OPTIMAL HIERARCHICAL DECOMPOSITION SYNTHESIS USING INTEGER PROGRAMMING

Decomposition synthesis in optimal design is the process of creating a n optimal design model by selecting objectives and constraints so that it can be directly partitioned into an appropriate decomposed form. S uch synthesis results are not unique since there may be many partition s that satisfy the decomposition requirements. Introducing suitable cr iteria an optimal decomposition synthesis process can be defined in a manner analogous to optimal partitioning formulations. The article pre sents an integer programming formulation and solution techniques for s ythesizing hierarchically decomposed optimal design problems. Examples for designing a pressure vessel, an automotive caliper disc brake and a speed reducer are also presented.