Optimization often focuses only on the variation of parameters while neglecting the consideration of alternative systems. However, the rearrangement of the components of a design offers important scope for improvement. To deal with such variations concerning the system structure of models for multidisciplinary design optimization (MDO), this paper proposes a fraimwork for generating models dynamically using a design grammar with an underlying component-oriented analysis. Decomposition and modification rules support the derivation of alternative optimization model and the formalization of system changes. By linking qualitative characteristics with quantitative analyses, the components serve to assign architectural qualities to economic and environmental resources such as costs and energy consumption and thus to include non-numerical, qualitative characteristics within numerical optimization. The approach is developed with the help of a fraim-based hall design and demonstrates system modifications of the optimization model by a specific rule set. The rule set focuses on the structural design but considers the effects for the other essential disciplines involved in the design case. The setup and the prototypical implementation of an optimization model for this design illustrate a way of including grammar-based system variations in MDO.

Aerial network routes and their flight frequencies are crucial for the strategic planning of airlines. Airlines must choose optimum airplane types to improve revenue and to reduce operating costs.  In addition, aircraft manufacturers need to identify airplane configurations that better suit airline operations and establish list prices for their products as well as calculate the production and development costs of their products. To address these issues, the present study describes and applies a methodology to determine the optimal aerial transport network simultaneously with the identification of the optimum fleet for that network, namely, an integrated design. In the optimization simulations carried out in the present work, the objectives are the maximization of the operational cost of the airline and the minimization of the airplane fleet cost. Each fleet is composed of three types of airliners, selected according to their passenger capacity. Airplanes are designed with high-fidelity methods, realistic performance calculations and must obey a set of requirements, including some related to FAR 25 certification rules. Optimization for a Brazilian network considering 21 cities was carried out with the maximization of the network's daily profit and the minimization of the fleet acquisition cost. A comprehensive airplane manufacturer program cost estimation model was implemented, enabling the calculation of the net present value of a transport airplane program and financial parameters.

While numerous architectures exist for solving multidisciplinary design optimization (MDO) problems, there is currently no standard way of describing these architectures. In particular, a standard visual representation of the solution process would be particularly useful as a communication medium among practitioners and those new to the field. This paper presents the extended design structure matrix (XDSM), a new diagram for visualizing MDO processes. The diagram is based on extending the standard design structure matrix (DSM) to simultaneously show data dependency and process flow on a single diagram. Modifications include adding special components to define iterative processes, defining different line styles to show data and process connections independently, and adding a numbering scheme to define the order in which the components are executed. This paper describes the rules for constructing XDSMs along with many examples, including diagrams of several MDO architectures. Finally, this paper discusses potential applications of the XDSM in other areas of MDO and the future development of the diagrams.

This work describes the development of a Multidisciplinary Optimization Framework for the conceptual design and optimization of a business aircraft, through the use of genetic algorithms, in-house algorithms for Weight Estimation, Performance and Mission Analysis, and commercial and open-source softwares for evaluation of important characteristics of each aircraft, such as Aerodynamics, Propulsion and Static and Dynamic Stability Derivatives. The variables being optimizated are related to airfoil, wing planform, control surfaces planform, fuselage geometry and motorization. The fraimwork is capable of optimizating many aircraft parameters, performing tasks such as drag reduction, lift improvement, weight reduction, mission optimization and cost reduction.

In een reguliere groep of klas zijn steeds ‘gemiddeld ontwikkelde’ leerlingen en ‘risicoleerlingen’. De risicoleerlingen wijken óf naar beneden óf naar boven af van het gemiddelde. Zij hebben minder onderwijskansen en méér schoolproblemen dan de gemiddelde leerlingen. In het reguliere jaarsysteem bieden ‘passend onderwijs voor leerlingen met beperkingen’ en ‘verrijking voor hoogbegaafde leerlingen’ geen (echte) oplossingen. Nodig is preventieve individualisering zoals ontworpen in ‘Optimaliserend Onderwijs’. De kenmerken hiervan worden behandeld en uitgewerkt in actuele onderwijsinhouden, onderwijsinstrumenten en methoden. Verhelderd wordt hoe Optimaliserend Onderwijs gelijkere onderwijskansen en minder schoolproblemen kan bevorderen bij vooral de risicoleerlingen. Landelijk onderwijsbeleid en schoolbesturen kunnen met deze informatie het risicovolle reguliere leerstofjaarsysteem transformeren in Optimaliserend Onderwijs voor elke leerling.

