Title: Optimisation and robustness for crashworthiness of side impact

Authors: L. Gu, R.J. Yang, C.H. Tho, M. Makowskit, O. Faruquet, Y.Li

Addresses: Safety Research and Development, P.O. Box 2053, MD2115, SRL, Dearborn, MI 48121, USA. ' Safety Research and Development, P.O. Box 2053, MD2115, SRL, Dearborn, MI 48121, USA. ' Safety Research and Development, P.O. Box 2053, MD2115, SRL, Dearborn, MI 48121, USA. ' Vehicle Crash Safety, P.O. Box 2053, MD48, AEC, Dearborn MI 48121, USA. ' Vehicle Crash Safety, P.O. Box 2053, MD48, AEC, Dearborn MI 48121, USA. ' Vehicle Crash Safety, P.O. Box 2053, MD48, AEC, Dearborn MI 48121, USA

Abstract: This paper presents a nonlinear response surface-based safety optimisation and robustness process. The stepwise regression and optimal Latin hyper cube sampling methods are employed to construct the ||efficient-to-compute|| surrogate model. A sequential quadratic programming method with mixed type of variables is employed for the design optimisation. A reliability based design optimisation model for robust system parameter design of vehicle safety is proposed and a Monte Carlo based stochastic simulation is used to perform the robustness assessment and the reliability-driven robust design. The methodology has been applied to the vehicle crash safety design of side impact. It shows that the vehicle weight can be significantly reduced with an improved safety performance and with a higher level of confidence. CAE simulation is used to validate the optimal results.

Keywords: crashworthiness; Monte Carlo method; optimal Latin hyper cube; optimisation; response surface methodology; robust design; stepwise regression; vehicle safety; vehicle design; parameter design; simulation; crashworthiness.

DOI: 10.1504/IJVD.2001.005210

International Journal of Vehicle Design, 2001 Vol.26 No.4, pp.348 - 360

Published online: 11 Sep 2004 *

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