Computer Aided Optimum Design in Engineering: Part 9(No. 80 WIT Transactions on the Built Environment)

Engineers and designers at large have always aimed for the best performance for their prototypes. To obtain that, objective engineering intuition and long time honoured rules and experience were usually the main allies in the design process. Increasingly complex engineering task, a more competitive industrial environment and technological changes ask for more powerful design tools. In that regard design optimization methods constitute an ideal approach for improving the behaviour of the prototypes under study. This book contains most of the papers presented at the Ninth International Conference on Computer Aided Optimum Design in Engineering (OPTI IX) held in Skiathos, Greece in May 2005. The papers range from innovations in numerical methods, enhancing the current capabilities of existing algorithms to practical applications on structural optimization, mechanical, car, civil engineering and mining engineering, manufacturing and some other industrial examples. Also, implementations in new emergent fields such as biomechanics and fluid-structure interactions.Overall, the list of research works show the maturity of optimization techniques and the vast number of disciplines they can be applied to.

Table of Contents:
Section 1: Advances in numerical methods; Search direction improvement for gradient-based optimization problems; Application of the sensitivity analysis of an error estimator to the generation of an adaptive remeshing strategy; A new paradigm for multidisciplinary automatic optimal design of a high speed milling cutter; A Tabu Search procedure for sensor structure optimisation; Development of numerical methods and computer code for the mathematical modelling of work piece heat transfer during processing; A nodal based evolutionary structural optimisation algorithm; The need for numerical techniques for the optimization of structures using Morphological Indicators; Section 2: Structural optimisation; Structural synthesis using the MINLP optimization approach; The optimal shape of curvilinear fibers in FRC; Topology and shape optimization using the local rule; Optimization of high tension towers by sequential linear programming with quadratic line search; Multi-level integrated structural sizing of a composite sandwich wing; Topology optimization using an adaptive genetic algorithm and a new geometric representation; Shape optimization: an analytical approach; Minimum weight shape design for the natural vibration problem of plate and shell structures; Standard dimension optimization of steel frames; Compression modelling of pin-jointed trusses; Simulated annealing optimization of walls; portal and box reinforced concrete road structures; Structural design optimization using regression techniques; Optimization of linearly distributed pre-stress in laminated cylinders; Maximum reliability design of elastic structures subject to random dynamic loads; Synthesis of trusses using the MINLP optimization approach; Optimum design of structures with limited ductility; Section 3: Optimisation in biomechanics; Improving human muscle modeling using numerical optimization; Topology optimisation of hip prosthesis to reduce stress shielding; Section 4: Optimisation in fluid structure interaction; Aeroelastic analysis and sensitivity of the fluter speed of long span suspension bridges with distributed computing; AeroElastic Design Code (AEDC) for high aspect ratio wing sizing; Exponential stability of controllers for fluid-structure interactions using reduced order system models with residual mode filters; Section 5: Optimisation in car and mechanical engineering; An integrated model for crankshaft optimal design; Using a genetic algorithm in shape optimization of the front axle bump stop for a new pickup vehicle (ZAMAYD-24F); Parameter optimization of analytic fuzzy controllers for robot manipulators; Numerical optimization of a distributor valve; Optimal multiple orientation synthesis of a planar parallel manipulator performed for different prescribed output workspaces; Methodical redesign of a semitrailer; Section 6: Industrial examples of design optimisation; A generalized optimization tool for manufacturing processes; A model for balancing sustainability versus security; Optimal design of fatigue loaded piping branch connections; Integrated engineering design of economic mine backfill systems; The optimization of an industrial pneumatic supply system; Comparison between implicit and explicit FE models for simulation of hot rod rolling; An FE computer model to investigate the effects of varying A.C. frequency and strip speed during high speed resistance seam welding of tinplate; Optimal design of a disk drive system; The CAD/CAE system of a tricone rock bit