EVOLUTIONARY DESIGN SYNTHESIS COMPARISON: GROWTH & DEVELOPMENT VS. FIXED-MESH CELLS
Year: 2011
Editor: Culley, S.J.; Hicks, B.J.; McAloone, T.C.; Howard, T.J. & Dong, A.
Author: Yogev, Or; Shapiro, Andrew A.; Antonsson, Erik K.
Series: ICED
Section: Design Methods and Tools Part 2
Page(s): 402-412
Abstract
Two design synthesis techniques, both utilizing evolutionary computation, are compared. One employs growth and development of a model composed of finite element cells; the other employs a pre-defined fixed mesh of finite element cells. Both of these processes use a similar set of rules. In the fixed-mesh case, some of the rules present in the growth development case have been disabled to preserve the fixed mesh. The development process starts with a single cell while the fixed-mesh method starts with a predefined volume of material comprising 640 cells. The fitness of individuals in both approaches is determined by evaluating a combination of four different performance objectives: a desired resonant frequency; an ability to support a stochastically varying external load; a desired vertical height; and a minimum weight. A solution with both types of models is found in a relatively small number of generations. However, the growth development approach generated design configurations with valuable engineering characteristics, including symmetry, smoothness, and regularity, while the fixed-mesh approach generated non-smooth configurations with porosity and inhomogeneity.
Keywords: INDIRECT ENCODING; GENETIC ALGORITHM; EVOLUTION; DEVELOPMENT; DESIGN SYNTHESIS