Configuration Design of Mechanical Assemblies using an Estimation of Distribution Algorithm and Constraint Programming

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Main Authors: Cheong, Hyunmin, Ebrahimi, Mehran, Butscher, Adrian, Iorio, Francesco
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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author Cheong, Hyunmin
Ebrahimi, Mehran
Butscher, Adrian
Iorio, Francesco
author_facet Cheong, Hyunmin
Ebrahimi, Mehran
Butscher, Adrian
Iorio, Francesco
contents A configuration design problem in mechanical engineering involves finding an optimal assembly of components and joints that realizes some desired performance criteria. Such a problem is a discrete, constrained, and black-box optimization problem. A novel method is developed to solve the problem by applying Bivariate Marginal Distribution Algorithm (BMDA) and constraint programming (CP). BMDA is a type of Estimation of Distribution Algorithm (EDA) that exploits the dependency knowledge learned between design variables without requiring too many fitness evaluations, which tend to be expensive for the current application. BMDA is extended with adaptive chi-square testing to identify dependencies and Gibbs sampling to generate new solutions. Also, repair operations based on CP are used to deal with infeasible solutions found during search. The method is applied to a vehicle suspension design problem and is found to be more effective in converging to good solutions than a genetic algorithm and other EDAs. These contributions are significant steps towards solving the difficult problem of configuration design in mechanical engineering with evolutionary computation.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2503_11002
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Configuration Design of Mechanical Assemblies using an Estimation of Distribution Algorithm and Constraint Programming
Cheong, Hyunmin
Ebrahimi, Mehran
Butscher, Adrian
Iorio, Francesco
Neural and Evolutionary Computing
Applied Physics
Applications
A configuration design problem in mechanical engineering involves finding an optimal assembly of components and joints that realizes some desired performance criteria. Such a problem is a discrete, constrained, and black-box optimization problem. A novel method is developed to solve the problem by applying Bivariate Marginal Distribution Algorithm (BMDA) and constraint programming (CP). BMDA is a type of Estimation of Distribution Algorithm (EDA) that exploits the dependency knowledge learned between design variables without requiring too many fitness evaluations, which tend to be expensive for the current application. BMDA is extended with adaptive chi-square testing to identify dependencies and Gibbs sampling to generate new solutions. Also, repair operations based on CP are used to deal with infeasible solutions found during search. The method is applied to a vehicle suspension design problem and is found to be more effective in converging to good solutions than a genetic algorithm and other EDAs. These contributions are significant steps towards solving the difficult problem of configuration design in mechanical engineering with evolutionary computation.
title Configuration Design of Mechanical Assemblies using an Estimation of Distribution Algorithm and Constraint Programming
topic Neural and Evolutionary Computing
Applied Physics
Applications
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2503.11002