Composite Structures 65 (2004) 433–441

www.elsevier.com/locate/compstruct

Multi-objective optimisation of composite absorber

shape under crashworthiness requirements
L. Lanzi *, L.M.L. Castelletti, M. Anghileri
Dipartimento di Ingegneria Aerospaziale, Politecnico di Milano, Via La Masa 34, 20158 Milano, Italy
Available online 25 January 2004

Abstract
Moving from a validated finite element model of composite cylindrical absorbers, this work aims to optimise the shape of conical
absorbers with elliptical cross-sections considering simultaneously different impact conditions. Since the use of non-linear finite element
analyses to directly evaluate objectives and constraints during the optimisations would be unaffordable from a computational
standpoint, a global approximation strategy is used. The crash capabilities of the absorbers are approximated with a system of Radial
Basis Functions built by means of a minimum number of finite element analyses. The response surfaces are coupled with Genetic
Algorithms to perform both constrained single- and multi-objective optimisations. The results prove that moderate eccentricity and
conicity lead to high efficiency structures characterised by stable crush fronts and good absorption capabilities with also associated mass
reduction up to the 7% considering vertical impacts and at least of the 20% considering 20° impacts with respect to ideal cylinders.
Ó 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Crashworthiness; Shape optimisation; Composite absorbers; Radial Basis Functions

