Design of Objective Functions for Optimization of Multi-domain Systems

Abstract

Engineering problems are often characterized by many conflicting objectives which span over several 
engineering domains. In this paper an approach to design of objective functions for engineering problems 
is presented. Multi-domain systems can be characterized as complex systems which combine different 
fields of engineering. Here an aircraft landing gear is studied which is a true example of a multi-domain 
simulation problem due to the presence of mechanical, electrical and hydraulic sub systems. On this 
simulation model a non-gradient optimization strategy is applied where the formulation of the objective 
function is supported by the House of Quality method. The design of an objective function for optimization 
is in many cases a complex procedure involving a great amount of expertise. The House of Quality method 
is used here both to facilitate team activities and to elucidate the relation between system characteristics 
and system parameters.