Optimisation Techniques for Engineering Design

Prof. Sanjib Kumar Acharyya

Department of mechanical Engineering

Jadavpur University
Presentation :1
Introduction to Optimisation in Design
 What is optimisation :

Optimization is the act of obtaining the best result under given circumstances.

In design,, engineers have to select design variables properly.

Compulsion : to ensure design specification / performance desired from the component.

Feasible Design

Objective : To minimise the effort required or to maximize the desired benefit or both.

When Engineers select design variables satisfying the specification and minimising (effort, Cost…

) or maximising (benefit, efficiency…) the design is called optimised design.

The effort required or the benefit desired in any design problem can be expressed

as a function of certain decision variables. This is known as Objective function.

Thus optimization can be defined as the process of finding the solutions that give the maximum

or minimum value of a function

The same solution x* gives the Minimisation of f(x)
and maximisation of –f(x).
Hence the algorithm developed for minimisation
of a function can be used for maximisation of any
function.

Any solution x* minimising/maximising a function

f(x) also minimise/maximise the function C.f(x) or
C+ f(x)
Design optimisation of a Can :

Design of a cylindrical Can : A cylindrical can of capacity 100ml is to be designed

Specification : volume of the Can = 100ml

Design variable : radius of the Can : r, Height of the Can : h

 To meet the requirement of volume specification the design rule is as follows

Any set of ( r,h) which satisfies the above equation is a feasible solution
Optimisation of the design:
Design the same can with an objective
of minimum material requirement

 Minimisation of material volume is done by minimising the total surface area of the Can.
Hence the design problem is modified to :
Minimise f(x) = 2
Subjected to,

A solution satisfying the volume requirement of 100 ml and having minimum material
volume can be obtained by optimisation and the design obtained is optimum design
Design Vector :
Any engineering system or component is defined by a set of quantities.
Some variables during the design process are pre-assigned.
Other quantities are treated as variables in the design process and are called design or decision
variables as xi i = 1,2,...,n.
The design variables collectively represented as a design vector X = {x 1,x2,...,xn}T.

the design of the gear pair shown in Fig. 1.3,

face width : b, number of teeth : T1 and T2, center distance: d, pressure angle: ψ,
tooth profile, and material.
If center distance d, pressure angle ψ, tooth profile, and material of the gears selectively
chosen : pre-assigned parameters.
face width : b, number of teeth : T1 and T2 are to be determined by design

Hence design vector X = {x1,x2,...,xn}T = {b,T1,T2}T.

n-dimensional Cartesian space representing design variables x i (i = 1,2,...,n) is called the design
variable space or simply design space
Design Constraints :
• Design variables cannot be chosen arbitrarily; They have to ensure specifications.

• Specifications are ensured by satisfying certain specified functional relationships among

design variables.

• Each such relationship imposes restriction on design variables and collectively known as
Constraints.

• Constraints on the behavior or performance of the system are termed behavior or functional
constraints.

• Constraints that represent physical limitations on design variables, such as availability,

fabricability, and transportability, are known as geometric or side constraints.

for the gear pair,

• The face width b cannot be taken smaller than a certain value, due to strength requirements.
The ratio of the numbers of teeth, T1/T2 is dictated by the speed ratio N1/N2.

• The values of T1 and T2 cannot be any real numbers but can only be integers.
Depending on whether a particular design point belongs to the acceptable or
unacceptable region, it can be identified as one of the following four types:

1. Free and acceptable point

2. Free and unacceptable point

3. Bound and acceptable point

4. Bound and unacceptable point

Objective Function :
• The conventional design procedures aim at finding an acceptable or adequate design that

merely satisfies the functional and other requirements of the problem. Feasible solution

• In general, there will be more than one acceptable design or feasible solutions.

• The aim of optimization is to choose the best one of the many acceptable designs available.

• Thus a criterion has to be chosen for comparing the different alternative acceptable designs

and for selecting the best one.

• The criterion with respect to which the design is optimized, when expressed as a function of

the design variables, is known as the criterion or merit or objective function.

• The choice of objective function is governed by the nature of problem.

• Based on minimization or maximization of this objective function the optimum solution is

identified.
choice of objective function :
• minimization of weight in aircraft
• minimization of cost.
• maximization of mechanical efficiency

Multiobjective problem :
• A gearbox transmitting the maximum power may not have the minimum weight.
• the minimum weight design may not correspond to minimum stress design.
• minimum stress design, again, may not correspond to maximum frequency design.
In these cases where both the performances are important and conflicting, a new
objective function can be framed as

where α1 and 2 are constants whose values indicate the relative importance of one
objective function relative to the other