Metamodel-Based Global Optimization of Vehicle Structures for Crashworthiness Supported by Clustering Methods

This work introduces a metamodel-based global optimization method for crashworthiness with the ability to synthesize continuum structures with an optimal distribution of material phases or gauges. The proposed optimization method makes use of fully nonlinear, dynamic crash simulations and consists of three main elements: (1) the generation of a conceptual design from the structures crash response, (2) the optimal clustering of the conceptual design to define the location of the material phases or gauges, (3) the metamodel-based global optimization, which aims to find the optimal settings for each cluster. The conceptual design can be generated from extracting finite element analysis information or by using structural optimization. The conceptual design is then clustered using clustering analysis to reduce the dimension of the design space. The global optimization problem aims to find the optimal material distribution on the reduced design space using metamodels. The metamodels are built using sampling and cross-validation, and sequentially updated using an expected improvement function until convergence. The proposed methodology is demonstrated using examples from multi-objective crashworthiness design examples.