What is Robustness of Objective and Constraint Functions

In order to achieve greater fuel efficiency and energy conservation, the reduction of weight and enhancement of the performance of structures has been sought. In general, there are two approaches to reducing structural weight. One of which is to use materials that are lighter than steel and the other is to redesign the structure. However, conventional structural optimization methods using gradient-based algorithm directly have difficulties in defining complex shape design variables and preventing mesh distortions. To overcome these difficulties a metamodel-based optimization method is introduced in order to replace the true response by an approximate one. This research presents four case studies of structural design using a metamodel-based approximation model for weight reduction or performance enhancement.