OPTIMIZATION PROBLEMS IN ELECTROMAGNETICS

A new software environment for optimizing electromagnetic devices is described. The designer can interactively construct a computer model for the device to be optimized, select the variables with their constraints and create a suitable objective function for minimization. The software is designed to exploit the capabilities of a powerful 'command decoder' with an algebraic interpreter. The paper describes some preliminary tests using both classical optimization methods involving linear searches as well as a stochastic method based on the 'simulated annealing' algorithm.