1. Introduction sign flexibility, high strength/weight and stiffness/weight

In the last decade, lightweight energy-absorption
structures in airframes and automotive vehicles are
increasingly used to meet the crashworthiness require-
ments with a minimum weight increase [1]. In high
performances automotive, these absorbers are used to
improve the vehicle safety in case of frontal, rear or
lateral impacts [2,3]. Placed between the frame and the
chassis, these devices can reduce the acceleration peaks
transmitted to the occupancies. In aerospace field, en-
ergy absorbers are used in helicopter sub-floors [4–6] or
in light aircrafts to reduce the consequences of an im-
pact with the soil in emergency landing or after an
accident. Accordingly, the absorbers could be properly
designed to give a remarkable contribution for reducing
the accelerations on the cabin crew and hence for sat-
isfying the severe crashworthiness requirements ex-
pressed in international rules [7,8].
The most recent advices suggest to use composite
materials in designing high performances energy
absorption structures because of their considerable de-
*
Corresponding author. Tel.: +39-02-2399-8365; fax: +39-02-2399-
8334.
E-mail address: luca.lanzi@polimi.it (L. Lanzi).
0263-8223/$ - see front matter Ó 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.compstruct.2003.12.005
ratios. Indeed, structures made of reinforced fibre
composite materials show excellent potentials as energy
absorbing systems. In contrast to metallic structures
such as aluminium alloys and steels, which absorb en-
ergy through plastic deformations, the energy absorp-
tion capabilities of composites results from brittle
micro-fractures [9,10].
Since experimental tests are both expensive and time
consuming, in order to save money and time in devel-
oping absorption composite devices, the use of detailed
finite element analyses looks very attractive. In partic-
ular, typical features of the problem such as the changes
in boundary conditions caused by the contacts between
different parts during crashes, the non-linear behaviour
of materials, the side effects (related to high deformation
rate and meaningful deformations) and complex failure
mechanisms of composite material require the use of
explicit non-linear finite element codes.
Several works has been carried out in this within
showing how detailed finite element analyses can be
proficiently used to analyse composite absorbers and,
eventually, be used as design tool. Specific and reliable
damage laws [11–13] able to investigate the collapse and
the damage modalities of composite materials have been
proposed and validated.
434 L. Lanzi et al. / Composite Structures 65 (2004) 433–441
This work moves from the consideration that, now-
adays, there are numerical tools able to predict with
enough accuracy the crash behaviour of composite
materials and aims to develop a flexible design tool able
to perform crashworthiness optimisations accounting
for the shape of the absorbers. Indeed, Mahdi et al. [14]
in the 2002 experimentally investigated the effects of the
shape of composite absorbers showing that conical
shapes can guarantee more stable crash without losing
absorbed energy per unit mass. Considering metal
absorbers [15], similar results were obtained by Chian-
dussi and Avalle in 2002. The authors proposed a shape
optimisation of cylindrical absorbers with a conical part
in order to reduce acceleration peaks during vertical
crashes. Conical shapes seem to be a good compromise
solution to increase the collapse stability without
meaningful penalties on the absorbed energy per unit
mass.
In this work, the shape of cylindrical and truncated
conical absorbers, made of composite fabric, is opti-
mised considering simultaneously different impact con-
ditions: 0° (vertical impacts), 20° and 30°. The work is
carried out using a validate and reliable numerical
model able to correctly predict the crash behaviour of
composite energy absorbers. In particular, the numerical
analyses are performed using LSTC LS-Dyna 960
[16,17], an explicit Finite Element code, which has been
demonstrated to be a valid tool for developing com-
posite structures.
As a matter of fact, the use of non-linear finite ele-
ment analyses to directly evaluate the objective and the
constraint values during an optimisation run would be
unaffordable from a computational point of view. To
overcome these difficulties, the optimisation procedure is
here based on a global approximation strategy, where
the crash capabilities of the absorbers are approximated
by a system of Radial Basis Functions (RBF) built by
means of minimum number of non-linear finite element
