Application of an iterative global approximation technique to structural optimizations

An iterative global approximation technique based on the Kriging method is proposed. The technique is validated through analytical test cases and then applied to solve two practical optimization problems: the optimization of aluminium-foam filled absorbers against crashworthiness requirements and the optimization of composite stiffened panels against buckling and strength constraints. The absorbers of the first application consist of two co-axial aluminium alloy tubes filled with lightweight aluminium foam. They were optimized to collapse at a controlled force level and to be the lightest possible. Explicit Finite element analyses were performed to evaluate the structural behavior of the absorbers in the sample points used to build the approximation. In the second application stiffened panels were optimized against buckling and strength constraints. The Tsai-Wu criterion was used to estimate first-ply failures as strength limit of the structure. Non-linear Riks analyses were performed with ABAQUS/Standard to evaluate the shell behavior in the sample points used to build the response surfaces. Basing on the obtained results the proposed iterative procedure seems a promising alternative to the classic a-priori building of response surface allowing better accuracy and saving of sample points.     

车身结构不同法规碰撞速度的计算机仿真

车身结构的碰撞性能对于汽车而言是非常重要的.建立正面碰撞的有限元模型,并根据法规分别进行了48.3km/h和56km/h的车身正面碰撞,并进行了分析.仿真结果分析为汽车安全结构设计提供了参考依据.     

客车车体碰撞吸能结构优化设计方法研究

为实现车辆吸能部件结构优化,提出一种将建模软件I-DEAS、碰撞软件ANSYS/LS-DYNA和多学科优化软件ISIGHT有机结合在一起的优化设计方法.将第一次成功碰撞仿真的ANSYS/LS-DYNA模型的批处理命令流从后台调到前台,再按照ISIGHT语义要求,在命令流文件中定义优化目标,设计变量及约束条件,然后采取遗传算法(GA)和序列二次规划算法(SQP)的组合优化方案,对吸能结构进行优化设计.以某地铁车车体为应用对象,给出该方法对地铁车车体吸能部件结构优化设计的全过程,获得了车体端部合理的吸能结构.     

基于连续响应表面法的汽车结构耐撞性仿真优化

汽车结构的耐撞性及碰撞吸能优化是现代汽车工业重要的研究内容.耐撞性的优化涉及到材料与结构的众多参数,传统的设计、仿真及碰撞试验往往只能在一定程度上改善结构的碰撞性能,而无法达到限定条件下的最优状态.为解决汽车碰撞的优化问题,文中采用连续响应表面方法,通过变量筛选技术和一阶线性响应表面模型,并结合非线性有限元程序进行全局寻优.汽车前端结构的耐撞性优化表明,该方法具有较高的精度和稳定性.     

Crashworthy characteristics of axially statically compressed thin-walled square CFRP composite tubes: experimental

In this paper the results of experimental works pertaining to the crash behaviour, collapse modes and crashworthiness characteristics of carbon fibre reinforced plastic (CFRP) tubes that were subjected to static axial compressive loading are presented in detail. The tested specimens were featured by a material combination of carbon fibres in the form of reinforcing woven fabric in thermosetting epoxy resin, and they were cut at various lengths from three CFRP tubes of the same square cross-section but different thickness, laminate stacking sequence and fibre volume content. CFRP tubes were compressed in a hydraulic press of 1000 kN loading capacity at very low-strain rate typical for static testing. The influence of the most important specimen geometric features such as the tube axial length, aspect ratio and wall thickness on the compressive response and collapse modes of the tested tubes is thoroughly analysed. In addition, the effect of the laminate material properties such as the fibre volume content and stacking sequence on the energy absorbing capability of the thin-wall tubes is also examined. Particular attention is paid on the analysis of the mechanics of the tube axial collapse modes from macroscopic and microscopic point of view, emphasizing on the mechanisms related to the crash energy absorption during the compression of the composite tubes.     

Crashworthiness of straight section hydroformed aluminium tubes

There exists considerable motivation to reduce vehicle weight through the adoption of lightweight materials, such as aluminium alloys, while maintaining energy absorption and component integrity under crash conditions. The interaction between tube hydroforming and behaviour during crash events was studied using lightweight automotive structural members. Dynamic crush tests were performed on 400 mm length sections of both non-hydroformed and hydroformed EN-AW 5018 aluminium alloy tubes. The force versus crush distance data from 76.2 mm diameter non-hydroformed tubes was compared with results from 76.2 mm square cross-section hydroformed tubes of 2.0 and 3.5 mm initial tube thicknesses. The hydroforming operation was performed using a high-pressure process in which the corner radius of the tube cross-section was varied. Explicit dynamic finite element simulations of the hydroforming and crash events were carried out with particular attention to the transfer of forming history from the hydroforming simulations to the crash models. The values of the tube thickness, work hardening, residual stress, and damage level at the end of the hydroforming simulation were used as the initial state for the crash model. The Gurson–Tvergaard–Needleman constitutive model was used to account for damage based on void nucleation, growth, and coalescence. Numerical predictions of the force versus crush distance response were compared to experimental data. The results have demonstrated that it is important to account for thickness changes and work hardening from previous forming operations, in simulating crash events. The energy absorbing capabilities of the hydroformed aluminium tubes decreased with sharper corner radius due to increased thinning of the material during the hydroforming process. It was found that the simulations slightly over-predicted the mean crush force compared to the experimental data.     

