Response Surfaces and Robust Design

Response surface methods can be applied for building both global and mid-range approximation models, to be used in structural optimization as an interface between analysis tools and optimization algorithms. This approach is particularly promising in those areas, where the structural behaviour or analysis process exhibits noise, because conventional optimization strategies often fail in such situations. This capability, together with the flexible approximation interface between analysis and optimization, results in a robust optimum structural design tool. The method is illustrated by means of a car crash safety problem.