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Multi-objective robust optimization of foam-filled tapered multi-cell thin-walled structures

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Abstract

Foam-filled multi-cell thin-walled structure has recently gained attentions for its excellent energy absorption capacity. Tapered thin-walled structure is less likely to fail by global buckling, and is more capable of bearing oblique impact loads. Thus, foam-filled tapered multi-cell thin-walled structure (FTMTS) may be an extremely excellent energy absorber candidate in future vehicle body. This paper focuses on the crashworthiness of four kinds of axisymmetric FTMTSs with different cell numbers. According to our study, we find that FTMTSs have very excellent energy absorption capacity as well as strong capacity of avoiding global buckling. According to our investigation, it was found that the crashworthiness of FTMTS was largely affected by design parameters such as geometric sizes and foam density. In order to find optimal designs of FTMTSs, it is very essential to carry out crashworthiness optimization for FTMTSs. However, the conventional deterministic design is likely to become less meaningful or even unacceptable when considering the uncertainties of design parameters due to the manufacturing or installation deviation. In order to overcome this drawback, a multi-objective robust optimization procedure which employs Kriging metamodels, multi-objective particle swarm optimization (MOPSO) algorithm, “k-sigma” robust design theory and Monte Carlo simulation (MCS) was developed. The comparison of the Pareto fronts obtained by the developed multi-objective robust optimization procedure and the traditional multi-objective deterministic optimization algorithm shows that the robust optimization result is more reliable than the deterministic optimization result. The robust optimal design of FTMTS not only has very excellent crashworthiness but also has very high reliability when considering the uncertainty of design parameters.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mechanical Engineering and Engineering Science, The University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Charlotte, NC, 28223, USA

    Hanfeng Yin & Hongbing Fang

  2. Key Laboratory of Advanced Design and Simulation Techniques for Special Equipment, Ministry of Education, Hunan University, Changsha, Hunan, 410082, People’s Republic of China

    Hanfeng Yin, Youye Xiao, Guilin Wen & Qixiang Qing

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  1. Hanfeng Yin
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  2. Hongbing Fang
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Correspondence to Hongbing Fang.

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Yin, H., Fang, H., Xiao, Y. et al. Multi-objective robust optimization of foam-filled tapered multi-cell thin-walled structures. Struct Multidisc Optim 52, 1051–1067 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00158-015-1299-8

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