An efficient framework for design optimization using parametric reduced order modeling in a virtual prototyping phase

Virtual Prototype Assembly is a tool enabling the virtual assembly of components, the prediction of noise and vibration performance, and the evaluation of component modification scenarios. FRF-based substructuring is the technique used to assemble the components, either obtained from experimental measurements or numerical simulation models. However, numerical simulations of components can be time-consuming, especially when exploring several component design modifications of large models. The paper proposes a framework combining Virtual Prototype Assembly with a parametric Model Order Reduction technique for vehicle design optimization. The proposed parametric Model Order Reduction technique generates a Reduced Order Model of a component maintaining an explicit dependency on material parameters and properties, such as: Young's Modulus, density, Poisson coefficient, connection stiffness, etc.. This enables fast and efficient simulation of components designs without the need of recomputing numerical models, thus streamlining the component design optimization process. The effect of component design modifications will be assessed at the predicted target vibration levels on an academic application case.