Robust optimization of Powertrain Mounting System based on interval analysis

Owing to the uncertainties of the manufacturing or installation errors, the real value of the Powertrain Mounting Systems (PMS) is always varying around its nominal value. These uncertainties will definitely deteriorate the performance of PMS. This paper proposes a robust design method based on interval analysis and Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) for the optimization of PMS. First, the uncertain parameters of PMS are represented by interval numbers. Then the decupling ratio and nature frequency of PMS are calculated by interval analysis. To obtain the compact interval of the lower and upper bound of the decupling ratio and nature frequency, a combined method based on interval analysis and PSO is employed in the paper. To illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed method, a case study is given. By using the proposed method, the decoupling ratio can be improved significantly while the constraints are well satisfied. In addition, the variations of decoupling ratio and nature frequency can be obtained simultaneously. Consequently, it is easy to see that the proposed method is effective and robust for the optimization of PMS.