IIE Lunchtime Seminar - Luis Esteban Romera Rodríguez, Jacobo Díaz García, Javier Paz Méndez (University of A Coruña, Spain)

Design optimization of structural elements for enhanced crashworthiness and reliability

Abstract:Structural optimization and reliability analysis are essential strategies in the design of structural elements to achieve robust, safe, efficient, and lightweight designs. In the case of structural components in automotive or aircraft vehicles, these strategies allow to obtain structures with higher reliability and crashworthiness and minimum weight, which in turn, reduces fuel consumption and emissions and also development, production, and operational costs. In this lecture, several applications of optimization and reliability analysis methods, in which the authors have worked in recent years, are presented. These applications demonstrate how the combination of the aforementioned methods yields safer and more efficient aircraft and automotive structures. First of all, some examples are shown of topology and size optimization of composite and metallic aircraft fuselage components, both under deterministic and probabilistic scenarios. Non-linear crashworthiness size optimization is presented with application cases of automotive and aircraft systems considering isolate components and whole vehicle models, with the energy absorption devices included. Crash behaviour is a highly non-linear problem that produces non-smooth structural responses. Therefore, optimization in these circumstances presents some difficulties that can be dealt with using surrogate methods appropriately trained with  samples of the structural responses. Several examples of this methodology are presented in applications on car and aircraft systems considering isolate components and whole vehicle models with the energy absorption systems included. Finally, some considerations will be made about the large computational cost involved with the use of the methodologies in industrial applications and the measures to cope with it.

Short Bio
Luis: Dr. Luis Romera is a mechanical engineer, specialized in the area of structural analysis and design. Currently he is working as associate professor of the structural mechanics group at the School of Civil Engineers (University of Coruña, Spain), carrying out teaching and research activities. He teaches courses on finite element analysis and design, steel structures, dynamic analysis, seismic and aeroelastic structural design and strength of materials. Research fields in which he is focused are applied computational mechanics, dynamic and impact analysis of structures, structural optimization and analysis of historical constructions. Making in these fields research work and applied research contracts with multiple companies. As a researcher, he is co-author of more than 45 publications including 15 articles in peer-reviewed scientific journals, with 7 of them published in the last four years in Q1 international journals in the field of crashworthiness analysis and design optimization and reliability applied to aeronautical and automotive structures. He has worked in multiple Spanish research projects and has participated in the FP7 MAAXIMUS project, a joint EU-project with 57 partners. He maintains regular collaborations with industrial companies in the aeronautical and construction sectors; working as an example for Acciona Windpower during the las ten years in the design and analysis of wind towers in several projects, and with Airbus Spain in the A380, A340, A350 and A30X programmes.

Jacobo: Dr. Jacobo Díaz is associate professor of structural mechanics at the University of A Coruña, where he teaches courses on finite element analysis, optimum design of structures, and mechanics of plates and shells. His research interests are in structural and multidisciplinary design optimization, uncertainty quantification and reliability analysis applied to large numerical models, composite mechanics, and design for crashworthiness. As a researcher, he is coauthor of more than 50 publications, including 20 articles in international peer-reviewed scientific journals. He has worked in several research projects funded by spanish government and EU. He maintains regular collaboration with industry and has worked for Airbus Spain in the A380, A340, A350 and A30X programmes. He has been guest researcher at TU Delft (Aerospace Structures and Materials Department) where he worked in the analysis and design of composite materials with non-conventional architectures. Dr. Díaz is Senior Member of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA).

Javier: Javier Paz is a civil engineer and PhD candidate at the University of A Coruña, currently visiting at the University of Edinburgh.  He works in structural analysis and design optimization applied to automotive and aircraft crashworthiness. As a researcher, he has published three articles as first-author, all in Q1 international journals. He is also co-author of five other publications. He collaborates with industrial projects, recently contributing to the analysis of wind towers for Acciona Windpower.