Optimal Partitioning and Coordination Decisions in System Design Using an Evolutionary Algorithm

1. Abstract Use of decomposition-based design optimization methods requires a priori selection of system partitioning and of the corresponding coordination strategy. Typically, partitioning systems into smaller, easier to solve subproblems leads to more complicated, computationally expensive coordination strategies. Previous optimal partitioning techniques have not addressed the coordination issue explicitly. A Pareto-optimal problem formulation was proposed recently to address simultaneous partitioning and coordination decisions. Due to the combinatorial nature of this problem, exhaustive enumeration was used to demonstrate the approach to small system examples. This article presents and demonstrates an evolutionary algorithm that can solve this problem for systems of moderate size. A readily partitioned truss design formulation is introduced on which design problems with a wide variety of interaction patterns and system sizes can be based. An eight-bar truss problem is used to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed evolutionary algorithm.