Application of analytical hierarchy process in the design concept selection of automotive composite bumper beam during the conceptual design stage

Abstract

Selection of design concepts is an area of design research that has been under considerable interest over the years. The level of success of product designs achieved depends significantly on the initial concept at the conceptual design stage. Inappropriate decision making during design concepts selection at the conceptual design stage can cause the product to be redesigned or remanufactured. To overcome such problem, this paper proposed a concept selection model called concurrent design concept selection and materials selection (CDCSMS) to assist designers in selecting the most appropriate design concepts and materials for automotive composite components at the conceptual design stage using analytical hierarchy process (AHP). To illustrate the proposed model, 8 design concepts of automotive composite bumper beam are considered and the most appropriate one is determined by using the analytical hierarchy process (AHP). The final decision was carried out by performing the sensitivity analysis in order to study the effect of the different factors on deciding the best decision option.   Key words: Analytical hierarchy process (AHP), design concept selection, conceptual design stage, automotive bumper beam.