An Efficient Approach for Considering Durability Schedules in the Structural Optimization of Ground Vehicles

This paper presents an approach for considering durability schedules in the optimal design of ground vehicles. The desired crack initiation fatigue life requirement of the structure in blocks of the durability schedule is achieved by using an equivalent limiting stress in the optimization process. The equivalent limiting stress is calculated using the contemporary fatigue life formulation and the golden section technique. To demonstrate the approach, the minimum weight optimization tasks of some test cases with fatigue life constraints are presented.