Weight reduction analysis of an ambulance structure

The problem of excessive weight and fuel consumption of an ambulance is addressed in this paper. The environmental issues and rapid increase in the price of fuel has motivated the manufacturers of motor vehicles to look for means of reducing vehicles fuel consumption. One of the issues is the problem of over-design and excessive weight of commercial motor vehicles. A manufacturer of ambulances has requested assistance on the evaluation and redesign of its ambulance coach. The manufacturer was interested in reducing the weight and the manufacturing cost of its present model. Due to the complexity of the structure, finite element analysis was used to determine stress distribution in its components. The entire coach was modeled using ANSYS finite element software. The results of the model showed low stresses and high safety factors for the present design. To reduce the weight, three other models of different structures were designed and analyzed. The results of models were then compared with the testing results of two independent testing companies and an optimum design was recommended to the manufacturer.