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This paper presents a multi-objective topology optimization process for the body structure of the suspension mounting point to determine the optimum configuration that reduces the acceleration under external dynamic loads. As it is difficult to avoid the excitation force that occurs inside or outside the vehicle while driving, it is important to install a reinforcing structure in the vehicle to decrease the vibration that can directly affect the ride comfort of occupants. However, when a dynamic load is considered in the topology optimization problem, it is difficult to determine the optimum reinforcing bracket configurations because the material distribution is not always continuous, and the design variables converge to intermediate values that make the optimum design representation ambiguous. Discontinuous and unclear design tends to occurs more in dynamic load problems since the distribution of material in a design domain mostly affects the dynamic performance. Moreover, the objective function results would be worsened or enhanced depending on how the design space is defined. Therefore, it is necessary to develop a systematic process to derive an optimized design that not only enhances performance but is also suitable for manufacturability. Accordingly, an optimum reinforcing bracket configuration was obtained via a systematic approach. The area connected to nearby components is determined via sequential optimization, and both dynamic and static loads are simultaneously considered in the multi-objective optimization to derive a continuous design. The material distribution trend in the design space is investigated from the obtained designs, and the final design is modeled using shell elements considering manufacturability. It was confirmed that within a limited amount of material, the overall vehicle acceleration could be reduced. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Complex systems like combat vehicles contain numerous subsystems and components. Therefore, simultaneous consideration of hierarchy of a system, subsystems, and components is necessary for optimization. Multidisciplinary design optimization techniques have been researched to design the complex system. However most of these techniques premise integration process of total system which requires great time and cost. To reduce time and cost for the integration process, we introduce a target cascading technique that optimizes complex hierarchy system with several subproblems of each subsystem and component. Another challenge is to improve the firing accuracy of combat vehicle under various uncertainties. Robust design is therefore necessary to improve the firing accuracy of combat vehicles. To utilize these two concepts in optimization process, statistical information of firing angle is used as linking variables for problem formulation of robust target cascading. Furthermore, analysis of variance, surrogate modeling and statistical approach evaluating firing accuracy are employed to enhance efficiency of optimization. Finally, optimum design of a combat vehicle is achieved by using robust target cascading while improving firing accuracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]