Research on Design Optimization Strategy in Virtual Product Development

Simulation and optimization are the key points of virtual product development (VPD). Traditional engineering simulation software and optimization methods are inadequate to analyze the optimization problems because of its computational inefficiency. A systematic design optimization strategy by using statistical methods and mathematical optimization technologies is proposed. This method extends the design of experiments (DOE) and the simulation metamodel technologies. Metamodels are built to in place of detailed simulation codes based on effectively DOE, and then be linked to optimization routines for fast analysis, or serve as a bridge for integrating simulation software across different domains. A design optimization of composite material structure is used to demonstrate the newly introduced methodology.