analyses. The response surfaces are finally coupled with
enhanced Genetic Algorithms (GA) to carry out both
constrained single- and multi-objective optimisations
[18,19].
2. Numerical model and experimental validation
The numerical model, developed in the first stage of
the work, is validated by means of experimental tests on
cylindrical composite specimens under vertical crashes.
The tests are performed using the vertical drop-test
machine of the laboratories of the Dipartimento di In-
gegneria Aerospaziale-Politecnico di Milano. The test
facility consists in an impacting mass constrained to
move vertically and lifted by an electric winch and re-
leased via an electro-mechanical system. During the
tests, an impacting mass of 110 kg with an impact
velocity of 8 m/s is used. The vertical acceleration of the
drop mass is measured and the impact loads are evalu-
ated. The values of the peak force as well as of the mean
crush force are determined after CFC-180 filtering.
The cylinders tested have height of 300 mm and a
nominal internal diameter of 70 mm. The material used
is the Cytec Fiberite T410717-950-42%-3KHS-5H-283-
1000 with a volume fraction of the resin of 42%, typical
in aircraft construction. The stacking sequence consists
in four [0°/90°]S oriented layers. The crash behaviour
experimentally observed is stable and the experimental
tests reliable and repeatable. Accordingly, the data col-
lected seem to be suited to develop the numerical model.
The final finite element model consists in 4094 shell
elements having characteristic length of 3 mm. Impact
velocity, impact-mass and boundary conditions are
carefully considered and reproduced according to the
experimental tests. An initial trigger is also realised
selectively decreasing of about one-fifth the thickness of
some elements in the first two shell rings.
The material model used, MAT 58 [13,16,17], is
especially developed for laminated composite material:
an elastic damage model developed around the idea that
the deformations introduce micro-cracks and cavities
into material and these defects cause primarily stiffness
degradation with rather small permanent deformation
unless material undergoes rather high loading and is not
close to deterioration. A non-smooth failure surface is
considered and to allow an almost uncoupled failure of
an arbitrary composite, all failure criteria are taken to
be independent of each other. Three independent dam-
age parameters are hence defined with regard to the part
of the undamaged cross-section that is still able to carry
load. The parameters which characterise the material
model and the initial/boundary conditions, after being
validated with respect to the experimental data, are used
in the following optimisation phase.
25
Experimental test
Numerical model
20
Crash load [kN]
15
10
5
0
0 50 100 150 200 250
Shortening [mm]
Fig. 1. Numerical-experimental correlation on the load-shortening
curves of composite cylindrical specimens.
 L. Lanzi et al. / Composite Structures 65 (2004) 433–441
Table 1
Numerical-experimental correlation
Experimental Numerical % Error
test model
Mean crash force (kN) 15.737 16.034 1.88
Absorbed energy (kJ) 3.298 3.294 0.12
The load–displacement curves are shown in Fig. 1.
The numerical and experimental results seem very closed
both in terms of the first peak load and in terms of the
values of the absorbed energy. Indeed, the errors on the
absorbed energy and on the mean force are within
the 2% as summarised in Table 1.
3. Description of the absorber geometry and optimisation
domain
The present work mainly aims to investigate the effect
of the shape on the crash behaviour of conical com-
posite absorbers with elliptical cross-sections and,
eventually, to find the shape that better suites specific
crashworthiness requirements through an optimisation
process.
In the optimisation process, modelling surface strat-
egies applied in computer graphic are used in order to
describe and readily modify the shape of the absorbers.
The class of methods herein used is based on spectral
approximations and partial differential equations [20,21]
and allows describing smoothed three-dimensional sur-
faces by means of characteristic boundary-lines and,
eventually, boundary-lines derivatives. The geometry of
a smoothed surface is defined through a two dimen-
sional and periodic parameterisation (0 6 u 6 1;
0 6 v 6 2p). Indeed, the basic idea of the method is to
describe the surface using a vectorial function Wðu; vÞ,
by which it is possible to assign an univocal corre-
spondence between each pair (u; v) and each point of a
physical three dimensional surface. The function Wðu; vÞ
is required to satisfy the second order differential
equation:

