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A Magic Cube (MQ) approach for crashworthiness design has been proposed in previous research [1]. The purpose of this paper is to extend the MQ approach to the blast protection design of a military vehicle system. By applying the Space Decompositions and Target Cascading processes of the MQ approach, three subsystem design problems are identified to systematize the blast protection design problem of a military vehicle. These three subsystems, including seat structure, restraint system, and under-body armor structure, are most influential to the overall blast-protective design target. The effects of a driver seat subsystem design and restraint-system subsystem design on system blast protection are investigated, along with a focused study on the under-body blast-protective structure design problem.

Previous research [1] using an advanced multi-domain topology optimization technique has shown a great promise for the crashworthiness design using the new technique. In this paper, we try to answer some fundamental questions regarding the crashworthiness design, which include: 1) what are the fundamental crash mechanisms of a general crash process; 2) how the uncertainties in the system will affect the crash behavior of a structure; and 3) what is the proper approach for the crashworthiness design optimization that will have needed effectiveness and efficiency. In this paper, three different kinds of uncertainties, uncertainties in the structural parameters, the modeling processes, and the loading and boundary conditions, will be considered to assess the effects of the uncertainties in the crash process. The possible crash mechanisms are then studied to provide an understanding for the design problem.

A multi-domain and multi-step topology optimization approach has been developed to address a wide range of structural design problems with manufacturability and other application concerns. The potential applications have been demonstrated in our previous work [1,2]. In this paper, we try to extend this method for vehicle crash design problem. The design process will be explained and examples will be provided to illustrate the potential application of this method for complicated crash design problems.