OPTIMAL-DESIGN OF MECHANICAL-ENGINEERING SYSTEMS

The capability of mathematical optimization to support the mechanical design process is finally reaching wide recognition, as evidenced by s ignificant applications in industry. The article reviews key issues an d challenges for design optimization theorists and practitioners. Larg e scale system design and topology or configuration design are identif ied as the most important areas of future design optimization research . Some new approaches for partitioning large design problems and for t opology optimization of multi-component structural systems are introdu ced.