2 2
2
o 2 o
þ k 2 Wðu; vÞ ¼ 0 ð1Þ
ou2 ov
with the related boundary conditions.
The boundary conditions are usually defined by
assigning the values of the boundary lines corresponding
to Wð0; vÞ and Wð1; vÞ and their derivatives, i.e. defining
the normals to the surface in each point of the boundary
lines. Spectral methods are then used to find an accurate
enough approximated solution, Wðu; vÞ, of the problem
(1).
Accordingly, the absorber shape is fully described
using a circumference on the upper edge and an elliptical
435
Table 2
Optimisation domain
Minimum Maximum
value value
Lower edge major axis (mm) X (1) 60 110
Lower edge eccentricity X (2) 0.0 0.7
Taper ratio X (3) 0.5 1.0
curve on the lower one. The absorber shape is then
modified redrawing the upper and the lower edges.
Chosen the height and the stacking sequence (the same
used to validate the numerical model), three indepen-
dent design variables are defined: the major axes of the
lower edge, X (1); the eccentricity of the lower edge,
X (2); the taper ratio defined as the ratio between the
value of the upper edge radius and lower edge minor
axis, X (3). The optimisation domain, reported in Table
2, is hence chosen on the base of practical considerations
about affordable geometry for the absorber.
During the optimisation process, when a new ab-
sorber configuration is considered, the function Wðu; vÞ
is computed using the modified values of the design
variables and hence the positions of the nodes in the
finite element model are computed using the two-
dimensional parameterisation (u; v). Accordingly, the
number of the elements varies as the geometry changes
in order to have an almost constant characteristic length
of the elements, i.e. 3 mm, which, eventually, provides
accuracy and avoids drops in the time-step caused by
slandered elements.
4. Optimisation problem
In order to find the optimal shape for a composite
absorber, different criteria can be considered such as
minimum weight, higher absorption capabilities, and
stable crash behaviour also with regard to the different
impact conditions considered in this work.
4.1. Formulation of the optimisation problem
Accordingly with the general engineering advices,
also the simplest formulation of the optimisation prob-
lem must account at least as basic objective the mini-
mization of the structural weight, W ð~ xÞ, representing
one of the most important prerequisite in aircrafts and
high performances vehicles. Different non-linear and
inequality constraints on the absorbed energy could be
defined to guarantee at least the minimum crash per-
formances required to the absorber. Thus, denoting with
EVRT ð~
xÞ, EI20 ð~
xÞ and EI30 ð~
xÞ the values of the absorbed
energy during impacts with 0°, 20° and 30° impact an-
gles respectively, the optimisation problem can be for-
mulated as:
436 L. Lanzi et al. / Composite Structures 65 (2004) 433–441

