness of the bracket is
with a small drawn bead width which has less effect on the improved due to adding beads. The first natural frequency of
bracket stiffness. So 10mm is specified as the minimum the assembly is enhanced at the same time. The layout of the
drawn bead width according to the total bracket size. The DVD bracket beads is finished quickly and efficiently and the
drawn angle is defined as 65° according to actual drawn angle process of bracket beads layout is optimized by the method of
in forming process. topography optimization.

The optimization object is defined as the first natural For checking the results of modal analysis, the frequencies of
frequency of the assembly is the maximum after the the assembly with the final bracket design are calculated and
designable regions and the bead parameters are confirmed, the first natural frequency of the assembly is equal to 66.6Hz.
then the FEA models of the assembly are ready for The result is compatible with the one of topography
topography optimization analysis. The optimization results optimization. Compared with the initial analysis result, the
are gotten after 10 iteration calculations and the first natural first natural frequency of the DVD and bracket assembly is
frequency of the assembly is 66.3Hz. The beads pattern of the increased 30% which meets the design requirement.
bracket is shown in Figure 9.
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method of beads design researched in this paper gives a good

instruction for sheet metal parts design.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT
The authors would like to acknowledge all who ever give
support and help to them.

REFERENCES
1. Ko, C.-S., Yoo, D.-H., and Park, K.-W., “Design of
Steering Column Mounting Bracket for Vibration,” SAE
Technical Paper 2003-01-2747, 2003.
2. Alzahabi, B., Simon, S.C., and Natarajan, L.K.,
Figure 10. The bracket model after stamping beads “Optimization of Transmission Mount Bracket,” SAE
Technical Paper 2003-01-1460, 2003.
3. Hearn E.J., Mechanics of Materials, Third Edition.
CONCLUSION Butterworth Heinemann Publications. 1997
According to the research of the typical bracket beads layout 4. Marciniak Zdzislaw, Duncan J.L., Hu S.J.. Mechanics of
in this paper, it shows the rules of the beads parameters which Sheet Metal Forming, Second Edition. Butterworth
affect on the stiffness of the bracket greatly. The direction of Heinemann Publications. 2002
beads layout and the geometric parameters of beads section
are both have great effects on bracket stiffness. The bead 5. Krishna, M.M.R., “Topology & Topography Optimization
section plane should be parallel to the direction of the bracket a Drive Shaft,” SAE Technical Paper 2005-01-3552, 2005.
deformation; and the normal of bead section plane should be 6. Krishna, M.M.R., “Finite Element Topography and Shape
vertical to the direction. The height and width of bead are the Optimization of a Jounce Bumper Bracket,” SAE Technical
two key factors which affect greatly on the stiffness of Paper 2002-01-1468, 2002.
bracket.
7. Leiva Juan Pablo, Methods for Generating Perturbation
The bigger of bead height, the stiffer of bracket, but the bead Vectors for Topography Optimization of Structures[J],
height is restricted by the forming characteristic of material. Proceedings of the 5th World Congress of Structural and
According to the theories discussed above, an optimal bead Multidisciplinary Optimization, 2003.
width can reinforce bracket effectively when beads height is 8. Altair Inc., Hypermesh Reference Manual, 10.0 edition.
constant. The stiffness of bracket arrives at the maximum
when the width of the region with beads is as much as the one 9. Altair Inc., Optistruct Reference Manual, 10.0 edition.
of the region without beads or the section centroid height is in
the middle of the whole section height range along with CONTACT
stamping direction. Above theoretic instructions have general
meaning for the bracket beads design. Cheng Wang
Structure and safety analysis, Global CAE department of
For meeting requirements of the cost and specifications, a KSS(Key Safety System) Inc
best way is necessary to define the regions of the bead layout Location:Shanghai, China
corresponding to the design object when the maximum bead wangc2@keysafetyinc.com
height is confirmed. The optimal bracket beads layout regions
can be confirmed quickly and conveniently by topography
optimization. In the example of the DVD bracket design, the
best bracket bead pattern is gotten by the method of
topography optimization and the first natural frequency of the
assembly is improved effectively after the beads are laid out.

Sheet metal bracket beads are laid out through topography

optimization, the process of beads design is finished quickly
and efficiently and it is better than traditional process. The
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Printed in USA
doi:10.4271/2010-01-0266