Strain-based topology optimisation for crashworthiness using hybrid cellular automata

Structural design for crashworthiness is a challenging area of research due to large plastic deformations and complex interactions among diverse components of the vehicle. Previous research in this field primarily focused on energy absorbing structures that utilise a desired amount of material. These structures have been shown to absorb a large amount of the kinetic energy generated during the crash event; however, the large plastic strains experienced can lead to material failure and loss of structural integrity. This research introduces a strain-based, dynamical multi-domain topology optimisation algorithm for crashworthy structures undergoing large deformations. This technique makes use of the hybrid cellular automaton framework, which combines transient, non-linear finite-element analysis and local control rules acting on cells. The set of all cells defines the design domain. In the proposed algorithm, the design domain is dynamically divided into two sub-domains for different objectives, i.e., high-strain sub-domain (HSSD) and low-strain sub-domain (LSSD). The distribution of these sub-domains is determined by a plastic strain limit value. During the design process, the material is distributed within the LSSD to distribute internal energy uniformly. In the HSSD, the material is distributed to satisfy a failure criterion given by a maximum strain value. Results show that the new formulation and algorithm are suitable for practical applications. The case study presented demonstrates the potential significance of this work for a wide range of engineering design problems.