8 objective maximisations considering the objective func-

< EVRT ð~xÞ P EVRT
minimise W ð~
xÞ subject to EI20 ð~xÞ P EI20
~
x2D : The searching for the Pareto set is carried out by
EI30 ð~
xÞ P EI30
Eventually, further constraints could be introduced to
limit the maximum load or the acceleration peaks during
the crash. Since this single-objective formulation leads
to a single optimal solution for each set of constraint
values, it seems not to be the ideal approach in order to
point out general design criteria or preliminary guide-
lines.
A more general formulation of the optimisation
problem can be achieved defining different objective
functions such as the weight to be minimised and the
absorbed energy to be maximised under different impact
conditions. A multi-objective approach leads to the
identification of a Pareto set. A point inside the opti-
mization domain is called Pareto’s point if it satisfies the
imposed constraints and if any further improvement of
one of the objectives necessarily implies a lose in, at
least, one of the remaining others.
However, as it happens in many practical problems,
the identification of the Pareto set is only a part of the
whole optimization process since a single final feasible
solution is required. In these cases, decision criteria must
be applied to draw out the final solution from the Pareto
set. Thus, the problem formulation (2) can be extended
using a multi-objective method in the following way:
8 8
>
< minimise W ð~
xÞ < EVRT ð~ xÞ P EVRT
x2D
~
maximise EVRT ð~ xÞ subject to E ð~
xÞ P EI20
>
: maximise E ð~ : I20
I20 xÞ E I30 ð~
xÞ P EI30
Herein, preliminary multi-objective optimisations are
performed to point out general design guidelines and to
investigate the optimal shape of the absorber and the
features of the related Pareto sets.
The final configurations, both considering single- and
multi-objective formulations, are searched using GA
because of the robustness they showed in a large amount
of applications.
tion as fitness.
ð2Þ
using a Multi-Objective Genetic Algorithm (MOGA)
obtained modifying the original formulation in order to
simultaneously consider two or more objectives, the
ones against the others. As far as the algorithm used in
this work is concerned, it is based on a binary DNA
codification of 24 bits, 8 for each design variable. Only
the three basic operators of selection, cross-over and
mutation are used. Constraints are introduced using
weighted exponential penalty functions while minimi-
zation problems are formulated using the opposite of
the original objective function as the fitness one.
A ranking selection method based on the definition of
non-dominated points is added to the original single-
objective GA. Indeed, considering an exemplificative
problem with only two objective functions to be maxi-
mised, f1 ð~ xÞ and f2 ð~xÞ, a point ~ xi is dominated by ~
xj if:

f1 ð~
xi Þ 6 f1 ð~xj Þ and f2 ð~xi Þ 6 f2 ð~xj Þ
ð4Þ
f1 ð~
xi Þ 6¼ f1 ð~
xj Þ or f2 ð~xi Þ 6¼ f2 ð~
xj Þ
A rank value is assigned to the each individual of the
current generation as shown in Fig. 2. The points with
lower rank are non-dominated and therefore selected as
Pareto-optimal set. Since the member rank is minimised
throughout generations, the Pareto set is refreshed at
each new algorithm iteration.
4.3. Response surface using Radial Basis Functions
As main disadvantage, GAs require in general a
ð3Þ number of function evaluations greater than the gradi-
ent-based optimisation algorithms. In addiction, in this

