OPTIMAL SYNTHESIS OF MECHANISMS USING NONLINEAR GOAL PROGRAMMING TECHNIQUES

The application of multiple objective optimization techniques based on the methods of nonlinear goal programming to perform optimal synthesis of general planar mechanisms is presented. In this optimization technique, the objectives of the design problem are first identified and prioritized according to their relative importance. The mechanism analysis is then performed to identify the design variables and their relationships to the dependent variables. The nonlinear goal programming technique is employed to determine the optimal values for the design variables that best satisfy the desired objectives of the problem. The uniqueness of this optimization technique lies in its ability to include all the objectives directly in the optimization process. This method, thus, eliminates the need to identify or combine the objectives into a single objective for the purpose of optimization. Several illustrative mechanism synthesis problems with multiple objectives were studied for optimal solutions using the nonlinear goal programming technique and the method produced accurate and acceptable solutions in all cases. The application of this method to three typical industrial type mechanism synthesis problems is presented and the results are discussed.