Comparisons of honeycomb sandwich and foam-filled cylindrical columns under axial crushing loads

For the conventional thin-walled energy absorber, the energy dissipation during a collision is concentrated in relatively narrow zones. This means that a great deal of material does not participate in the plastic deformation or enter the large plastic deformation stage. To expand the plastic deformation zones and improve the energy absorption efficiency, the authors presented a new type of honeycomb sandwich circular column. This innovative energy absorber is a composite structure composed of two circular aluminum tubes filled with core shaped as a large-cell honeycomb lattice. In this paper, six different honeycomb sandwich circular columns were investigated numerically. Comparisons of the interaction effect between tubes and filler, the deformation modes and the energy absorption abilities of these columns were conducted. The results were as following. The kagome sandwich column had the best energy absorption capability, followed by the columns sandwiched with triangle, hexagon lattices. In addition, foam-filled columns with different adhesive conditions were also simulated and compared with the honeycomb sandwich columns. It was found that increasing the adhesive strength improved the energy absorption and changed the deformation mode of the foam-filled columns. Furthermore, comparison showed that the honeycomb sandwich columns had higher specific energy absorption capability than the foam-filled tubes except for the strong bonded case. The kagome sandwich column performed best in crashworthiness, followed by triangle sandwich column.     

某微车正面碰撞模拟仿真与优化

近几年我国微型客车行业得到了很大发展,随着我国正面碰撞法规—CMVDR的颁布,为了通过法规规定,各个车企纷纷加大研发力度。微型客车的发展不仅仅是数量的增加,更应该把重点放在提高汽车的安全性能方面,尤其是放在提高微型客车的正面碰撞安全性能。在此背景下,对国内某款微型客车为研究对象,对其与正面刚性墙碰撞的过程进行了有限元模拟仿真。通过对比计算机模拟结果与实车试验结果,验证此模型准确性,同时针对车身薄弱环节提出改进方案,并且进行前后方案对比,最终确定改进方案。     

A coupled meshfree/finite element method for automotive crashworthiness simulations

Mesh distortion induced numerical instability is a major roadblock in automotive crashworthiness finite element simulations. Remedies such as wrapping elements with null shells and deletion of distorted meshes have been adopted but none of them seems robust enough to survive various scenarios. Meshfree methods have been developed over the past almost twenty years in view of their capabilities in dealing with large material deformation and separation, but have remained in academic research due to their unaffordable high computational cost in solving large-scale industrial applications. This paper presents a coupled meshfree/finite-element method which allows engineers to model the severe deformation area with the meshfree method while keeping the remaining area modeled by the finite element methods. The method is implemented into LS-DYNA version 971 and its later versions so that it is available for automotive crashworthiness simulations. In the paper, one linear patch test and three crash examples are presented to demonstrate the accuracy of the meshfree formulation, its effectiveness in resolving mesh distortion difficulty, and the efficiency of the coupled meshfree/finite element solver in handling large-scale models.     

Crash response of advanced high-strength steel tubes: Experiment and model

The performance of non-hydroformed and hydroformed structural steel tubes in component-level crash testing was investigated using both experimental and analytical techniques. In particular, the focus was on high-strength steels that may have potential to enhance crashworthiness of automobiles. Monolithic tubes made from multiple materials and wall thicknesses were considered in this study. The following materials were used: conventional drawing quality (DDQ) steels; high-strength low alloy (HSLA-350) steels; and advanced high-strength steel (AHSS) materials comprising the dual phase alloys DP600 and DP780. The goal of this research was to study the interaction between the forming and crash response of these materials in order to evaluate their potential for use in vehicle design for crashworthiness. The tubes were hydroformed using two methods known as low- and high-pressure processes. Material characterization of all materials was carried out through quasi-static and high strain rate tensile tests in the range of 0.00333–1500 s⁻¹, and rate sensitive constitutive models for all materials were developed. The nonlinear explicit dynamic finite element code LS-DYNA, in conjunction with the validated constitutive models, was used to simulate both the hydroforming processes and the crash tests performed on the tubes. The energy absorption characteristics of the different tubes were calculated and the results from the numerical analyses were compared against the experimental data. This comparison was performed in order to determine whether the interactions between forming and crush could be adequately predicted using finite element analysis. The effects of thickness changes, work hardening, and component geometry, which resulted from hydroforming, on the crash response were also investigated. A study of the significance of strain rate and the importance of performing detailed material characterization on the accuracy of the numerical analysis was performed. Also, a parametric study on the effect of transferring forming history data between simulations on the accuracy of the numerical analysis was performed, and the importance of carrying forward the histories between multiple forming simulations was demonstrated.