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Fuzzy Reliability-Based Optimization for Engineering System Design

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Abstract

Both the performance and the useful life of engineering systems can be affected by uncertainties that have not been considered at the design stage of such systems. Therefore, uncertainty, reliability, and robustness analyses are important tools to evaluate the influence of uncertainties on the operational conditions of machines and structures during the design process. In this contribution, a fuzzy reliability-based optimization procedure is presented. This methodology is based on the fuzzy logic approach and considers both the possibility and fuzzy states assumptions, in which the uncertain parameters are modeled as fuzzy variables. Thus, the associated optimization problems are solved through a nested algorithm. An inner optimization loop is used to obtain the limits of the uncertain variables, and an outer optimization loop evaluates a predefined fuzzy reliability index within the previously obtained bounds. The performance of the proposed approach was evaluated through a benchmark function and two engineering design problems. The reliability fuzzy approach is compared with another existing strategy. The obtained results demonstrate that the proposed approach represents a new alternative to reliability-based design of engineering systems, eliminating the influence of the probability and/or possibility distributions on the obtained results.

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Acknowledgements

The authors are thankful for the financial support provided to the present research effort by CNPq (574001/2008-5, 304546/2018-8, and 431337/2018-7), FAPEMIG (TEC-APQ-3076-09, TEC-APQ-02284-15, TEC-APQ-00464-16, and PPM-00187-18), and CAPES through the INCT-EIE.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Probabilistic Mechanics Laboratory, University of Central Florida, 12760 Pegasus Blvd, Building ENG 1, Room 344, Orlando, USA

    Arinan De P. Dourado

  2. NUCOP - Laboratory Modeling, Simulation, Control and Optimization, School of Chemical Engineering, Federal University of Uberlândia, Av. João Naves de Ávila 2121, Uberlândia, MG, 38408-196, Brazil

    Fran S. Lobato

  3. LMEst - Structural Mechanics Laboratory, School of Mechanical Engineering, Federal University of Uberlândia, Av. João Naves de Ávila, 2121, Uberlândia, MG, 38408-196, Brazil

    Aldemir Ap Cavalini Jr. & Valder Steffen Jr.

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  1. Arinan De P. Dourado
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  2. Fran S. Lobato
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  3. Aldemir Ap Cavalini Jr.
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  4. Valder Steffen Jr.
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Correspondence to Aldemir Ap Cavalini Jr..

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Dourado, A.D., Lobato, F.S., Cavalini, A.A. et al. Fuzzy Reliability-Based Optimization for Engineering System Design. Int. J. Fuzzy Syst. 21, 1418–1429 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40815-019-00655-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40815-019-00655-5

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