Efficient shape optimization for certain and uncertain aerodynamic design

In this paper, we present novel developments in aerodynamic shape optimization based on shape calculus as well as the proper treatment of aleatoric uncertainties in the field of aerodynamic design.     

Second-order derivatives of the general-purpose finite element package SEPRAN via source transformation

Second-order derivatives are crucial ingredients to a variety of numerical methods. Often, they are difficult to get with numerical differentiation by divided differencing. Automatic differentiation provides an alternative by a program transformation capable of evaluating Jacobians, Hessians, or higher-order derivatives of functions given in the form of computer programs. SEPRAN is a general-purpose finite element package written in Fortran 77 used in various scientific areas ranging from fluid dynamics to structural mechanics to electromagnetism. By transforming SEPRAN twice using the automatic differentiation tool ADIFOR, second-order derivatives are evaluated without truncation error. Numerical experiments are reported in which second-order derivatives of a flow field with respect to an inflow velocity are computed, demonstrating the feasibility of this approach.     

An optimality criterion for shape optimization in eigenfrequency problems

For a broad class of static problems an optimality criterion of constant energy density at the designed boundary is known. In the present paper we prove a similar criterion for eigenfrequency problems. This optimality criterion serves as the tool for more basic understanding and for idealized reference cases as well as the basis for recursive procedures. Eigenfrequencies for in-plane vibrations as well as for out-of-plane vibrations of plates are optimized. The focus is on simplicity and multiple eigenfrequencies are not considered.     

A shape optimization study for tool design in resistance welding

The purpose of this study is to apply shape optimization tools for design of resistance welding electrodes. The numerical simulation of the welding process has been performed by a simplified FEM model implemented in COMSOL. The design process is formulated as an optimization problem where the objective is to prolong the life-time of the electrodes. Welding parameters like current, time and electrode shape parameters are selected to be the design variables while constraints are chosen to ensure a high quality of the welding. Surrogate models based on a Kriging approximation has been used in order to simplify the calculation of shape sensitivities and to generate a generic tool that can be interfaced with other simulation tools. An example numerical study shows the potential of applying optimal design techniques in this area. Part of this work was presented at WCSMO7 in Seoul Korea, May 21–25, 2007, in the paper titled ‘Some optimization aspects of resistance welding’ (CD-ROM, pp 2687–2695).     

Optimal damping of a membrane and topological shape optimization

We consider a shape optimization problem of finding the optimal damping set of a two-dimensional membrane such that the energy of the membrane is minimized at some fixed end time. Traditional shape optimization is based on sensitivities of the cost functional with respect to small boundary variations of the shapes. We use an iterative shape optimization scheme based on level set methods and the gradient descent algorithm to solve the problem and present numerical results. The methods presented allow for certain topological changes in the optimized shapes. These changes can be realized in the presence of a force term in the level set equation. It is also observed that the gradient descent algorithm on the manifold of shapes does not require an exact line search to converge and that it is sufficient to perform heuristic line searches that do not evaluate the cost functional being minimized.     

Three-dimensional shape optimization of hip prostheses using a multicriteria formulation

A multicriteria optimization model is developed to obtain the optimal geometry of the femoral component of a hip prosthesis. The objective function minimizes both the relative tangential displacement and the contact normal stress. For cementless stems, these two factors are relevant for the prosthesis stability and therefore for the implant success. The three-dimensional optimization procedure developed allows us to characterize the stem shape that minimizes displacement and stress individually, or simultaneously using a multicriteria approach. Design variables characterize successive stem sections, and are subjected to linear geometric constraints to obtain clinically admissible geometries. Multiple loads are considered to incorporate several daily life activities. The system bone–stem is considered a structure in equilibrium with contact condition on the interface. Results show that thin stem tips minimize the interface stress while collared stems minimize displacement. The multicriteria formulation leads to balanced solutions.     

Normalization approaches for the descent search direction in isogeometric shape optimization

In isogeometric shape optimization, the use of the search direction directly predicted from the discrete shape gradient makes the optimization history strongly dependent on the discretization. This discretization-dependency can affect the convergence and may lead the optimization process into a sub-optimal solution. The source of this discretization-dependency is traced to the lack of consistency with the local steepest descent search direction in the continuous formulation. In the present contribution, this inconsistency is analyzed using the shape variation equations and subsequently illustrated with a volume minimization problem. It is found that the inconsistency originates from the NURBS discretization which induces a discrete quadratic norm to represent the continuous Euclidean norm. To fix this inconsistency, three normalization approaches are proposed to obtain a discretization-independent normalized descent search direction. The discretization-independence of the proposed approaches is verified with a benchmark problem. The superiority of the proposed search direction and its suitability for numerical implementation is illustrated with examples of shape optimization for mechanical and thermal problems. Although the present work focuses on a NURBS-based discretization usually used in conjunction with isogeometric analysis, the proposed methodology may also be applied to alleviate the “mesh-dependency” in (traditional) Finite Element-based shape optimization.     

