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In the automated design of mechanical systems by means of structural synthesis techniques, two cathegories of procedures, namely shape and sizing optimization, play different but equally important roles: the former is usually applied to the synthesis of solid modelled (in the finite element method sense) structures, by finding optimum positions for the model's nodes, and the later is often used to optimize direct finite element properties (shell thicknesses and bar areas, for instance). Besides the nature of the finite element model (plane or solid) is mainly a consequence of the system's inherent features, not so seldom, the engineer can be faced with structures that allow both types of approaches and, for optimization purposes, the two aforementioned alternatives arise. Thus, in such situations, the choice for the type of finite element model to be built is also driven by which kind of structural synthesis (shape or sizing) would lead to better results.

This paper presents a general methodology to study the dynamical behavior of vehicles: the equations of motion are obtained using Lagrange's equation and the elasticity of structural elements are considered. Symbolic computation is used to handle long energy equations. The equations of motion are integrated using traditional numerical algorithms. The dynamical behavior of the vehicle can be improved using optimization techniques. In this paper the design of a simple vehicle model is optimized.