4.2. Single-objective and multi-objective genetic algo-

rithms

Nowadays, GA are a widely diffused approach to

solve optimisation problems related both to aerospace
and non-aerospace field. The original formulation [22],
as proposed by Holland, is inspired to the natural evo-
lution: better individuals have more possibilities to hand
down their characteristics in future generations. The
goodness of each individual is measured by defining a
fitness function based on its own characteristics, which
are codified in a chromosome string (DNA). As origi-
nally formulated, GA can be used to perform single Fig. 2. Ranking selection method.
 L. Lanzi et al. / Composite Structures 65 (2004) 433–441
work, several optimisation runs considering different
problem formulations and constraints are considered.
Therefore, since the finite element analyses performed to
evaluate the crash behaviour of each single absorber
configuration last more than 10 h on a PC Pentium 4,
1.5 GHz 500 Mb RAM memory, the use of GAs seems
to be unaffordable at least from a computational point
of view.
The computational difficulty is overcome using global
approximation and response surface methodologies.
Indeed, during the optimisations, the computational
effort is significantly reduced by replacing the finite
element analyses with a system of response surfaces built
with RBF method in order to evaluate the crash load–
time curves.
The RBF method [23,24] is an interpolating scheme,
originally developed by Hardy, used to describe the
behaviour of non-linear functions once known a set of N
initial sample points with coordinates ~xn and values Fn .
The approximation is provided by a linear combination
of radial functions each one centred in one of the initial
sample points. Therefore, the distance between the
generic point ~
xn and the sample points ~
xn is computed as:
r~x~xn ¼ k~
x ~
x n k2
and the final expression of the response surface is given
by:
X
N
f ð~
xÞ ¼ kn /ðr~x~xn Þ
n¼1
The following Radial Basis Functions are used in this
work:
linear /ðr~x~xn Þ ¼ k r~x~xn with k ¼ 1
3
cubic /ðr~x~xn Þ ¼ ðk þ r~x~xn Þ with k ¼ 0
k r~2 ~
Gaussian /ðr~x~xn Þ ¼ e xxn with k ¼ 1
Once defined the distance matrix:
Ai;k ¼ /ðr~xi ~xk Þ
the values of the coefficients kn are computed as:
ki ¼ Ai;k Fi
Particular attention has to be reached in the settlement
of the initial sample points since their positions directly
reflect on the values of the coefficients kn and, therefore,
on the final accuracy of the approximation.
In order to improve the accuracy of the results, the
input and output data of the response surfaces are linear
scaled between 0 and 1. Consequently, the settlement of
the sample point is obtained starting from an initial
random allocation of points in a normalized domain
where each design variable ranges from 0 to 1. The
underlying idea is to modify the initial positions to ob-
tain a homogeneous and not systematic allocation inside
437
the normalized domain. An ad hoc algorithm is devel-
oped to achieve this objective [25].
The sample points used to built the response surface
are obtained via finite element analyses. The load–time
curves obtained by each analysis are at first approxi-
mated with bi-linear laws having equivalent absorbed
energy. Each bi-linear curve is identified with the posi-
tion of the first slope-change point (load and time val-
ues) and with the load value corresponding to the final
shortening of 280 mm. The adopted bi-linear approxi-
mation is shown in Fig. 3 considering the 20° impact
conditions for two different absorber shapes.
The total number of sample points is limited to 30.
The response surfaces are preliminary defined using only
20 of the 30 available sample points. In this way, the
remaining 10 points are used as verification points to
evaluate the interpolation capabilities and the accuracy
level of the response surfaces. Since three different im-
pact conditions, vertical impact, 20° impact and 30°
impact, are considered, 90 finite element analyses are
performed in all. Indeed, a total number of nine different
response surfaces are built. In fact, three distinct re-
sponse surfaces are required to define each load–time
curve.
ð5Þ
The selected RBFs, built using 20 sample points, are
summarised in Table 3 together with the maximum
percentage error obtained on the 10 remaining verifica-
tion points. The obtained approximations seem quite
ð6Þ accurate and reliable as shown from the maximum er-
rors which remains under the threshold of the 7%. Once
selected the type of Radial Basis Function, i.e. linear,
cubic or Gaussian, also the other 10 verification points,
used for the preliminary evaluation of the accuracy, are
ð7:1Þ
ð7:2Þ
ð7:3Þ
ð8Þ
ð9Þ
Fig. 3. Example of the bi-linear approximated model and of the crash
behaviour of two different absorber shapes.
438 L. Lanzi et al. / Composite Structures 65 (2004) 433–441

