Designing Engineering Structures using Stochastic Optimization Methods

Among all aspects of engineering, design is the most important step in developing a new product. A systematic approach to managing design issues can only be accomplished by applying mathematical optimization methods. Furthermore, due to the practical issues in engineering problems, there are limitations in using traditional methods. As such, stochastic optimization methods such as differential evolution, simulated annealing, and genetic algorithms are preferable in finding solutions in design optimization problems. This book reviews mechanical engineering design optimization using stochastic methods. It introduces students and design engineers to practical aspects of complicated mathematical optimization procedures, and outlines steps for wide range of selected engineering design problems. It shows how engineering structures are systematically designed. Many new engineering design applications based on stochastic optimization techniques in automotive, energy, military, naval, manufacturing process and fluids-heat transfer, are described in the book. For each design optimization problem described, background is provided for understanding the solutions. There are very few books on optimization that include engineering applications. They cover limited applications, and that too of well-known design problems of advanced and niche nature. Common problems are hardly addressed. Thus, the subject has remained fairly theoretical. To overcome this, each chapter in this book is contributed by at least one academic and one industrial expert researcher.

Levent Aydin is an assistant professor of Mechanical Engineering, İzmir Katip Çelebi University, İzmir, Turkey. He received his PhD in 2011 in mechanical engineering from İzmir Institute of Technology. His main scholarly interests are stochastic optimization, mechanics of composite materials, applied mathematics and modeling. He has written more than 60 articles including book chapters, journal papers, and conference proceedings on stochastic optimization and modeling in engineering. He is also a consultant for many industrial RD projects of the engineering companies. Dr. Aydin is the founder of optimization, modeling and applied math research group (OMA-RG).

H. Seçil Artem received her BSc, master and doctoral degree in engineering sciences from Middle East Technical University, Turkey and worked as a research assistant. She is currently an associate professor of Mechanical Engineering Department at İzmir Institute of Technology (IZTECH), Turkey. Since joining IZTECH in 1999, she contributed to many courses on solid mechanics and engineering mathematics. Dr. Artem’s research interests cover fracture mechanics, composite mechanics, in particular design and optimization. She has published book chapters on fiber composites.

Selda Oterkus is an Assistant Professor of Naval Architecture, Ocean and Marine Engineering Department, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, UK. She received her PhD in 2015 in mechanical engineering from University of Arizona. Her main research interests are computational mechanics, fracture mechanics and multi-physics analysis. She has published more than 35 articles including book chapters and journal papers on computational mechanics, fracture mechanics and multi-physics analysis. Her research has been funded by organisations including British Council, US Air Force Laboratory, Babcock, QinetiQ and McDermott. She is the Vice-Director of Peri Dynamics Research Center (PDRC).