One of the constant needs in the automobile industry is the reduction of components' mass and costs.
To comply with this need, the portfolio of products delivered in plastics is constantly increasing.
In many cases, to replace metallic materials, polymers must be combined with special fillers, capable of improving their raw properties.
In addition to cheaper materials, the virtualization of testing through computational methods, and the usage of structural optimization can also contribute by providing faster and more efficient results.
Those tendencies however, are also followed by some challenges, as the complex anisotropy that composites may present. This particular mechanical behavior is a special concern, as it cannot be carried by the current optimization solutions.
The method shown in this study deals with parts injected in polyamide and polypropylene charged with glass fibers which is one of the fillers that highly contribute to anisotropy.
From an application point of view, obtaining an equivalent structural performance using different material grades as those may fall into a time-demanding trial and error process.
This study proposes an innovative solution by joining a FE structural solver with a parametric design change method and pre-defined injection simulation results. A multidisciplinary tool is then in charge of promoting and managing autonomously the calculations and software interactions needed for an optimization approach. As a result, it was possible to obtain parts with the same structural performance even after the material grade change.