Optimization of shock response within a military vehicle space frame

Authors

Jagadeep Thota, University of Nevada, Las VegasFollow
Brendan O'Toole, University of Nevada, Las VegasFollow
Mohamed Trabia, University of Nevada, Las VegasFollow

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

8-9-2011

Publication Title

Structural and Multidisciplinary Optimization

Volume

44

Issue

6

First page number:

847

Last page number:

861

Abstract

Space frames are usually used to enhance the structural strength of a vehicle while reducing its overall weight. The space frame of a military vehicle is subjected to significantly different loading than what is experienced in civilian vehicles, such as projectile impact or mine blast. In this work, a finite element (FE) model for the upper half of an armored vehicle with internal space frame is developed. The behavior of the vehicle is studied when subjected to a high impact load that simulates a projectile impact. The objective of this work is to minimize shocks at identified critical locations on the space frame while maintaining the overall structural integrity of the vehicle. Several variables that can affect shock propagation are identified including, the cross-sectional parameters of the internal space frame and outer armor. The optimization problem is solved using the Successive Heuristic Quadratic Approximation (SHQA) technique, which combines successive quadratic approximation with an adaptive random search while varying the bounds of the search space. The entire optimization process is carried out within the MATLAB environment. The results show that a significant reduction in the shock can be achieved using this approach.

Keywords

Finite element; High velocity impact; Shock mitigation; Shock response optimization; Structural frames; Successive heuristic quadratic approximation; Vehicle space frame; Vehicles; Military – Design and construction

Disciplines

Applied Mathematics | Applied Mechanics | Engineering Science and Materials | Mechanical Engineering

Language

English

Permissions

Use Find in Your Library, contact the author, or use interlibrary loan to garner a copy of the article. Publisher copyright policy allows author to archive post-print (author’s final manuscript). When post-print is available or publisher policy changes, the article will be deposited

Repository Citation

Thota, J., O'Toole, B., Trabia, M. (2011). Optimization of shock response within a military vehicle space frame. Structural and Multidisciplinary Optimization, 44(6), 847-861.