Robust Design in Multibody Dynamics – Application to Vehicle Ride-comfort Optimization

This research is devoted to the robust design of multibody dynamical systems, that is to say to the optimal design of a multibody system which is carried out using an uncertain computational model. The probabilistic model of uncertainties is constructed using a probabilistic approach yielding a stochastic differential equation with random initial conditions. Then the robust design of the multibody system, in presence of uncertainties, is performed using the least-square method for optimizing the cost function, and the Monte Carlo simulation method as stochastic solver. The application consists in a simple multibody model of an automotive vehicle crossing a rough road and for which the suspensions have to be designed in order to optimize the comfort of the passengers.