ASE, Coimbatore

16ED654 Optimization Techniques in Engineering

Practice exercise 1 : Problem formulation

1.
In the design of a shell-and-tube heat exchanger (Fig. 1), it is decided to have the total length of
tubes equal to at least α1. The cost of the tube is α2 per unit length and the cost of the shell is
given by α3D2.5L, where D is the diameter and L is the length of the heat exchanger shell. The
floor space occupied by the heat exchanger costs α4 per unit area and the cost of pumping cold
fluid is α5L/d5N2 per day, where d is the diameter of the tube and N is the number of tubes. The
maintenance cost is given by α6NdL.
The thermal energy transferred to the cold fluid is given by α7/N1.2dL1.4 + α8/d0.2L. Formulate the
mathematical programming problem of minimizing the overall cost of the heat exchanger with
the constraint that the thermal energy transferred be greater than a specified amount α9. The
expected life of the heat exchanger is α10 years. Assume that αi , i = 1, 2, . . . , 10, are known
constants, and each tube occupies a cross-sectional square of width and depth equal to d.

Figure 1. Shell and Tube Heat exchanger

2.
A beam-column of rectangular cross section is required to carry an axial load of 25 lb and a
transverse load of 10 lb, as shown in Fig. 2. It is to be designed to avoid the possibility of
yielding and buckling and for minimum weight. Formulate the optimization problem by
assuming that the beam-column can bend only in the vertical (x y) plane. Assume the material to
be steel with a specific weight of 0.3 lb/in3, Young’s modulus of 30 × 106 psi, and a yield stress
of 30,000 psi. The width of the beam is required to be at least 0.5 in. and not greater than twice
the depth.
Hint: The compressive stress in the beam-column due to Py is Py / bd and that due to Px is

The axial buckling load is given by

Figure 2: Beam – Column

3.
A simply supported beam, with a uniform rectangular cross section, is subjected to both
distributed and concentrated loads as shown in Fig. 3. It is desired to find the cross section of the
beam to minimize the weight of the beam while ensuring that the maximum stress induced in the
beam does not exceed the permissible stress (σ0) of the material and the maximum deflection of
the beam does not exceed a specified limit (δ0). The data of the problem are P = 105 N, p0 = 106
N/m, L = 1 m, E = 207 GPa, weight
density (ρw) = 76.5 kN/m3, σ0 = 220 MPa, and δ0 = 0.02m

Figure 3: Simply Supported beam

Formulate the problem as a mathematical programming problem assuming that the cross-
sectional dimensions of the beam are restricted as x1 ≤ x2, 0.04m ≤ x1 ≤ 0.12m, and 0.06m ≤ x2 ≤
0.20 m.

4.
It is required to stamp four circular disks of radii R1,R2,R3, and R4 from a rectangular plate in a
fabrication shop (Fig. 4). Formulate the problem as an optimization problem to minimize the
scrap. Identify the design variables, objective function, and the constraints.

Figure 4 : Locations of circular disc in a rectangular plate

5.

Understand the formulation of a 2D Car suspension system with an objective of minimizing the
transmissibility factor (comfort of the passengers) – Deb and Saxena (1997)

A two dimensional model of a car suspension system and its dynamic model having 4 degrees of
freedom (q1 to q4) is show in the Fig.5 and 6 respectively. For simplicity, only 2 wheels (one
each in rear and front) are considered. The sprung mass of the car is considered to be supporting
on 2 axles by means of coil springs and shock absorber. Each axle contains some unsprung mass
which is supported by the tyre.
 Figure 5: 2-D model of a car suspension system

Step1 : Choosing the design variables

In order to formulate the optimal design problem, first important design variables are identified,
which govern the dynamic behaviour of car vibration.

Figure 6: Dynamic car suspension model and important design variables

In order to simplify the problem formulation it is considered 4 of the above parameters and other
parameters are kept constant as shown below:

l1, l2 are the horizontal distance of the front and rear axles from the CG of the sprung mass.
Using the parameters, differential equations governing the vertical motion of the unsprung mass
at the front axle (q1), the sprung mass (q2) and the unsprung mass at the rear axle (q4) and angular
motion of the sprung mass (q3) are written (Refer Fig.6)
The parameters d1,d2,d3 and d4 are the relative deformations in the front tyre, the front spring, the
rear tyre and rear spring respectively.
The Fig. 6 shows all the 4 dof of the system (q1 to q4). The relative deformation in springs and
tyres can be written as :

The time varying functions f1(t) and f2(t) are road irregularities as functions of time. For
example bump can be modeled as f1(t)=A*sin(pi*t/T), where A is the amplitude of the bump and
‘T’ is the time required to cross the bump.

When the car is moving forward, the front wheel experiences the bump first, while the rear wheel
experiences the bump later depending upon the speed of the car. The function f2(t) can be written
as f2(t) =f1(t- l/v), where ‘l’ is the axle to axle distance and ‘v’ is the speed of the car. f2(t) can be
written as f2(t)=A*sin(pi*(t-l/v)/T).

The coupled differential equations specified in Equations 1.2 to 1.5 can be solved using Runge –
Kutta method to obtain pitching and bouncing dynamics of sprung mass ms. The equations can
be integrated for time range from zero to tmax.

Step 2: Formulating the constraints

For simplicity only one constraint ‘jerk’ is considered (rate of change of vertical accelerations of
the sprung mass). Jerk is a major factor concerning the comfort of the riders. Industry standards
suggests that the ‘maximum jerk’ experienced by the passengers should not be more than about
18 m/s2. Mathematically

Max q2'''  t   18

When 4 coupled equations 1.2 to 1.5 are solved, the above constraint can be computed by
numerically differentiating the vertical movement of the sprung mass (q2) thrice w.r.t ‘time’.

Step 3: Formulating the objective function

IN this problem, the primary objective is to Minimize the transmissibility factor which is
calculated as the ratio of bouncing amplitude q2(t) of the sprung mass to the road excitation
amplitude ‘A’. The objective function is mathematically represented as
 max abs(q2 (t ))
Minimize
A
The above objective function can be calculated from the solution of the 4 differential equations
mentioned earlier. Minimum value of the transmissibility factor suggests the minimum
transmission of road vibrations to the passengers. The factor is also directly related to the ride
characteristics as specified by ISO standards. The optimized design will provide the minimum
transmissibility of the road vibration to the passengers with a limited level of jerk.

Step 4 : Side constraints

Minimum and maximum limit for design variables cab be set based on previous experience with
car suspension design
0  k fs , krs  2 kg / mm
0   f , r  300 kg /(m / s)

Step 5 : Problem statement (Deb and Saxena)

max abs(q2 (t ))
Minimize
A
Subject to
18  max q2'''  t   0,
0  k fs ,
krs  2,
0 f ,
 r  300.
KRK/ 28-12-2017/PE1

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