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Published 2010 | Accepted Version
Journal Article Open

Optimal Design of Composite Granular Protectors

Abstract

We employ an evolutionary algorithm to investigate the optimal design of composite protectors using one-dimensional granular chains composed of beads of various sizes, masses, and stiffnesses. We define a fitness function using the maximum force transmitted from the protector to a "wall" that represents the body to be protected and accordingly optimize the topology (arrangement), size, and material of the chain. We obtain optimally randomized granular protectors characterized by high-energy equipartition and the transformation of incident waves into interacting solitary pulses. We consistently observe that the pulses traveling to the wall combine to form an extended (long-wavelength), small-amplitude pulse.

Additional Information

© 2010 Informa plc. Received: August 12, 2008. Revised version: August 12, 2008. We thank Dr. Antonio Della Cioppa from the Department of Information and Electrical Engineering of the University of Salerno for providing the BGA code. F.F. greatly acknowledges the support of the Italian MIUR through the 2007 grant "Energetic Methods in Fracture Mechanics and Biomechanics." FF and MAP thank the Graduate Aeronautics laboratory at Caltech (GALCIT) for hospitality during their visits, and CD acknowledges support from Caltech startup funds.

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Accepted Version - Fraternali2010p6977Mech_Adv_Mater_Struc.pdf

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August 21, 2023
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