Fast Algorithms for Optimization Problems Arising in the Design of Engineering Systems

近年来，随着可用计算能力的急剧增加，数值优化已成为复杂工程系统设计的一个有吸引力的工具。然而，这些技术在设计中的使用一直受到以下因素的阻碍：(I)难以以忠实的方式将实际设计问题转换为数学优化问题，(Ii)经典优化工具无法有效地考虑在设计环境中出现的优化问题的许多不同特征，以及(Iii)无法向设计者提供支持这些能力的强大和合适的环境。研究人员寻求一种基于优化的设计方法，以适应大多数设计问题的内在权衡驱动特征。这种方法广泛地利用了设计者的知识和经验，并强调人机交互。

With the recent dramatic increase in available computing power, numerical optimization has become an attractive tool for the design of complex engineering systems. However, use of these techniques in design has been hindered by (i) the difficulty to translate in a faithful manner the actual design problem into mathematical optimization problem, (ii) the inability of classical optimization tools to efficiently take into account the many distinctive features of optimization problems arising in a design context, and (iii) the unavailability of software tools offering to the designer a powerful as well as congenial environment supporting such capabilities. The investigators seek an optimization-based design methodology that accommodates the inherent trade-off driven character of most design problems. This methodology calls extensively upon the designer's knowledge and experience and emphasizes man-machine interaction.