Table 3
Radial Basis Functions
RBF function type Maximum % errora
Vertical impact––first point load Linear 4.75
Vertical impact––first point shortening Cubic 6.55
20° impact––second point load Cubic 3.88
20° impact––first point load Gaussian 4.16
20° impact––first point shortening Linear 6.45
20° impact––second point load Gaussian 6.23
30° impact––first point load Linear 2.82
30° impact––first point shortening Linear 6.85
30° impact––second point load Linear 6.21
a
Evaluated during the preliminary training performed using 20 of the 30 available sample points.

added to re-built the response surfaces leading, reason-

ably, to an increased accuracy.

5. Optimisation results

The response surfaces and the GAs described above

are used to perform preliminary unconstrained multi-
objective optimisations in order to point out relevant
preliminary design guidelines for the absorber optimal
shapes. The obtained results are discussed and com-
pared with the ones obtained considering ideal cylin-
drical shapes.
Successively, both a constrained single-objective
optimisation and a constrained multi-objective optimi-
sation are performed to identify an actual minimum
weight absorber able to meet crashworthiness require-
ments under different impact conditions. The actual
performances of the optimal configuration are verified
by the means of finite element analyses.

5.1. Pareto set of the energy absorbed during vertical

impacts vs. weight

The first multi-objective optimisation is performed

looking for the absorber shapes which minimise the
weight and, in the same time, maximise the absorption
capabilities during vertical crashes. In other words, the
Pareto set looked for is made up by the absorber shapes
which present the higher absorbed energy per unit mass
inside the optimisation domain. Indeed, from a practical
point of view, the Pareto set identifies the best possible
shapes, i.e. the minimum weight shapes that satisfy an a
priori fixed level of absorbed energy.
A number of 50 individuals and 100 generations are
used during the genetic searching for the Pareto set to-
gether with a cross-over probability of the 0.65 and a
mutation probability of 0.05. The identified Pareto curve
is shown in Fig. 4 together with the corresponding values
of the energy absorbed with 20° and 30° impact angles.
Moving along the Pareto curve, the shape of the
absorber changes continuously: in particular, the major
Fig. 4. Pareto curve of absorbed energy vs. weight under vertical
crashes and corresponding absorbed energy under 20° and 30° impacts.
axis of the lower edge progressively increases while the
ratio between the upper and lower edge axes monoton-
ically increases until it reaches the maximum value of 1.
On the contrary, the eccentricity of the lower edge shows
a more complex behaviour. In the first part of the Pareto
curve, the eccentricity decreases from 0.6 to 0; remains
constant and equal to 0 for weights from 0.13 to 0.16 kg;
then presents an hill with a maximum value of 0.4 cor-
responding to a weight of 0.18 kg; and, finally, it de-
creases reaching a final value of 0.15.
 L. Lanzi et al. / Composite Structures 65 (2004) 433–441
Concluding, it is worthy noticing that all the config-
urations in the Pareto set exhibit particular high crash
forces efficiency: their values of absorbed energy per unit
mass range from 32 to 42 kJ/kg.
5.2. Pareto set of the energy absorbed during 20° impacts
vs. weight
A second multi-objective optimisation is performed
looking for the absorber shapes which minimise the
weight and maximise the absorption capabilities during
crashes with 20° impact angle. The number of individ-
uals and generations used for the GA, as in the previous
optimisation, are 50 and 100 respectively; the cross-over
and mutation probabilities are assumed equal to the
0.65 and to the 0.05 respectively. The Pareto set is drawn
in Fig. 5 together with the values of the energy absorbed
during the corresponding vertical and 30° impact con-
ditions.
As far as the behaviour of the design variables along
the Pareto curve is concerned, the dimension of the
major axis of the lower edge increases progressively until
the maximum value of 110 mm in correspondence of a
weight greater than 0.16 kg. The taper ratio remains
equal to 0.55 since the weight reaches a value of 0.16 kg,
Fig. 5. Pareto curve of absorbed energy vs. weight under vertical 20°
crashes and corresponding absorbed energy under vertical and 30°
impacts.
439
then it monotonically increases up to the maximum
value of 1. The eccentricity shows a regular behaviour
decreasing progressively from 0.55 to 0.
5.3. Comparison with ideal cylindrical shape
The identified Pareto curves show how the presence
of moderate eccentricity and conicity leads to high effi-
ciency structures characterised by stable crush fronts
and good absorption capabilities both considering ideal
vertical and 20° inclined crash conditions.
Two other multi-objective optimisation runs are
performed in order to evaluate the improving capabili-
ties of conical absorbers with elliptical section with re-
spect to ideal cylindrical shells. These new optimisations
are performed assuming the same objectives of the
previous ones but considering as single design variable
the major axis of the lower edge and, therefore, con-
straining the eccentricity to be 0 and the taper ratio to be
1. In this way, only cylindrical shapes with radius equal
to X (1) are feasible configurations and then considered
in the optimisation process. The Pareto curves are
shown in Fig. 6 together with the ones previously
computed.
Considering vertical impact conditions, the Pareto set
of the cylinders is always non-greater than the one of the
conical absorbers with elliptical section. Fixed the ab-
sorbed energy, the maximum improvement in the weight
of the absorbers is within the 7%. The weight reduction
is much more relevant considering 20° impacts. In this
case, fixed the absorbed energy, the saved weight ranges
from the 25% to the 45%.
Similar results are reached with regard to the ab-
sorbed energy per unit mass. Considering vertical im-
pacts, the average absorbed energy per unit mass
computed along the Pareto curve of the conical
absorbers with elliptical sections is 36.5 kJ/kg. It is 32.6
7
Vertical impact
Cylindrical shell - Vertical impact
20° impact
Absorbed energy [kJ]
Cylindrical shell - 20° impact
6
3
0.08 0.12 0.16 0.2 0.24
Weight [kg]
Fig. 6. Comparison between the Pareto curves of absorbed energy vs.
weight obtained considering conical shapes with elliptical section and
cylindrical shells.
440 L. Lanzi et al. / Composite Structures 65 (2004) 433–441

kJ/kg for the cylindrical shell. This means a percentage

increasing of the 11.8%. Considering 20° impacts, the
average absorbed energy per unit mass computed along
the Pareto curve is equal to 31.8 kJ/kg for the conical
absorbers with elliptical sections. It is 23.9 kJ/kg for the
cylindrical shells. This means an even more proficiently
percentage increasing of the 32.9%.