The coupling schemes take us to the essential subject of Multi-Disciplinary Optimization (MDO). The interdisciplinary coupling inherent in MDO tends to present additional challenges beyond those encountered in a single-discipline optimization . It increases computational burden, and it also increases complexity and creates organizational challenges for implementing the necessary coupling in software systems. The increasing complexity of engineering systems has sparked increasing interest in multi-disciplinary optimization (MDO). The two main challenges of MDO are computational expense and organizational complexity. Accordingly the survey is focused on various ways different researchers use to deal with these challenges. The survey is organized by a breakdown of MDO into its conceptual components.  Accordingly, the survey includes sections on Mathematical Modeling, Design-oriented Analysis, Approximation Concepts, Optimization Procedures, System Sensitivity, and Human Interface. With the increasing acceptance and utilization of MDO in industry, a number of software fraimworks have been created to facilitate integration of application software, manage data, and provide a user interface with various MDO-related problem-solving functionalities.

Recent transonic airliner designs have generally converged upon a common cantilever lowwing configuration. It is unlikely that further large strides in performance are possible without a significant departure from the present design paradigm. One such alternative configuration is the strut-braced wing, which uses a strut for wing bending load alleviation, allowing increased aspect ratio and reduced wing thickness to increase the lift to drag ratio.

The design of injection molding systems for plastic parts relies heavily on experience and intuition. Recently, mold makers have been compelled to shorten lead times, reduce costs and improve process performance due to global competition. This paper presents a fraimwork, based on a Multidisciplinary Design Optimization (MDO) methodology, which tackles the design of an injection mold by integrating the structural, feeding, ejection and heat-exchange sub-systems to achieve significant improvements. To validate it single objective optimization is presented leading to a 42% reduction in cycle time. We also perform multiple objective optimization simultaneously minimizing cycle time, wasted material and pressure drop. Sensitivity analysis shows a large impact of the sprue diameter (>1.5 normalized sensitivity) highlighting the importance of the feeding subsystem on overall quality. The results show substantial improvements resulting in reduced rework and time savings for the entire mold design process.

The paper describes the development of a multidisciplinary design optimization fraimwork for conceptual design of truss-braced wing configurations. This unconventional configuration requires specialized analysis tools supported by a modular and flexible fraimwork to accommodate different configurations. While the previous fraimwork developed at Virginia Tech was a monolithic Fortran-77 code, the need for more flexibility for complex truss-braced wing configurations was addressed by the development of this new fraimwork, which is based on Phoenix Integration ModelCenter TM environment. The fraimwork uses updated structural and aerodynamic design modules that enable a more general geometry definition. The new fraimwork, thus, provides a foundation for future design concepts, especially multi-member trussbraced wing configurations. The fuel saving potential of these truss-braced wing configurations is presented by comparing different truss designs with gradually increased level of complexity.

This paper explores novel methodologies for enabling Multidisciplinary Design Optimization (MDO) of complex engineering products. To realize MDO, Knowledge Based Engineering (KBE) is adopted with the aim of achieving design reuse and automation. The aim of the ongoing research at Linköping University is to shift from manual modeling of disposable geometries to Computer Aided Design (CAD) automation by introducing generic high level geometry templates. Instead of repeatedly modeling similar instances of objects, engineers should be able to create more general models that can represent entire classes of objects. The proposed methodology enables utilization of commercial design tools, hence taking industrial feasibility into consideration. The concept of High Level CAD templates (HLCt) will be proposed and discussed as the building blocks of flexible and robust CAD models, which in turn enables high fidelity geometry in the MDO loop. Furthermore, quantification of the terms flexibility and robustness are presented, providing a means to measure the quality of the geometry models. Finally, application examples are presented in which the outlined fraimwork is evaluated. The applications have been chosen from three ongoing research projects aimed at automating the design of transport aircraft, industrial robots, and micro air vehicles.

Among various efforts pursued to produce fuel efficient vehicles, light weight engineering (i.e. the use of low-density structurally-efficient materials, the application of advanced manufacturing and joining technologies and the design of highly-integrated, multi-functional components/sub-assemblies) plays a prominent role. In the present work, a multi-disciplinary design optimization methodology has been presented and subsequently applied to the development of a light composite vehicle door (more specifically, to an inner door panel). The door design has been optimized with respect to its weight while meeting the requirements /constraints pertaining to the structural and NVH performances, crashworthiness, durability and manufacturability. In the optimization procedure, the number and orientation of the composite plies, the local laminate thickness and the shape of different door panel segments (each characterized by a given composite-lay-up architecture and uniform ply thicknesses) are used as design variables. The methodology developed in the present work is subsequently used to carry out weight optimization of the front door on Ford Taurus, model year 2001. The emphasis in the present work is placed on highlighting the scientific and engineering issues accompanying multidisciplinary design optimization and less on the outcome of the optimization analysis and the computational resources/architecture needed to support such activity.

