Effective Hybrid Teaching-learning-based Optimization Algorithm for Balancing Two-sided Assembly Lines with Multiple Constraints

Due to the NP-hardness of the two-sided assembly line balancing （TALB） problem, multiple constraints existing in real applications are less studied, especially when one task is involved with several constraints. In this paper, an effective hybrid algorithm is proposed to address the TALB problem with multiple constraints （TALB-MC）. Considering the discrete attribute of TALB-MC and the continuous attribute of the standard teaching-learning-based optimization （TLBO） algorithm, the random-keys method is hired in task permutation representation, for the purpose of bridging the gap between them. Subsequently, a special mechanism for handling multiple constraints is developed. In the mechanism, the directions constraint of each task is ensured by the direction check and adjustment. The zoning constraints and the synchronism constraints are satisfied by teasing out the hidden correlations among constraints. The positional constraint is allowed to be violated to some extent in decoding and punished in cost fimction. Finally, with the TLBO seeking for the global optimum, the variable neighborhood search （VNS） is further hybridized to extend the local search space. The experimental results show that the proposed hybrid algorithm outperforms the late acceptance hill-climbing algorithm （LAHC） for TALB-MC in most cases, especially for large-size problems with multiple constraints, and demonstrates well balance between the exploration and the exploitation. This research proposes an effective and efficient algorithm for solving TALB-MC problem by hybridizing the TLBO and VNS.

Buckling Optimization of Curved Grid Stiffeners through the Level Set Based Density Method

Stiffened structures have great potential for improvingmechanical performance,and the study of their stability is of great interest.In this paper,the optimization of the critical buckling load factor for curved grid stiffeners is solved by using the level set based density method,where the shape and cross section(including thickness and width)of the stiffeners can be optimized simultaneously.The grid stiffeners are a combination ofmany single stiffenerswhich are projected by the corresponding level set functions.The thickness and width of each stiffener are designed to be independent variables in the projection applied to each level set function.Besides,the path of each single stiffener is described by the zero iso-contour of the level set function.All the single stiffeners are combined together by using the p-norm method to obtain the stiffener grid.The proposed method is validated by several numerical examples to optimize the critical buckling load factor.

Reliability Based Optimization of Composite Laminates for Frequency Constraint

The reliability based optimization （RBO） issue of composite laminates trader fundamental frequency constraint is studied. Considering the tmcertainties of material properties, the frequency constraint reliability of the structure is evaluated by the combination of response surface method （RSM） and finite element method. An optimization algorithm is developed based on the mechanism of laminate frequency characteristics, to optimize the laminate in terms of the ply amount and orientation angles. Numerical examples of composite laminates and cylindrical shell illustrate the advantages of the present optimization algorithm on the efficiency and applicability respects. The optimal solutions of RBO are obviously different from the deterministic optimization results, and the necessity of considering material property uncertainties in the composite structural frequency constraint optimization is revealed.

Optimization of RDF link traversal based query execution

Aiming at the problem that only some types of SPARQL （ simple protocal and resource description framework query language） queries can be answered by using the current resource description framework link traversal based query execution （RDF-LTE） approach, this paper discusses how the execution order of the triple pattern affects the query results and cost based on concrete SPARQL queries, and analyzes two properties of the web of linked data, missing backward links and missing contingency solution. Then three heuristic principles for logic query plan optimization, namely, the filtered basic graph pattern （FBGP） principle, the triple pattern chain principle and the seed URIs principle, are proposed. The three principles contribute to decrease the intermediate solutions and increase the types of queries that can be answered. The effectiveness and feasibility of the proposed approach is evaluated. The experimental results show that more query results can be returned with less cost, thus enabling users to develop the full potential of the web of linked data.

Optimization of the Dressing Parameters in Cylindrical Grinding Based on a Generalized Utility Function

