Automotive Suspension Swing Arm Multi-Process Generative Study
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The Part
An aluminum suspension swing arm for a production sedan platform, connecting the chassis to the wheel assembly and carrying compound loads across bump, cornering, and braking events simultaneously. The OEM produces two product line variants requiring different manufacturing approaches: a limited-run sports edition at low volumes and a mass-market model at scale. Both required structural compliance under identical load cases, but the cost-optimal manufacturing route differed significantly between them.
The Challenge
Reducing unsprung mass was a documented priority across both product lines, but the conventional approach meant running two separate engineering programs: one optimized for CNC machining and one for high-pressure die casting. Each track required its own CAD iteration, FEA campaign, and DFM review, with no mechanism to share topology results between them.
The engineering team needed a single exploration that produced two production-ready geometries from the same topological foundation, with their respective manufacturing constraints embedded from the start.
The Approach
The team performed a single topology optimization covering the shared design space, then applied Manufacturing-Driven Design constraints for both CNC machining and die casting simultaneously, generating two distinct, production-ready geometries from one workflow. The cost-per-unit comparison across the two routes at different production volumes produced a clear cross-over point that directly informed the OEM's platform strategy.
The case study documents the single-workflow architecture, the MDD constraint configurations for each manufacturing route, and the cost-versus-volume analysis that guided the dual-path production decision.
Key Results
- 40% mass reduction across both variants versus the legacy over-designed baseline
- 145 hours reduced to 27 hours of engineering lead time for the full dual-path exploration
- Clear cost cross-over point identified between CNC and die casting across production volumes
The case study includes the full cost-versus-volume analysis, the per-route DFM compliance report, and the structural validation data for both manufacturing variants.
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Why It Matters
When a single parametric workflow serves multiple manufacturing routes and production volumes, the decision between them becomes a data-driven platform strategy rather than a parallel engineering effort. This project demonstrates that topology optimization and manufacturability are not separate stages.
Download the case study to see the dual-path workflow architecture, the cost cross-over analysis, and the full structural validation across both manufacturing routes.
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Cognitive Design's manufacturing-driven design approach embeds process-specific constraints, including tool access directions for CNC and draft angle rules for die casting, from the first optimization iteration. A single generative session produces two production-ready geometries simultaneously, without running separate engineering programs or rebuilding the optimization logic for each manufacturing route.
In a documented suspension swing arm case, the CNC-optimized Al-6061-T6 variant was validated at $145 per part with zero tooling investment, suited to a limited sports edition. The die-cast variant achieved $32 per part after tooling amortization across 100,000 units. Both geometries were derived from the same generative study, with no additional engineering effort required to produce the second route.
Cognitive Design compressed parallel design, simulation, and supplier coordination for a suspension swing arm from 140-180 hours to 12-20 hours, a 90% reduction in engineering lead time. This allowed the client to launch a limited sports edition immediately while preparing die-casting tooling for volume production in parallel.
The CNC-optimized Al-6061-T6 swing arm dropped from 3.20 kg to 1.92 kg, a 40% mass reduction. Despite the significant material removal, deflection performance was maintained at 0.48 mm compared to the 0.45 mm baseline, and a safety factor of 1.5 was preserved across all multi-axial load cases including bump, cornering, and braking.
Yes. Cognitive Design's integrated FEA environment handles simultaneous multi-axial loading conditions, including vertical bump loads, lateral cornering forces, and longitudinal braking inputs. Manufacturability constraints for each target process are evaluated in the same workflow, eliminating the need for sequential design-simulate-review cycles typical of conventional suspension development programs.
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