Robust Structural Design Optimization Under Non-Probabilistic Uncertainties

Author(s):  
Jiantao Liu ◽  
Hae Chang Gea ◽  
Ping An Du

Robust structural design optimization with non-probabilistic uncertainties is often formulated as a two-level optimization problem. The top level optimization problem is simply to minimize a specified objective function while the optimized solution at the second level solution is within bounds. The second level optimization problem is to find the worst case design under non-probabilistic uncertainty. Although the second level optimization problem is a non-convex problem, the global optimal solution must be assured in order to guarantee the solution robustness at the first level. In this paper, a new approach is proposed to solve the robust structural optimization problems with non-probabilistic uncertainties. The WCDO problems at the second level are solved directly by the monotonocity analysis and the global optimality is assured. Then, the robust structural optimization problem is reduced to a single level problem and can be easily solved by any gradient based method. To illustrate the proposed approach, truss examples with non-probabilistic uncertainties on stiffness and loading are presented.

Author(s):  
Xike Zhao ◽  
Hae Chang Gea ◽  
Limei Xu

The non-probabilistic-based structural design optimization problems with external load uncertainties are often solved through a two-level approach. However there are several challenges in this method. Firstly, to assure the reliability of the design, the lower level problem must be solved to its global optimality. Secondly, the sensitivity of the upper level problem cannot be analytically derived. To overcome these challenges, a new method based on the Eigenvalue-Superposition of Convex Models (ESCM) is proposed in this paper. The ESCM method replaces the global optimum of the lower level problem by a confidence bound, namely the ESCM bound, and with which the two-level problem can be formulated into a single level problem. The advantages of the ESCM method in efficiency and stability are demonstrated through numerical examples.


Author(s):  
Ali R Yildiz

This paper presents an innovative optimization approach to solve structural design optimization problems in the automotive industry. The new approach is based on Taguchi’s robust design approach and particle swarm optimization algorithm. The proposed approach is applied to the structural design optimization of a vehicle part to illustrate how the present approach can be applied for solving design optimization problems. The results show the ability of the proposed approach to find better optimal solutions for structural design optimization problems.


2016 ◽  
Vol 33 (8) ◽  
pp. 2395-2420 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yu-Cheng Chou ◽  
Yi-Hua Fan ◽  
Madoka Nakajima ◽  
Yi-Lin Liao

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to present the use of artificial immune systems (AISs) to solve constrained design optimization problems for active magnetic bearings (AMBs). Design/methodology/approach This research applies the AIS approach, more specifically, a representative clonal selection-based AIS called CLONALG, to the single-objective structural design optimization of AMBs. In addition, when compared with a genetic algorithm (GA) developed in the previous work, the CLONALG fails to produce best solutions when a nearly zero feasible ratio occurs in an AMB design problem. Therefore, an AIS called ARISCO (AIS for constrained optimization) is proposed to address the above issue. Findings A total of six AMB design cases are solved by the GA, CLONALG, and ARISCO. Based on the simulation results, in terms of solution quality, the ARISCO is shown to have better overall performance than the CLONALG and GA. In particular, when solving a problem with a nearly zero feasible ratio, the ARISCO and GA perform equally and both outperform the CLONALG. Originality/value In summary, the contributions of this paper include: this research applies the AIS approach, more precisely, the CLONALG, to the single-objective structural design optimization of AMBs; the ARISCO overall produces better AMB designs than the CLONALG and a GA developed in the previous work; in situations where a nearly zero feasible ratio occurs, the ARISCO and GA perform equally, and they both outperform the CLONALG.


Author(s):  
Hong-Shuang Li ◽  
Qiao-Yue Dong ◽  
Jiao-Yang Yuan

Stochastic optimization methods have been widely employed to find solutions to structural design optimization problems in the past two decades, especially for truss structures. The primary aim of this study is to introduce a design optimization method combining an augmented Lagrangian function and teaching–learning-based optimization for truss and nontruss structural design optimization. The augmented Lagrangian function serves as a constraint-handling tool in the proposed method and converts a constrained optimization problem into an unconstrained one. On the other hand, teaching–learning-based optimization is employed to resolve the transformed, unconstrained optimization problems. Since the proper values of the Lagrangian multipliers and penalty factors are unknown in advance, the proposed method is implemented in an iterative way to avoid the issue of selecting them, i.e. the Lagrangian multipliers and penalty factors are automatically updated according to the violation level of all constraints. To examine the performance of the proposed method, it is applied on a group of benchmark truss optimization problems and a group of nontruss optimization problems of aircraft wing structures. The computational results obtained by the proposed method are compared to the results produced by both other version of teaching–learning-based optimization and stochastic optimization methods.


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