Design space exploration based on variational sensitivity analysis

This contribution deals with variational sensitivity analysis of a non‐linear solid shell in context of shape optimisation. A technique to explore the structural design is outlined. It is based on the analytical derivation and efficient computation of the Fréchet derivatives of the state functions with respect to the full space of all possible design parameters. This overhead of sensitivity information is examined by a principal component analysis (PCA) in order to detect design changes with major and minor influence on the structural response, the objectives and constraints. This knowledge enables the engineers to understand and improve structural optimisation models and to detect possible numerical defects in the early stage. (© 2014 Wiley‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)