Robust design of S-shaped box beams subjected to compressive load

Abstract

In order to design the automotive components considering probabilistic uncertainties in the decision variables, it is desired to perform a robust design process. The peak crushing force of the energy absorber components is one of the important objectives of the design of such components. In this paper, at first, the peak crushing force of the S-shaped box beams, as a highly simplified model of front member of a vehicle body, is extracted mathematically. Using such obtained mathematical model and Monte Carlo simulation, genetic algorithm is then used for the robust design of the S-shaped box beams having probabilistic uncertainties in material and geometrical parameters. In this way the variance-per-mean ratio of the peak crushing force (Pmax) is considered as the objective function. It is shown that some interesting relationships as useful robust design principles involved in the performance of the S-shaped box beams can be discovered by the robust design of the obtained mathematical model. Copyright 2010 A. Khakhali et al.