The existing studies, concerning the dressing process, focus on the major influence of the dressing conditions on the grinding response variables. However, the choice of the dressing conditions is often made, based on the experience of the qualified staff or using data from reference books. The optimal dressing parameters, which are only valid for the particular methods and dressing and grinding conditions, are also used. The paper presents a methodology for optimization of the dressing parameters in cylindrical grinding. The generalized utility function has been chosen as an optimization parameter. It is a complex indicator determining the economic, dynamic and manufacturing characteristics of the grinding process. The developed methodology is implemented for the dressing of aluminium oxide grinding wheels by using experimental diamond roller dressers with different grit sizes made of medium- and high-strength synthetic diamonds type AC32 and AC80. To solve the optimization problem, a model of the generalized utility function is created which reflects the complex impact of dressing parameters. The model is built based on the results from the conducted complex study and modeling of the grinding wheel lifetime, cutting ability, production rate and cutting forces during grinding. They are closely related to the dressing conditions （dressing speed ratio, radial in-feed of the diamond roller dresser and dress-out time）, the diamond roller dresser grit size/grinding wheel grit size ratio, the type of synthetic diamonds and the direction of dressing. Some dressing parameters are determined for which the generalized utility fimction has a maximum and which guarantee an optimum combination of the following： the lifetime and cutting ability of the abrasive wheels, the tangential cutting force magnitude and the production rate of the grinding process. The results obtained prove the possibility of control and optimization of grinding by selecting particular dressing parameters.

Reliable Space Pursuing for Reliability-based Design Optimization with Black-box Performance Functions

Reliability-based design optimization （RBDO） is intrinsically a double-loop procedure since it involves an overall optimization and an iterative reliability assessment at each search point. Due to the double-loop procedure, the computational expense of RBDO is normally very high. Current RBDO research focuses on problems with explicitly expressed performance functions and readily available gradients. This paper addresses a more challenging type of RBDO problem in which the performance functions are computation intensive. These computation intensive functions are often considered as a ＂black-box＂ and their gradients are not available or not reliable. On the basis of the reliable design space （RDS） concept proposed earlier by the authors, this paper proposes a Reliable Space Pursuing （RSP） approach, in which RDS is first identified and then gradually refined while optimization is performed. It fundamentally avoids the nested optimization and probabilistic assessment loop. Three well known RBDO problems from the literature are used for testing and demonstrating the effectiveness of the proposed RSP method.

Reliability Based Design Optimization of Aero-Engine Spindle Ball Bearings

Aero-engine spindle ball bearings work in harsh conditions which are affected by relatively complex stresses. One of the key factors which affects bearing performance is its structure. In this paper,we used reliability based design optimization method to solve the structure design problem of aero-engine spindle ball bearings.Compared with the optimization design method, the value of equivalent dynamic load using reliability optimization design method was the least by MATLAB simulation. Also the design solutions show that the optimized structure possesses higher reliability than the original solution.

Optimizing Feedforward Neural Networks Using Biogeography Based Optimization for E-Mail Spam Identification

Spam e-mail has a significant negative impact on individuals and organizations, and is considered as a serious waste of resources, time and efforts. Spam detection is a complex and challenging task to solve. In literature, researchers and practitioners proposed numerous approaches for automatic e-mail spam detection. Learning-based filtering is one of the important approaches used for spam detection where a filter needs to be trained to extract the knowledge that can be used to detect the spam. In this context, Artificial Neural Networks is a widely used machine learning based filter. In this paper, we propose the use of a common type of Feedforward Neural Network called Multi-Layer Perceptron (MLP) for the purpose of e-mail spam identification, where the weights of this network model are found using a new nature-inspired metaheuristic algorithm called Biogeography Based Optimization (BBO). Experiments and results based on two different spam datasets show that the developed MLP model trained by BBO gets high generalization performance compared to other optimization methods used in the literature for e-mail spam detection.

Metamodel-based Global Optimization Using Fuzzy Clustering for Design Space Reduction

High fidelity analysis are utilized in modern engineering design optimization problems which involve expensive black-box models.For computation-intensive engineering design problems,efficient global optimization methods must be developed to relieve the computational burden.A new metamodel-based global optimization method using fuzzy clustering for design space reduction(MGO-FCR) is presented.The uniformly distributed initial sample points are generated by Latin hypercube design to construct the radial basis function metamodel,whose accuracy is improved with increasing number of sample points gradually.Fuzzy c-mean method and Gath-Geva clustering method are applied to divide the design space into several small interesting cluster spaces for low and high dimensional problems respectively.Modeling efficiency and accuracy are directly related to the design space,so unconcerned spaces are eliminated by the proposed reduction principle and two pseudo reduction algorithms.The reduction principle is developed to determine whether the current design space should be reduced and which space is eliminated.The first pseudo reduction algorithm improves the speed of clustering,while the second pseudo reduction algorithm ensures the design space to be reduced.Through several numerical benchmark functions,comparative studies with adaptive response surface method,approximated unimodal region elimination method and mode-pursuing sampling are carried out.The optimization results reveal that this method captures the real global optimum for all the numerical benchmark functions.And the number of function evaluations show that the efficiency of this method is favorable especially for high dimensional problems.Based on this global design optimization method,a design optimization of a lifting surface in high speed flow is carried out and this method saves about 10 h compared with genetic algorithms.This method possesses favorable performance on efficiency,robustness and capability of global convergence and gives a new optimization strategy for engineering design optimization problems involving expensive black box models.