Analytical derivatives technology for structural shape design

The ability to perform and evaluate the effect of shape changes on the stress and modal responses of components is an important ingredient in the “design” of aircraft engine components. The classical design of experiments (DOE)-based approach that is motivated from statistics (for physical experiments) is one of the possible approaches for the evaluation of the component response with respect to design parameters [Myers, Montgomery. Response surface methodology, process and product optimization using design of experiments. John Wiley and Sons, NY (1995)]. As the underlying physical model used for the component response is deterministic and understood through a computer simulation model, one needs to re-think the use of the classical DOE techniques for this class of problems. In this paper, we explore an alternate sensitivity-analysis-based technique where a deterministic parametric response is constructed using exact derivatives of the complex finite-element (FE)-based computer models to design parameters. The method is based on a discrete sensitivity analysis formulation using semi-automatic differentiation (Griewank, SIAM (2000), ADIFOR, Automatic Differentiation of FORTRAN codes ) to compute the Taylor series or its Pade equivalent for finite-element-based responses. Shape design or optimization in the context of finite element modeling is challenging because the evaluation of the response for different shape requires the need for a meshing consistent with the new geometry. This paper examines the differences in the nature and performance (accuracy and efficiency) of the analytical derivatives approach against other existing approaches with validation on several benchmark structural applications. The use of analytical derivatives for parametric analysis is demonstrated to have accuracy benefits on certain classes of shape applications.     

Isogeometric analysis and shape optimization via boundary integral

In this paper, we present a boundary integral based approach to isogeometric analysis and shape optimization.For analysis, it uses the same basis, Non-Uniform Rational B-Spline (NURBS) basis, for both representing object boundary and for approximating physical fields in analysis via a Boundary-Integral-Equation Method (BIEM). We propose the use of boundary points corresponding to Greville abscissae as collocation points. We conducted h-, p- and k-refinement study for linear elasticity and heat conduction problems. Our numerical experiments show that collocation at Greville abscissae leads to overall better convergence and robustness. Replacing rational B-splines with the linear B-Splines as shape functions for approximating solution space in analysis does not yield significant difference in convergence.For shape optimization, it uses NURBS control points to parameterize the boundary shape. A gradient based optimization approach is adopted where analytical sensitivities of how control points affect objective and constraint functions are derived. Two 3D shape optimization examples are demonstrated.Our study finds that the boundary integral based isogeometric analysis and optimization have the following advantages: (1) the NURBS based boundary integral exhibits superior computational advantages over the usual Lagrange polynomials based BIEM on a per degree-of-freedom basis; (2) it bypasses the need for domain parameterization, a bottleneck in current NURBS based volumetric isogeometric analysis and shape optimization; (3) it offers tighter integration of CAD and analysis since both the geometric models for both analysis and optimization are the same NURBS geometry.     

An open platform of shape design optimization for shell structure

A general platform built on a computer-aided design (CAD) system is developed for parameterized shape design optimization of shell structure. Within the platform, parameterized surface modeling and computer-aided engineering (CAE) applications are embedded and seamlessly integrated with the CAD system through its application programming interface (API). Firstly, instead of the CAD system inherent surface modeling, a parameterized surface modeling for shell structure is fulfilled through integrating with parametric solid modeling of the CAD system. Thus, any dimensions for parametric solid modeling can be used to control shape modification of shell structure and serve as design variables for shape design optimization. Secondly, seamless integration of geometry modeling and finite-element modeling for shell structure is implemented. Finally, with integrated procedures of finite-element analysis and optimization algorithms, a general platform for parameterized shape optimization of shell structure is realized. Numerical examples are presented, and the results validate the effectiveness and efficiency of the platform. A shorten version of this paper was presented to the 7th World Congress of Computation Mechanics (WCCM 2006), July 16–22, 2006, Los Angeles, CA, USA.     

