Robust optimization Design of a New Combined Median Barrier Based on Taguchi method and Grey Relational Analysis

Accidents that vehicles cross median and enter opposite lane happen frequently, and the existing median barrier has weak anti-collision strength. A new combined median barrier (NCMB) consisted of W-beam guardrail and concrete structure was proposed to decrease deformation and enhance anti-collision strength in this paper. However, there were some uncertainties in the initial design of the NCMB. If the uncertainties were not considered in the design process, the optimization objectives were especially sensitive to the small fluctuation of the variables, and it might result in design failure. For this purpose, the acceleration and deflection were taken as objectives; post thickness, W-beam thickness and post spacing were chosen as design variables; the velocity, mass of vehicle and the yield stress of barrier components were taken as noise factors, a multi-objective robust optimization is carried out for the NCMB based on Taguchi and grey relational analysis (GRA). The results indicate that the acceleration and deflection after optimization are reduced by 47.3% and 76.7% respectively; Signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of objectives after optimization are increased, it greatly enhances the robustness of the NCMB. The results demonstrate that the effectiveness of the methodology that based on Taguchi method and grey relational analysis.