Finding Symbolic and All Numerical Solutions for Design Optimization Based on Monotonicity Analysis and Solving Polynomial Systems

A method for determining symbolic and all numerical solutions in design optimization based on monotonicity analysis and solving polynomial systems is presented in this paper. Groebner Bases of the algebraic system equivalent to the subproblem of the design optimization is taken as the symbolic (analytical) expression of the optimum solution for the symbolic optimization, i.e. the problem with symbolic coefficients. A method based on substituting and eliminating for determining Groebner Bases is also proposed, and method for finding all numerical optimum solutions is discussed. Finally an example is given, demonstrating the strategy and efficiency of the method.

Sequential RBF Surrogate-based Efficient Optimization Method for Engineering Design Problems with Expensive Black-Box Functions

As a promising technique, surrogate-based design and optimization（SBDO） has been widely used in modern engineering design optimizations. Currently, static surrogate-based optimization methods have been successfully applied to expensive optimization problems. However, due to the low efficiency and poor flexibility, static surrogate-based optimization methods are difficult to efficiently solve practical engineering cases. At the aim of enhancing efficiency, a novel surrogate-based efficient optimization method is developed by using sequential radial basis function（SEO-SRBF）. Moreover, augmented Lagrangian multiplier method is adopted to solve the problems involving expensive constraints. In order to study the performance of SEO-SRBF, several numerical benchmark functions and engineering problems are solved by SEO-SRBF and other well-known surrogate-based optimization methods including EGO, MPS, and IARSM. The optimal solutions, number of function evaluations, and algorithm execution time are recorded for comparison. The comparison results demonstrate that SEO-SRBF shows satisfactory performance in both optimization efficiency and global convergence capability. The CPU time required for running SEO-SRBF is dramatically less than that of other algorithms. In the torque arm optimization case using FEA simulation, SEO-SRBF further reduces 21% of thematerial volume compared with the solution from static-RBF subject to the stress constraint. This study provides the efficient strategy to solve expensive constrained optimization problems.

Improvement of Cardiac Function by Dry Weight Optimization Based on Interdialysis Inferior Vena Caval Diameter (1)

In hemodialysis (HD) patients, the diameter of the inferior vena cava (IVC) serves for evaluation of the amount of body fluid.

Beam-based optimization of SwissFEL low-level RF system

Swiss FEL is a free electron laser(FEL) under commissioning at the Paul Scherrer Institut(PSI) in Switzerland. Digital low-level RF(LLRF) systems are used in Swiss FEL to control more than 30 RF stations with either standing wave cavities(e.g. RF gun) or travelling wave structures working at different frequencies. After conditioned to desired power levels, the RF stations need to be setup for beam operation and the LLRF parameters need to be optimized for maximizing the beam stability. Several beam-based algorithms were developed to facilitate the setup, calibration and optimization of the Swiss FEL RF stations for beam operation. The algorithms were implemented as automation procedures in the framework of Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System(EPICS) and were used in commissioning and daily operation of Swiss FEL. In this paper, the algorithms and the implementation will be introduced together with the test results during the commissioning of SwissFEL.

Reliability-based multidisciplinary design optimization using incremental shifting vector strategy and its application in electronic product design

Use of multidisciplinary analysis in reliabilitybased design optimization(RBDO) results in the emergence of the important method of reliability-based multidisciplinary design optimization(RBMDO). To enhance the efficiency and convergence of the overall solution process,a decoupling algorithm for RBMDO is proposed herein.Firstly, to decouple the multidisciplinary analysis using the individual disciplinary feasible(IDF) approach, the RBMDO is converted into a conventional form of RBDO. Secondly,the incremental shifting vector(ISV) strategy is adopted to decouple the nested optimization of RBDO into a sequential iteration process composed of design optimization and reliability analysis, thereby improving the efficiency significantly. Finally, the proposed RBMDO method is applied to the design of two actual electronic products: an aerial camera and a car pad. For these two applications, two RBMDO models are created, each containing several finite element models(FEMs) and relatively strong coupling between the involved disciplines. The computational results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method.

