CRASHWORTHINESS TOPOLOGY OPTIMIZATION: WITH X-FRAME AND DEFORMATION DECOMPOSITION BASED ON HOMOGENIZED-DENSITY METHOD. IN: CAE METHODS FOR VEHICLE CRASHWORTHINESS AND OCCUPANT SAFETY, AND SAFETY-CRITICAL SYSTEMS

Topology optimization has helped make great strides in structural design engineering and should also be applied to nonlinear fields such as determining crashworthiness of vehicles. This paper, by using a homogenization-based density method, develops an X-frame, optimized structural design technique based on crash simulation and an analytical mathematical model. The technique is capable of capturing large deformation of mild steel and thin-walled, viscoelastoplastic buckling through optimality criteria and constraints of mass.