OPTIMIZATION OF FLYWHEEL MATERIALS USING GENETIC ALGORITHM

An inventive approach to composite flywheel design is put forward for discussion. Flywheel design and development has dominated in many applications where minimizing mass is critical. This is also attractive for various industrial based applications. Hence, the minimum mass required for certain energy storage was used as the objective function. Based on an analytical approach for calculating stresses in flywheels, the nonlinear optimization problem was solved using genetic algorithms that combine an evolutionary algorithm with a nonlinear active set method. The problem was solved for a sample flywheel with varying materials. Minimum mass required is found out for different values of energy storage and corresponding other parameters are found out. Finally, the composite materials found to have the least values of minimum mass required with increased value of angular velocity out of five materials selected for optimization process. [PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]