Handling Multiple Objectives with Biogeography-based Optimization

Biogeography-based optimization （BBO） is a new evolutionary optimization method inspired by biogeography. In this paper, BBO is extended to a multi-objective optimization, and a biogeography-based multi-objective optimization （BBMO） is introduced, which uses the cluster attribute of islands to naturally decompose the problem. The proposed algorithm makes use of nondominated sorting approach to improve the convergence ability efficiently. It also combines the crowding distance to guarantee the diversity of Pareto optimal solutions. We compare the BBMO with two representative state-of-the-art evolutionary multi-objective optimization methods, non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm-II （NSGA-II） and archive-based micro genetic algorithm （AMGA） in terms of three metrics. Simulation results indicate that in most cases, the proposed BBMO is able to find much better spread of solutions and converge faster to true Pareto optimal fronts than NSGA-II and AMGA do.

Hyperparameter Tuning for Deep Neural Networks Based Optimization Algorithm

For training the present Neural Network(NN)models,the standard technique is to utilize decaying Learning Rates(LR).While the majority of these techniques commence with a large LR,they will decay multiple times over time.Decaying has been proved to enhance generalization as well as optimization.Other parameters,such as the network’s size,the number of hidden layers,drop-outs to avoid overfitting,batch size,and so on,are solely based on heuristics.This work has proposed Adaptive Teaching Learning Based(ATLB)Heuristic to identify the optimal hyperparameters for diverse networks.Here we consider three architec-tures Recurrent Neural Networks(RNN),Long Short Term Memory(LSTM),Bidirectional Long Short Term Memory(BiLSTM)of Deep Neural Networks for classification.The evaluation of the proposed ATLB is done through the various learning rate schedulers Cyclical Learning Rate(CLR),Hyperbolic Tangent Decay(HTD),and Toggle between Hyperbolic Tangent Decay and Triangular mode with Restarts(T-HTR)techniques.Experimental results have shown the performance improvement on the 20Newsgroup,Reuters Newswire and IMDB dataset.

Synthetical Efficiency-based Optimization for the Power Distribution of Power-split Hybrid Electric Vehicles

Now the optimization strategies for power distribution are researched widely, and most of them are aiming to the optimal fuel economy and the driving cycle must be preknown. Thus if the actual driving condition deviates from the scheduled driving cycle, the effect of optimal results will be declined greatly. Therefore, the instantaneous optimization strategy carried out on-line is studied in this paper. The power split path and the transmission efficiency are analyzed based on a special power-split scheme and the efficiency models of the power transmitting components are established. The synthetical efficiency optimization model is established for enhancing the transmission efficiency and the fuel economy. The identification of the synthetical efficiency as the optimization objective and the constrain group are discussed emphatically. The optimization is calculated by the adaptive simulated annealing （ASA） algorithm and realized on-line by the radial basis function （RBF）-based similar models. The optimization for power distribution of the hybrid vehicle in an actual driving condition is carried out and the road test results are presented. The test results indicate that the synthetical efficiency optimization method can enhance the transmission efficiency and the fuel economy of the power-split hybrid electric vehicle （HEV） observably. Compared to the rules-based strategy the optimization strategy is optimal and achieves the approximate global optimization solution for the power distribution. The synthetical efficiency optimization solved by ASA algorithm can give attentions to both optimization quality and calculation efficiency, thus it has good application foreground for the power distribution of power-split HEV.

A Filter-Based Pattern Search Method for Unconstrained Optimization

We discuss a filter-based pattern search method for unconstrained optimization in this paper. For the purpose to broaden the search range we use both filter technique and frames, which are fragments of grids, to provide a new criterion of iterate acceptance. The convergence can be ensured under some conditions. The numerical result shows that this method is practical and efficient.

Parameter Optimization of Nose Landing Gear Considering Both Take-off and Landing Performance of Catapult Take-off Carrier-Based Aircraft

Optimization of the parameters of landing gear systems with double-stage air springs of catapult take-off carrier-based aircraft is here studied based on the mathematical equations of the classic dual mass spring-damper dynamic model.Certain standards for both take-off and landing performance are put forward.The contradictory factors between take-off and landing processes are analyzed.The optimization of oil in the pin area and the area near the rear oil hole is performed.Then these optimized parameters are used to assess the influence of the initial pressure of the low chamber,the ratio of the high chamber to the low chamber,and the tire inflation pressure on the performance of arresting landing and catapult take-off.The influences of these parameters on carrier-based aircraft and the aircraft-carrier on aircraft catapult take-off is also assessed.Based on the results of the simulation,respective take-off criteria must be drafted considering different types of aircraft and different take-off load cases,all of which must be matched to parameters relevant to catapult take-off.