Reliability optimization of a novel negative Poisson’s ratio forepart for pedestrian protection

The bumper system always directly causes the injury of the pedestrian leg in the car–pedestrian accidents. Therefore, it is of practical significance to optimize the bumper structure to enhance the protective effect of the pedestrian leg. Based on the original bumper system, this work proposes a novel negative Poisson’s ratio energy-absorbing forepart with inner hexagonal cellular structure, which is designed at the lower leg impact zone between the bumper beam and the cover. The parametric model of the negative Poisson’s ratio forepart, the lower legform impactor model, and the car–pedestrian collision model are firstly established. Then, through integrating the response surface method, second-order reliability method, and archive-based micro genetic algorithm, a reliability optimization design is further conducted for the negative Poisson’s ratio forepart based on the deterministic optimization results. Simulation results show that the optimized negative Poisson’s ratio forepart not only can significantly enhance the reliability and robustness, but also improve the protective effect of the pedestrian leg.