Resumen
During the past two decades, problems of material process simulations and also dynamic and crash simulations have been considered for the design of safer lightweight roadside and gantry structures. Recently, large lattice space structural systems using specially-designed hollow lightweight profiles have been developed and manufactured for roadside and gantry systems. In addition to their low weight, these systems are competitive in terms of strength, dynamic performance, total system delivery, high design agility, and possibility of customization. Both continuous and discrete (discontinuous) numerical models can be used to simulate the material processes as well as dynamic performance of these lightweight hollow profiles where an efficient discretized numerical model can be developed. Additionally, to calculate accurate loading conditions during service for large highway structures, a novel numerical technique can be employed. For the research work herein, a novel dynamic mesh Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) technique along with the advanced Complex Damped Spectral-Eigen Technique (CDSET) for vibration of engineering systems has been developed. The production of high performance lightweight alloys for the design of road infrastructure is one of the main goals of material processes for mobility applications. The aim is to have materials with better properties and lighter weights. In the research work herein, an attempt has also been made to develop the required sophisticated tools for simulation of material processes to achieve hollow profiles with high strength, minimal defects and good dynamic and fatigue performances. Some of the outcomes of the first stage of the research work have been presented in this paper, where the integration of Eulerian-based melt (thermal-fluid) simulation has been carried out with a Lagrangian mechanical simulation (including defect modelling). One of the main contributions of this paper is to show the benefits of using simulation techniques to model and optimize the material processes for lightweight alloys. A series of numerical/experimental programs has been setup to investigate these process and the results has been compared for verification study.