• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.36 no.8
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• pp.921-927
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• 2012

Reliability-based design optimization (RBDO) can be used to determine the reliability of a system by means of probabilistic design criteria, i.e., the possibility of failure considering stochastic features of design variables and input parameters. To assure these criteria, various reliability analysis methods have been developed. Most of these methods assume that distribution functions are continuous. However, in real problems, because real data is often discrete in form, it is important to estimate the distributions for discrete information during reliability analysis. In this study, we employ the Akaike information criterion (AIC) method for reliability analysis to determine the best estimated distribution for discrete information and we suggest an RBDO method using AIC. Mathematical and engineering examples are illustrated to verify the proposed method.

• Journal of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute of Korea
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.37-43
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• 2010

In this paper, a reliability-based design optimization is developed for the topology design of linear structures using a performance measure approach. Spatial domain is discretized using three dimensional Reissner-Mindlin plate elements and design variable is taken as the material property of each element. A continuum based adjoint variable method is employed for the efficient computation of sensitivity with respect to the design and random variables. The performance measure approach of RBDO is employed to evaluate the probabilistic constraints. The topology optimizationproblem is formulated to have probabilistic displacement constraints. The uncertainties such as material property and external loads are considered. Numerical examples show that the developed topology optimization method could effectively yield a reliable design, comparing with the other methods such as deterministic, safety factor, and worst case approaches.

• Proceedings of the KSME Conference
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• 2008.11a
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• pp.1314-1319
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• 2008

Fatigue reliability problems are nowadays actively considered in the design of mechanical components. Recently, Dimension Reduction Method using Kriging approximation (KDRM) was proposed by the authors to efficiently calculate statistical moments of the response function. This method, which is more tractable for its sensitivity-free nature and providing the response PDF in a few number of analyses, is adopted in this study for the reliability analysis. Before applying this method to the practical fatigue problems, accuracies are studied in terms of parameters of the KDRM through a number of numerical examples, from which best set of parameters are suggested. In the fatigue reliability problems, good number of experimental data are necessary to get the statistical distribution of the S-N parameters. The information, however, are not always available due to the limited expense and time. In this case, a family of curves with prediction interval, called P-S-N curve, is constructed from regression analysis. Using the KDRM, once a set of responses are available at the sample points at the mean, all the reliability analyses for each P-S-N curve can be efficiently studied without additional response evaluations. The method is applied to a spring design problem as an illustration of practical applications, in which reliability-based design optimization (RBDO) is conducted by employing stochastic response surface method which includes probabilistic constraints in itself. Resulting information is of great practical value and will be very helpful for making trade-off decision during the fatigue design.

• Proceedings of the Korean Reliability Society Conference
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• 2002.06a
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• pp.211-216
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• 2002

실제적인 문제에서 신뢰성 기반 최적 설계(RBDO)를 구현하기 위해서는 유한요소 모델을 해석하기 위한 상용 프로그램과 설계한 것에 대한 신뢰성을 산정할 수 있는 프로그램을 통합하고 최적화 알고리듬을 적용하여야 최적화를 수행하여야만 한다. 또한 최적화 과정에서 최적상태에서 제약조건이 비활성 영역에서 놓이게 되는 것을 방지하기 위해서 제약조건 최적화 문제를 비제약 조건 최적화 문제로 바꾸어 주는 장애 함수를 사용하여 최적화를 수행하였다. 그리고 이 방법론을 기존의 신뢰성기반 최적화 방법론, 즉 신뢰도지수 접근방법과 목표성능치 접근방법과의 비교를 하였다.

• Journal of Ship and Ocean Technology
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.64-71
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• 2005

In probabilistic design, the challenge is to estimate the uncertainty propagation, since outputs of subsystems at lower levels could constitute inputs of other systems or at higher levels of the multilevel systems. Three uncertainty propagation estimation techniques are compared in this paper in terms of numerical efficiency and accuracy: root sum square (linearization), distribution-based moment approximation, and Taguchi-based integration. When applied to reliability-based design optimization (RBDO) under uncertainty, it is investigated which type of applications each method is best suitable for. Two nonlinear analytical examples and one vehicle crashworthiness for side-impact simulation example are employed to investigate the unique features of the presented techniques for uncertainty propagation. This study aims at helping potential users to identify appropriate techniques for their applications in the multilevel design.

