This article is related to a rather weird optimization technique (link). To be honest I did not know much about axiomatic design approach before reading it. And I did not like what I have seen. I will not write about what I think of axiomatic design, that is far out of my scope, and I want to be respectful. Instead we can talk about the results mentioned in the article.
The optimization is done for an automobile front subframe. The axiomatic design approach is used. It works like sizing optimization, but in a different way. There is a original subframe, and the stresses on it (at functional requirement points) are going to be reduced, while being subject to some constraints. However the boundary conditions are not appropriate for an effective FEA, defining fixed boundaries for places that are obviously nearly as elastic as the structure itself. Then stresses at critical points are measured, and are going to be reduced. After the optimization is done, the highest stress (1.13 times yield strength σy) and two lower stress points (0.25 σy) are reduced. Two other functional requirement points with stresses originally around 0.5 σy are increased to 0.8 σy. The weight is reduced by %16. There is no data about rigidity.
Very classy and excellent information about the axiomatic approach for stress relaxation in automotive multi shell structures. Thanks for sharing the information.