Project Details
Projekt
Robust Design of Energy-Absorbing Crumple-Zone Structures Considering Uncertainties
Applicant
Professor Dr.-Ing. Michael Hanss
Subject Area
Mechanics
Applied Mechanics, Statics and Dynamics
Applied Mechanics, Statics and Dynamics
Term
from 2016 to 2020
Project identifier
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 311931593
The continually increasing performance and memory capacity of modern computers induces a comparably steady increase of complexity in the models used for numerical simulation. However, with regard to the computationally very costly optimization procedures to be performed, for example, in the framework of structural optimization, complex, high-dimensional models are not suitable, in particular if, additionally, uncertainties are to be taken into account to assure a robust optimized design. Against the background of passenger safety, which plays a vital role in modern automotive design, the overall objective of this research project is to develop a new, fuzzy arithmetical design strategy for an optimized energy-absorbing crumple-zone structure with robustness against uncertainties. The demands made on the robustness of this structure are twofold with respect to the polymorphic property of the uncertainties involved: First, the optimized structure shall be robust against the uncertainties of aleatoric type, introduced by the unpredictable, random conditions and environmental influences in real crash scenarios. Second, the structure shall account for the uncertainties of epistemic type, introduced by the loss of information due to the simplifications in modeling, the idealization of physical assumptions and the application of model order reduction techniques which are needed to achieve lower-dimensional models for an efficient optimization. To achieve the overall project objective, three major work tasks will be performed: After the derivation of different simplified crash models for the full-scale car structure, specific parameters of the simplified models will be considered as fuzzy-valued, for the purpose of covering the overall inherent uncertainty of the model in terms of parametric uncertainties. The values of these parameters will then be identified on the basis of an inverse fuzzy arithmetical strategy, whose implementation for high-dimensional simulation models will represent a core feature of this project. Using a novel criterion, developed by the applicant, for the quality assessment of fuzzy-parameterized models, the most appropriate simplified fuzzy-parameterized model will be selected, forming finally the basis for an effective design optimization of the crumple-zone structure with robustness against uncertainties. This new strategy of explicitly including both aleatoric and epistemic uncertainties in form of fuzzy-valued quantities already in the early stages of industrial design, as to be developed in this project, can significantly help to avoid costly and time-consuming re-engineering cycles, induced by disregarded uncertainties, in the final phases of prototype testing and certification.
DFG Programme
Priority Programmes
