Comparison of Direct Multiobjective Optimization Methods for the Design of Electric Vehicles

"System design oriented methodologies" are discussed in this paper through the comparison of multiobjective optimization methods applied to heterogeneous devices in electrical engineering. Avoiding criteria function derivatives, direct optimization algorithms are used. In particular, deterministic geometric methods such as the Hooke & Jeeves heuristic approach are compared with stochastic evolutionary algorithms (Pareto genetic algorithms). Different issues relative to convergence rapidity and robustness on mixed (continuous/discrete), constrained and multiobjective problems are discussed. A typical electrical engineering heterogeneous and multidisciplinary system is considered as a case study: the motor drive of an electric vehicle. Some results emphasize the capacity of each approach to facilitate system analysis and particularly to display couplings between optimization parameters, constraints, objectives and the driving mission

Symbolic regression-based genetic approximations of the Colebrook equation for flow friction

Widely used in hydraulics, the Colebrook equation for flow friction relates implicitly to the input parameters; the Reynolds number, Re and the relative roughness of an inner pipe surface, epsilon/D with an unknown output parameter; the flow friction factor, ; = f (, Re, epsilon/D). In this paper, a few explicit approximations to the Colebrook equation; approximate to f (Re, epsilon/D), are generated using the ability of artificial intelligence to make inner patterns to connect input and output parameters in an explicit way not knowing their nature or the physical law that connects them, but only knowing raw numbers, {Re, epsilon/D}{}. The fact that the used genetic programming tool does not know the structure of the Colebrook equation, which is based on computationally expensive logarithmic law, is used to obtain a better structure of the approximations, which is less demanding for calculation but also enough accurate. All generated approximations have low computational cost because they contain a limited number of logarithmic forms used for normalization of input parameters or for acceleration, but they are also sufficiently accurate. The relative error regarding the friction factor , in in the best case is up to 0.13% with only two logarithmic forms used. As the second logarithm can be accurately approximated by the Pade approximation, practically the same error is obtained also using only one logarithm.Web of Science109art. no. 117