Collaborative Optimization And Its Application In Drive Axle Of Articulated Dump Truck

Collaborative Optimization(CO) is a two-level system optimization method, which has developed over the last decade. It has successfully developed and exclusively applied to the aeronautics and space industry, but the application of CO to the complicated mechanical system just gets started. In this paper, the optimum design of drive axles of articulated dump truck(ADT) is been taken as an engineering example, the aim is to find out the feasibility of CO in the design of heavy vehicle drive axle, it would take CO for drive axle of ADT. The coupling relationships between the drive axle performance and its assembling's design parameters are taken in account, so it avoid the disadvantage of single disciplinary optimization which only takes inner design parameters into account. It has actual engineering significance.This paper briefly introduces the mathematical model, computational frame of CO, and verifies the standard CO by examples. According to the results of optimization, it gets the corresponding conclusions, and analyzes the computing property of CO and points out the defects of difficult calculation in standard CO. In theory, finds the cause of difficult calculation in CO. Based on the results, it finds out the improvement measures for CO, the method of constrained relaxed variable in system-level and the response surface approach model. It has improved efficiency and reliability of CO by the technology of approach model and strategy of combinatorial optimization, and it has also verified the feasibility of two methods by examples. The improved CO is applied to design of ADT drive axle.Usually, multidisciplinary optimization design is a certain design. In this paper, it introduced the reliability theory into improved CO, and established the CO model which based on the First-order Reliability Method (FORM), framework and optimization process. It has also verified the feasibility of this method by examples, and then applied this method to the design of 45 tonne ADT drive axle.Based on the theoretical fundamentals of complicated system by decomposition and planning, the ADT drive axle is divided into several subsystems according to hierarchic system structure and discipline, and analyzed every subsystem in single-disciplinary optimization. It has laid the foundation for designing drive axle in CO.In this paper, it applied the improved CO to the designing of 45 tonne ADT drive axle. By the multidisciplinary design optimization flat in iSIGHT, and integrating Matlab software, it completed mathematical modeling and CO for drive axle. By comparing the results of conventional optimization, and considering the impact of uncertain factors, it analyzes the reliability of the drive ADT on the CO.According to the results of CO, this paper established the virtual prototypes of drive axle by Romax software, and analyzed the strength of drive axle gears in every gear load. It also analyzes and evaluates the longevity and demage of bearings. The results show the stress of gears satisfies the strength request, and it's feasible that the application of CO in the design of drive axle.