Case Study: EDAG Group achieves lightweight, optimized commercial-vehicle structures with Altair OptiStruct

Developing Commercial Vehicles Inspired by Nature

EDAG Group, Germany’s largest independent engineering partner to the automotive industry, needed to design and manufacture reliable, safe lightweight components for commercial vehicles while meeting stricter fuel‑efficiency, emissions and safety requirements. To address this, EDAG Group partnered with Altair and used HyperWorks—particularly the topology‑optimization tool OptiStruct—to explore biomimetic, additive‑manufactured designs for a truck cabin and chassis.

Altair’s OptiStruct‑driven topology optimization combined with additive manufacturing produced bone‑inspired structures that integrate multiple functions and deliver a significant weight advantage over conventionally built parts, while meeting ECE R29‑3 crash standards. The Altair solution enabled tool‑free, single‑step production of complex geometries, resulting in lighter products, easier manufacturing and reduced lead times for EDAG Group.

EDAG Group

Andreas Pfeiffer

CAE Engineer and Specialist for Optimization and NVH Topics