Multidisciplinary Design Optimization of Body Exterior Structures

Abstract

Multidisciplinary Design Optimization (MDO) uses optimization methods to solve design problems by incorporating all relevant disciplines simultaneously. In vehicle engineering the objective typically is to optimize weight while maintaining performance involving various load cases from multiple CAE attributes. The MDO process can be divided into three successive steps: (1) data generation entailing creation, submission and post-processing of various DoE’s, (2) meta-modeling and optimization, and (3) validation of optimization proposals. Recent efforts have been targeted at improving the efficiency of the “meta-modeling and optimization” phase in terms of throughput time and quality of solutions by the development of:Automated preparation and submission of CAE models to the HPC cluster.Automated meta-modeling producing reproducible, high-quality meta-models based on Gaussian Processes with Automatic Relevance Determination at reduced HPC work load.An enhanced NSGA-II algorithm for constrained multi-objective optimization.