Composite material-based light weight bus

Abstract

The cities of Ljubljana, Gent, Zagreb, Brno and Porto joined together in the CIVITAS ELAN project Mobilising citizens for vital cities. Within the City of Porto consortium, and with the purpose of reducing the gaseous pollutants emissions, Faculty of Engineering of Porto University has led the development of a lightweight bus bodywork to be demonstrated in public streets as a shuttle service during the implementation period of CIVITAS ELAN. The use of new composite materials in the design and development of pioneering technologies enables significant reductions in weight and, consequently, in energy consumption. It was decided to transform a Toyota Coaster minibus, reusing its entire mechanical base (frame) and designing a new bodywork with composite materials. This paper presents the industrial design solutions considered and chosen, related with structural concepts, structural models simulations, manufacture and assembly. The technology applied to build the main structure was the Seeman Composites Resin Infusion Moulding Process that uses the injection of resin through vacuum to impregnate and consolidate the laminate. The different manufacturing parameters are also introduced in this document. Along with the simulations, the building strategy was aligned with the manufacturer of the moulds and of the body, in order to avoid future hurdles due to technological requirements.