An efficient/accurate multi-scale fatigue prediction method for Metal-Polymer hybrid (MPH) interface

Abstract

Metal-polymer hybrid (MPH) structures, featuring a micro-structure interlocking design, combine the high strength of metal with the exceptional formability of polymer-based composites and have gained significant attention in automotive load-bearing components. Challenges persist in accurately predicting MPH structure fatigue life using small samples with diverse interlock parameters and swiftly generating static strength and fatigue life response surfaces for automated optimization. We introduce a simplified model for predicting fatigue at the interfaces of MPH structures. Our multi-fidelity prediction method integrates this model with limited high-fidelity data samples to assess both the static strength and fatigue life effectively. This method predicts the deviation with less than 3% error compared to FSR-FEM, achieving a reduction in prediction time of over 60%. Additionally, we elucidate the non-synergistic mechanisms of key interfacial locking parameters between static strength and fatigue life at the micro-scale. Finally, we propose and apply a multi-objective synergistic optimization strategy to the MPH thrust rods in vehicles. By utilizing our optimization method, we achieve a 27.9% weight reduction compared to steel counterparts, while enhancing overall tensile strength by 11.8% and significantly improving fatigue life by 46.7% compared to MPH torque rods lacking an interlock interface.