RELIABILITY-BASED DESIGN OPTIMIZATION OF AUTOMOTIVE SUSPENSION SYSTEMS

Design variables for suspension systems cannot always be realized in the actual suspension systems due to tolerances in manufacturing and assembly processes. In order to deal with these tolerances, design variables associated with kinematic configuration and compliance characteristics of suspensions are treated as random variables. The reliability of a design target with respect to a design variable is defined as the probability that the design target is in the acceptable design range for all possible values of the design variable. To compute reliability, the limit state, which is the boundary between the acceptable and unacceptable design, is expressed mathematically by a limit state function with value greater than 0 for acceptable design, and less than 0 for unacceptable design. Through reliability analysis, the acceptable range of design variables that satisfy a reliability target is specified. Furthermore, through sensitivity analysis, a general procedure for optimization of the design target with respect to the design variables has been established.