Multilevel Decomposition and Optimization of Coupled Process-Performance Systems

Abstract

In traditional energy absorption management, the geometric attributes of the structural component are optimized using a fixed set of material properties with the assumption that material behavior is impervious to the manufacturing process used. This paper seeks to extend the product design process by considering the manufacturing process-induced responses to perform concurrent process-performance optimization. This is achieved by treating the manufacturing process and product performance as a hierarchical system that is decomposed and optimized motivated by analytical target cascading methodology. Crush response of a thin-walled tube produced using sheet-stamping process is used to illustrate the approach. The material models considered follow piecewise linear isotropic hardening plasticity law. The coupling between the two levels of hierarchy is established by treating effective plastic strain and springback distortion as coupling variables. Process-performance analyses rely on coupled simulations using Abaqus /Explicit for deep drawing, Abaqus/Standard for springback, and Abaqus /Explicit for crush. Besides describing the design simulation and optimization framework, the results of coupled process-performance optimization of a thin-walled double-hat tube are presented and discussed.