Optimization of an automotive side door beam, considering static requirement

Abstract

Door stiffness is one of the important factors in side impact. A side door beam is installed in the door to protect occupants from side impact. Generally, side impact performance has been calculated with the assembled door unit or the body-in-white (BIW) system. Thus, the effects of a side door beam should be investigated after a BIW system is designed. This research concentrates on the side door beam, which will be optimized. The cross-section of a side door beam is defined to have an elliptic shape. An optimization problem is formulated to find the design maximizing the crush stiffness within the specified weight. Design variables are the radii and the thickness of the side door beam with the elliptic section. Analysis of the side impact is carried out by the non-linear finite element method. The optimization problem is solved by two methods. One is the experimental design scheme using an orthogonal array. The other is optimization using the response surface method (RSM). Both methods have obtained better designs than the current one.