The identification of optimal tire design parameters for satisfying different requirements, i.e. tire performance characteristics, plays an essential role in tire design. In order to improve tire performance characteristics, formulation and solving of multi-objective optimization problem must be performed. This paper presents a multi-objective optimization procedure for determination of optimal tire design parameters for simultaneous minimization of strain energy density at two distinctive zones inside the tire. It consists of four main stages: pre-analysis, design of experiment, mathematical modeling and multi-objective optimization. Advantage of the proposed procedure is reflected in the fact that multi-objective optimization is based on the Pareto concept, which enables design engineers to obtain a complete set of optimization solutions and choose a suitable tire design. Furthermore, modeling of the relationships between tire design parameters and objective functions based on multiple regression analysis minimizes computational and modeling effort. The adequacy of the proposed tire design multi-objective optimization procedure has been validated by performing experimental trials based on finite element method.

In this paper, an attempt has been made to develop a mathematical model in order to study the relationship between laser cutting parameters such as laser power, cutting speed, assist gas pressure and focus position, and kerf taper angle obtained in CO2 laser cutting of AISI 304 stainless steel. To this aim, a single hidden layer artificial neural network (ANN) trained with gradient descent with momentum algorithm was used. To obtain an experimental database for the ANN training, laser cutting experiment was planned as per Taguchi’s L27 orthogonal array with three levels for each of the cutting parameters. Statistically assessed as adequate, ANN model was then used to investigate the effect of the laser cutting parameters on the kerf taper angle by generating 2D and 3D plots. It was observed that the kerf taper angle was highly sensitive to the selected laser cutting parameters, as well as their interactions. In addition to modeling, by applying the Monte Carlo method on the developed kerf taper angle ANN model, the near optimal laser cutting parameter settings, which minimize kerf taper angle, were determined.

Enhancing the overall machining performance implies optimization of machining processes, i.e. determination of optimal machining parameters combination. Optimization of machining processes is an active field of research where different optimization methods are being used to determine an optimal combination of different machining parameters. In this paper, multi-stage Monte Carlo (MC) method was employed to determine optimal combinations of machining parameters for six machining processes, i.e. drilling, turning, turn-milling, abrasive waterjet machining, electrochemical discharge machining and electrochemical micromachining. Optimization solutions obtained by using multi-stage MC method were compared with the optimization solutions of past researchers obtained by using meta-heuristic optimization methods, e.g. genetic algorithm, simulated annealing algorithm, artificial bee colony algorithm and teaching learning based optimization algorithm. The obtained results prove the applicability and suitability of the multi-stage MC method for solving machining optimization problems with up to four independent variables. Specific features, merits and drawbacks of the MC method were also discussed.

Optimization of machining processes not only increases machining efficiency and economics, but also the end product quality. In recent years, among the traditional optimization methods, stochastic direct search optimization methods such as meta-heuristic algorithms are being increasingly applied for solving machining optimization problems. Their ability to deal with complex, multi-dimensional and ill-behaved optimization problems made them the preferred optimization tool by most researchers and practitioners. This paper introduces the use of pattern search (PS) algorithm, as a deterministic direct search optimization method, for solving machining optimization problems. To analyze the applicability and performance of the PS algorithm, six case studies of machining optimization problems, both single and multi-objective, were considered. The PS algorithm was employed to determine optimal combinations of machining parameters for different machining processes such as abrasive waterjet machining, turning, turn-milling, drilling, electrical discharge machining and wire electrical discharge machining. In each case study the optimization solutions obtained by the PS algorithm were compared with the optimization solutions that had been determined by past researchers using meta-heuristic algorithms. Analysis of obtained optimization results indicates that the PS algorithm is very applicable for solving machining optimization problems showing good competitive potential against stochastic direct search methods such as meta-heuristic algorithms. Specific features and merits of the PS algorithm were also discussed.

Production engineers are frequently faced with the multi-criteria selection problems in the manufacturing environment. Over the years, many multi-criteria decision making (MCDM) methods have been proposed to help decision makers in solving different complex selection problems. This paper introduces the use of an almost unexplored MCDM method, i.e. range of value (ROV) method for solving cutting fluid selection problems. The main motivation of using the ROV method is that it offers a very simple computational procedure compared to other MCDM methods. Applicability and effectiveness of the ROV method have been demonstrated while solving four case studies dealing with selection of the most suitable cutting fluid for the given machining application. In each case study the obtained complete rankings were compared with those derived by the past researchers using different MCDM methods. The results obtained using the ROV method have excellent correlation with those derived by the past researchers which validate the usefulness and effectiveness of this simple MCDM method for solving cutting fluid selection problems.