Spline-based specimen shape optimization for robust material model calibration

Identification from field measurements allows several parameters to be identified from a single test, provided that the measurements are sensitive enough to the parameters to be identified. To do this, authors use empirically defined geometries (with holes, notches...). The first attempts to optimize the specimen to maximize the sensitivity of the measurement are linked to a design space that is either very small (parametric optimization), which does not allow the exploration of very different designs, or, conversely, very large (topology optimization), which sometimes leads to designs that are not regular and cannot be manufactured. In this paper, an intermediate approach based on a non-invasive CAD-inspired optimization strategy is proposed. It relies on the definition of univariate spline Free-Form Deformation boxes to reduce the design space and thus regularize the problem. Then, from the modeling point of view, a new objective function is proposed that takes into account the experimental setup and constraint functions are added to ensure that the gain is real and the shape physically sound. Several examples show that with this method and at low cost, one can significantly improve the identification of constitutive parameters without changing the experimental setup.