Targeting the force-displacement response of thin-walled structures subjected to crushing load using curve decomposition and topometry optimization

Abstract

This work introduces a new approach to targeting the dynamic response of thin-walled energy-absorbing structures through the decomposition of the force-displacement (FD) response and the use of topometry (thickness) optimization. The proposed method divides the nonlinear optimization problem into a series of analytical subproblems. In each iteration, an explicit dynamic analysis is carried out and the dynamic response of the structure is then used to define the subproblem. Numerical examples show that the algorithm can tailor the FD response of the structure to a target FD curve. Progressive collapse, which is a high-energy collapse mode and desired in design for crashworthy, is observed in the optimized thin-walled structures. The proposed algorithm is computationally efficient as it uses a fewer explicit simulations to reach the target response.