System, Layout, and Topology Optimization for Automotive and Aerospace Design

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We are currently on the frontier of the next generation of transportation, with hydrogen fuel cell cars, hybrid aircraft, and unmanned personal aerial vehicles being developed by hundreds of start-ups and established companies around the world. To achieve radical and innovative designs, engineers and researchers are faced with a highly coupled, nonlinear, and multi-modal system design challenge involving hundreds of components with unintuitive multi-physics interactions. However, no rigorous or effective design methodologies or computational tools can solve this complex problem. My long-term research goal is to make a profound impact on system-level design by developing innovative and effective multi-physics, multi-material optimization algorithms that determine the optimal structural topology, component layout, and joint connections within a design space. This long-term goal will be realized by accomplishing three short term (5 year) objectives: Objective 1: Creation of mathematical algorithms for integrated system layout optimization, multi-physics, and multi-material topology optimization; Objective 2: Development of a multi-joint methodology for multi-material, multi-physics topology optimization of systems with multiple components and multiple design domains; and Objective 3: Formulation of a numerical approach to optimize component and design domain layout considering nonlinear crashworthiness responses. The proposed research will be completed by 10 HQP (3 MSc, 2 PhD, 1 PDF, 4 UG). My HQP will have significant opportunities to contribute to the development of fundamental numerical methodologies and to apply their work to challenging system design problems. Under my supervision, HQP will gain academic and technical knowledge while improving their problem solving, communication, and leadership skills in an inclusive environment. This research program will ultimately produce rigorous mathematical algorithms capable of simultaneously performing system, layout, and topology optimization to create innovative and unconventional designs. This integrated methodology considering multi-physics effects will fundamentally change research in system layout optimization and the mechanical design process. The proposed research, if successful, will empower engineers to dramatically increase fuel efficiency, improve safety, reduce material use, and will provide a strong platform for the next generation of green vehicles.