This CAREER grant provides funding for the development of an integrated research and education program on discrete modeling and optimization in design and manufacturing. The research objective is the development of a systematic method for synthesizing feasible assemblies of bistructural products --- products with external enclosure reinforced by internal structural supports such as automotive bodies --- before conducting the detailed component design. Top-down synthesis of a multi-component assembly will be achieved based on the graph-based decomposition of the internal structural supports and external enclosure geometry, via the transformation and decomposition of a structural topology optimization output. The educational objective is to provide mechanical engineering students with a unified view of various concurrent engineering problems as decisions among discrete choices and a solid foundation to understand, design, and utilize discrete modeling and optimization methods as applied to these problems.
If successful, the proposed research will provide a theoretical base for the assembly synthesis of bistructural products via decomposition, which influences the overall structural stiffness and dimensional errors of the assembled products and the manufacturability and assembleability of the components. It will positively impact industries where bistructural design is prevalent, such as automotive, aerospace, and ship building. The educational plan will impact a broad mechanical engineering community by advocating the relevance of discrete modeling and optimization to design and manufacturing. It will achieve integration with the research plan by the introduction of research results to a graduate course as case studies and by the use of the developed software in a undergraduate course.