5.4. Constrained minimum weight optimisation

The developed multi-objective optimisation proce-

dure, based on RBF and GA, allows investigating the
effects of the shape on the crash behaviour of composite
absorbers and to point out the possible advantages of-
fered by the use of conical shapes with elliptical section
in spite of simple cylinders.
A constrained optimisation is performed minimizing
the weight of the absorber and constraining the ab-
sorbed energy to be greater than a minimum threshold.
In particular, the absorber device is required to absorb
at least 5.5 kJ under vertical impact and 4.5 kJ under 20°
impacts. The GA optimisation required a total number
of 50 generations each one of 30 members with cross-
over and mutation probabilities of 0.50 and 0.05
respectively. Fig. 7. Optimal configuration: load-shortening curves and deformed
The corresponding optimised shape has the major shape evolutions.
axis of the lower edge equal to 102 mm, an eccentricity
of 0.25 and an upper section with radius 37.4 mm. The
weight is equal to 0.178 kg. The performances of the 6. Conclusions
optimized configuration are summarised in Table 4.
The values of the bi-linear approximation based on RBF The work moves from a validate numerical finite
and the values obtained by the finite element analyses element model able to predict the crash behaviour of
performed using the optimised shape are reported to- composite energy absorbers and aims to optimise the
gether with the values of the absorbed energy computed absorber shape in order to achieve higher crashworthi-
by direct integration of the whole load-shortening ness performances.
curves. The accuracy achieved by the RBF bi-linear The use of finite element analyses directly coupled
model is within the 3%. The load-shortening curves and with optimisation algorithms in this within results un-
the deformed shape evolutions are reported in Fig. 7(a) affordable from a computational point of view. For this
and (b) considering vertical and 20° impact conditions reason, the optimisation procedure is based on a global
respectively. Noticing, in particular, that the deformed approximation method achieved using a system of
shape evolution shows the presence of a stable crash Radial Basis Functions built by means of minimum
front assuring progressive loads and good absorption number of non-linear finite element analyses. The ob-
capabilities. tained approximation seems quite accurate and reliable

Table 4
Optimised configuration
Optimal absorber behaviour Constraints Bi-linear model Complete FE
RBF system FE analysis D% analysis

Absorbed energy under vertical impact (kJ) >5.50 5.55 5.39 2.97 5.42
First peak load under vertical impact (kN) – 16.11 16.10 0.06 16.10
Load corresponding to the second point of the bi- – 20.41 19.92 2.46 –
linear model for the vertical impact (kN)
Absorbed energy under 20° impact (kJ) >4.50 4.52 4.42 2.26 4.39
First peak load under 20° impact (kN) – 13.07 12.99 0.62 12.99
Load corresponding to the second point of the bi- – 18.06 17.62 2.50 –
linear model for the 20° impact (kN)
 L. Lanzi et al. / Composite Structures 65 (2004) 433–441
giving back maximum errors within the threshold of the
7%. The response surfaces are used with an enhanced
GA in order to carry out both constrained single- and
multi-objective optimisations. A ranking selection
method is used to identify the Pareto sets.
The feasibility and flexibility of the proposed proce-
dure is here exploited to formalise different optimisation
problems changing objective and constraints. Indeed,
once built the response surfaces, no further finite ele-
ment analyses are required during the optimisation runs.
The optimisation results show how the presence of
moderate eccentricity and conicity leads to high effi-
ciency structures characterised by stable crush fronts
and good absorption capabilities both considering ideal
vertical and 20° inclined crash conditions. Indeed, con-
sidering vertical impact conditions, the Pareto set of the
cylinders is always non-greater than the one of the
conical absorbers with elliptical section. Fixed the ab-
sorbed energy, the maximum improvement in the weight
of the absorbers is within the 7%. The weight reduction
is much more relevant considering 20° impacts. In this
case, fixed the absorbed energy, the saved weight ranges
from the 25% to the 45%.
Finally a minimum weight optimisation is performed
fixing the minimum energy values to be absorbed under
vertical and 20° impact conditions. The performance of
the final configuration, identified using the Radial Basis
Function are validated by finite element analyses with
an accuracy within the 3%. The load-shortening curves
and the deformed shape evolutions show a stable crash
front assuring progressive loads and good absorption
capabilities.
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank Prof. Vittorio
Giavotto of Politecnico di Milano for his generous ad-
vises. Appreciations are due to Prof. Rade Vignjevic of
the Cranfield College of Aeronautics for the useful dis-
cussions on the work. Cecilia Mirandola is greatly
acknowledged for her contribution in the developing of
the LS-Dyna numerical model.
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