A phase-field method for shape optimization of incompressible flows

In this paper, we present a phase-field method applied to the fluid-based shape optimization. The fluid flow is governed by the incompressible Navier–Stokes equations. A phase field variable is used to represent material distributions and the optimized shape of the fluid is obtained by minimizing the certain objective functional regularized. The shape sensitivity analysis is presented in terms of phase field variable, which is the main contribution of this paper. It saves considerable amount of computational expense when the meshes are locally refined near the interfaces compared to the case of fixed meshes. Numerical results on some benchmark problems are reported, and it is shown that the phase-field approach for fluid shape optimization is efficient and robust.     

Generating efficient derivative code with TAF: Adjoint and tangent linear Euler flow around an airfoil

FastOpt’s new automatic differentiation tool TAF is applied to the two-dimensional Navier–Stokes solver NSC2KE. For a configuration that simulates the Euler flow around an NACA airfoil, TAF has generated the tangent linear and adjoint models as well as the second derivative (Hessian) code. Owing to TAF’s capability of generating efficient adjoints of iterative solvers, the derivative code has a high performance: running both the solver and its adjoint requires 3.4 times as long as running the solver only. Further examples of highly efficient tangent linear, adjoint, and Hessian codes for large and complex three-dimensional Fortran 77-90 climate models are listed. These examples suggest that the performance of the NSC2KE adjoint may well be generalised to more complex three-dimensional CFD codes. We also sketch how TAF can improve the adjoint’s performance by exploiting self-adjointness, which is a common feature of CFD codes.     

Multi-criteria shape optimization of a funnel in cathode ray tubes using a response surface model

One purpose of simulation describing the behaviors of structures is to optimize the performances within specific functional requirements and customers needs with respect to the design variables. For reduction of the volume of cathode ray tubes, the design of the glass geometry, especially funnel geometry, is essential while maintaining the internal vacuum pressure of the cathode ray tube. In order to describe the three-dimensional geometry of the funnel in cathode ray tubes, a higher-order response surface model is employed in the simulation model instead of non-uniform rational B-splines (NURBS) or Bezier curves because the response surface model is more robust for understanding the geometry change in finite element analysis. We formulate the design problem as a multi-criteria optimization because minimization of both volume and maximum stress is required. Using the response surface model of the geometry of the funnel and sequential quadratic programming within the process integration framework, the shape optimization of a funnel is successfully performed and the maximum stress level of the funnel is decreased by almost half.     

Velocity fields using NURBS with distortion control for structural shape optimization

The paper presents methods for the calculation of design velocity fields and mesh updating in the context of shape optimization. Velocity fields have a fundamental role in the integration of the main conceptual and software components in shape design optimization. Nonuniform rational B-splines are used to parameterize the domain boundary. A Newton/Raphson procedure is used to calculate the curve and surface internal parameters. A preconditioning iterative conjugate gradient method with low precision is used to improve the solution performance of the auxiliar problem in the calculation of the velocity fields. The velocity fields are also used to perturb the finite element mesh and element distortion measures are introduced. Finally, examples of two- and three-dimensional elastic problems are presented to illustrate the application of the algorithms.     

Buckling design optimization of complex built-up structures with shape and size variables

The design optimization of buckling behaviour is studied for complex built-up structures composed of various kinds of elements and implemented within JIFEX95, a general-purpose software for finite element analysis and design optimization. The direct and adjoint methods of sensitivity analysis for critical buckling loads are presented with detailed computational procedures. Particularly, the variations of prebuckling stresses and external loads have been accounted for. The design model and solution methods presented in this paper are available for both shape and size optimization, and buckling optimization can also be combined with static, frequency and dynamic response optimization. The numerical examples show the applications of the buckling optimization method and the effectiveness of the methods and the program of this paper. Received February 23, 1999     

Hybrid multi-objective shape design optimization using Taguchi’s method and genetic algorithm

This research is based on a new hybrid approach, which deals with the improvement of shape optimization process. The objective is to contribute to the development of more efficient shape optimization approaches in an integrated optimal topology and shape optimization area with the help of genetic algorithms and robustness issues. An improved genetic algorithm is introduced to solve multi-objective shape design optimization problems. The specific issue of this research is to overcome the limitations caused by larger population of solutions in the pure multi-objective genetic algorithm. The combination of genetic algorithm with robust parameter design through a smaller population of individuals results in a solution that leads to better parameter values for design optimization problems. The effectiveness of the proposed hybrid approach is illustrated and evaluated with test problems taken from literature. It is also shown that the proposed approach can be used as first stage in other multi-objective genetic algorithms to enhance the performance of genetic algorithms. Finally, the shape optimization of a vehicle component is presented to illustrate how the present approach can be applied for solving multi-objective shape design optimization problems.