A functional design methodology with genetic algorithm optimization to a door actuation mechanism

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Thesis Type: Postgraduate

Institution Of The Thesis: Middle East Technical University, Graduate School of Natural and Applied Sciences, Turkey

Approval Date: 2019

Thesis Language: English

Student: HASAN AKMAN

Co-Supervisor: Hakan Çalışkan

Supervisor: Ali Emre Turgut

Abstract:

In this thesis, the preliminary design of an in-flight refueling door actuation mechanism is designed. A novel design methodology is introduced to create and evaluate different mechanism design alternatives systematically. The design is divided into two sub-problems. For each sub-problem, different conceptual design alternatives and evaluation criteria are created considering the design requirements. Suitable concepts are systematically selected among the alternatives based on the evaluation criteria. Then, detailed synthesis and analysis are performed on the selected concepts. After synthesis and analysis, selected concepts are optimized by using Genetic Algorithm. For each sub-problem, optimized mechanism concepts are compared one more time based on different criteria, and a suitable mechanism concept is selected. Lastly, mechanism concepts of each sub-problem are combined to obtain the best design of the in-flight refueling door actuation mechanism.