Abstract:
This thesis describes the development of a multi-objective automated optimisation
system to be used for the design optimisation of micro-scale combustion devices. The
developed system described within integrates a commercial computational fluid
dynamics package and a multi-objective variant of the Tabu Search optimisation
algorithm for continuous problems, which is a heuristic optimisation technique that
exhibits local search characteristics.
Recent advances in micro-fabrication techniques have resulted in increasing interest
from industry and academia to investigate the possibility of replacing the current
conventional power supply “battery” with a miniaturised combustion power generation
system based on micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) technology. The
microcombustor is one of the crucial components of such a power system. The aim is to
improve the main micro-scale combustor design characteristics and to satisfy
manufacturability considerations from the very beginning of the whole design process.
The main combustor design requirements, challenges and design parameters that
influence the device performance at a micro-scale were first defined. Within the
optimisation design cycle a robust parameterisation scheme, the geometry and
numerical grid representations were implemented. These were achieved by
incorporating the knowledge gained from the parametric design study by understanding
the design space in depth and identifying issues and their solutions during this design
study such as geometry overlapping and mesh refinement. Cont/d.