• Ocean and Polar Research
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• v.36 no.4
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• pp.487-494
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• 2014

Deep-seabed test miner operated by a self-propelled mining system moving on soft soil is an essential device to secure floating and towing performances. The performances of the tracked vehicle are seriously influenced by noise factors such as the shear strength of the seafloor, bottom current, seafloor slope, speed of tracked vehicle, reaction forces of flexible hose, steering ratio, etc. Due to uncertainties related to noise factors, the design of a deep-sea manganese nodules test miner that satisfies target reliabilities is difficult. Therefore, reliability-based design optimization (RBDO) is required to guarantee system reliability under circumstances where uncertainties related to noise factors prevail. Among noise factors, the bottom current, a bimodal distribution, is censored due to the observation limit of measurement devices. Therefore, estimated distribution of the bottom current is inaccurate without considering these characteristics and the result of RBDO cannot be guaranteed. In this paper, we define censored data as unknown values over the limit of observation. If this data is estimated by using Akaike information criterion (AIC) that cannot consider the characteristics of censored data, the distribution of estimated data cannot guarantee accurate reliability. Therefore, censored AIC that can consider the characteristics of data is used to estimate accurate distribution of the bottom current. Finally, RBDO, under circumstances where uncertainties related to noise factors combined censored data are present, is performed on the mobility of a deep-sea manganese nodules test miner.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Automotive Engineers
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.100-106
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• 2014

Lower control arm (LCA) is a part of chassis in automotive. Performances of LCA such as stiffness, durability and permanent displacement must be considered in design optimization. However it is hard to consider different performances at once in optimization because these are measured by different commercial tools like Radioss, Abaqus, etc. In this paper, firstly, we construct the integrated design automation system for LCA based on Matlab including Hypermesh, Radioss and Abaqus. Secondly, Akaike information criterion (AIC) is used for assessment of reliability of LCA. It can find the best estimated distribution of performance from limited and discrete stochastic information and then obtains the reliability from the distribution. Finally, we consider tolerances of design variables and variation of elastic modulus and achieve the target reliability by carrying out reliability-based design optimization (RBDO) with the integrated system.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
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• v.27 no.6
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• pp.115-121
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• 2012

This paper, being the second in a two-part series, presents the robust performance of the proposed design method which can enhance a reliability-based design optimization(RBDO) under the uncertainties of probabilistic models. The robust performances of the solutions obtained by the proposed method, described in the Part 1, are investigated through the parametric studies. A 10-bar truss example is considered, and the uncertain parameters include the number of data observed, and the variations of applied loadings and allowable stresses. The numerical results show that the proposed method can produce a consistent result despite of the large variations in the parameters. Especially, even with the relatively small data set, the analysis results show that the exact probabilistic model can be successfully predicted with optimized design sections. This consistency of estimating appropriate probability model is also observed in the case of the variations of other parameters, which verifies the robustness of the proposed method.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
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• v.27 no.5
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• pp.148-157
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• 2012

Reliability-based design optimization (RBDO) problem is usually formulated as an optimization problem to minimize an objective function subjected to probabilistic constraint functions which may include deterministic design variables as well as random variables. The challenging task is that, because the probability models of the random variables are often assumed based on limited data, there exists a possibility of selecting inappropriate distribution models and/or model parameters for the random variables, which can often lead to disastrous consequences. In order to select the most appropriate distribution model from the limited observation data as well as model parameters, this study takes into account a set of possible candidate models for the random variables. The suitability of each model is then investigated by employing performance and risk functions. In this regard, this study enables structural design optimization and fitness assessment of the distribution models of the random variables at the same time. As the first paper of a two-part series, this paper describes a new design method considering probability model uncertainties. The robust performance of the proposed method is presented in Part 2. To demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method, an example of ten-bar truss structure is considered. The numerical results show that the proposed method can provide the optimal design variables while guaranteeing the most desirable distribution models for the random variables even in case the limited data are only available.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.36 no.7
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• pp.805-811
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• 2012

The reliability based design optimization (RBDO) approach requires high computing cost to consider uncertainties. In order to reduce the design cost, the single loop single vector (SLSV) approach has been developed for RBDO. This method can reduce the cost in calculating deign sensitivity by elimination of the nested optimization process. However, this process causes the increment of the instability or inaccuracy of the method according to the problem characteristics. Therefore, the method may not give accurate solution or the robustness of the solution is not guaranteed. Especially, when the function is concave, the process frequently diverges. In this research, the concept of the conjugate gradient method for unconstrained optimization is utilized to develop a new single loop single vector method. The conjugate gradient is calculated with gradient directions at the most probable points (MPP) of previous cycles. Mathematical examples are solved for the verification of the proposed method. The numeri cal performances of the obtained results are compared to those of other RBDO methods. The SLSV approach using conjugate gradient is not greatly influenced by the problem characteristics and improves its convergence capability.