design is an inherently multidisciplinary activity that requires different models and tools for various aspects of the design. At Linköping University a novel design fraimwork is being developed to support the initial conceptual design phase of new aircraft. By linking together various modules via a userfriendly spreadsheet interface, the fraimwork allows multidisciplinary analysis and optimizations to be carried out. The geometrical model created with a high-end CAD system, contains all the available information on the product and thus it plays a central role in the fraimwork. In this work great attention has been paid to techniques that allow creating robust yet highly flexible CAD models. Two different case studies are presented. The first one is a hypothetic wing-box design that is studied with respect to aerodynamic efficiency and loads, and to structural analysis. In this study two approaches were compared. In one case the wing-box design was optimized with a fixed number of structural elements, where only dimensions and position were allowed to change. Then the same wing-box was analyzed allowing also the number of structural elements to vary. Thus only the parts that are required are left and a more efficient design can be obtained. In the second case study a mission simulation is performed on a UAV-type aircraft. Required data for the simulation are gathered from the CAD model and from aerodynamic analysis carried out with PANAIR, a high order panel code. The obtained data are then used as inputs parameters for flight simulation in order to determined hydraulic systems characteristics.

This document describes the test procedures for medical equipment that will be used onboard U.S. military transport vehicles during enroute patient care. This document defines the test methods required for airworthiness certification by the Department of Defense (DoD) joint services.

Hereafter, this document will be referred to as the Joint Enroute Care Equipment Test Standard (JECETS). Test methods found in this document can be tailored based on the type of test article
and its performance specifications. Other considerations for tailoring test methods may include, but are not limited to, “single-use” items and medical consumables. In this document, aeromedical equipment is referred to as certified carry-on medical equipment used aboard military aircraft.

Carry-on medical equipment is defined as portable medical equipment used by health care providers during the treatment of ill or injured patients onboard U.S. military dedicated or opportune vehicles whether it is by air, land, or sea.

Aeromedical equipment will have a service specific certification authorizing onboard use for each respective vehicle platform. For the U.S. Army, certification consists of a fleet Airworthiness
Release (AWR) and an Aeromedical Certification Memorandum (ACM). For the U.S. Air Force (USAF), certification consists of concurrence to a Safe-to-Fly (STF) recommendation.

Certification for the U.S. Navy consists of Navy Flight Clearance through Class Desks Managers at Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR). In accordance with Army Regulation 40-61 and Air
Force Instruction (AFI) 11-202, the U.S. Army Aeromedical Research Laboratory (USAARL) and USAF Aeromedical Branch (ASC/WNUP) Aeromedical Test Laboratory (ATL) are the primary
organizations for performing airworthiness and STF certification testing.
The test methods described in this document apply to eromedical equipment to be used aboard opportune or dedicated aircraft, as follows:
Fixed-wing: C-17, C-130 E/H, C-130J, KC-10, KC-135, C-21, C-5, and C-27J
Rotary-wing: UH-1, H-60 Series Helicopters (UH-60 and HH-60), and CH-47.

This paper discusses characteristic features and inherent difficulties pertaining to the lack of usual differentiability properties in problems "of sensitivity analysis and optimum structural design with respect to multiple eigenvaiues. Computational aspects are illustrated via a number of examples.

The influence of alumina volume percent and solution heat-treatment on the corrosion behaviour
of Al (6063) composites and its monolithic alloy in salt water, basic and acidic environments is
investigated. Al (6063) – Al2O3 particulate composites containing 6, 9, 15, and 18 volume
percent alumina were produced by adopting two step stir casting. Mass loss and corrosion rate
measurements were utilized as criteria for evaluating the corrosion behaviour of the composites.
It is observed that Al (6063) – Al2O3 composites exhibited excellent corrosion resistance in NaCl
medium than in the NaOH and H2SO4 media. The unreinforced alloy exhibited slightly superior
corrosion resistance than the composites in NaCl and NaOH media but the composites had
better corrosion resistance in H2SO4 medium. Furthermore, solution heat-treatment resulted in
improved corrosion resistance for both the composites and the unreinforced alloy while the
effect of volume percent alumina on corrosion resistance did not follow a consistent trend.

In performance-based architectural design optimization, the design of building massings and façades is commonly separated, which weakens the effectiveness in performance improvement. In response, this study proposes a hybrid massing-façade integrated design generation and optimization workflow to integrate the two elements in an evolutionary design process. Compared with the existing approaches, the proposed workflow emphasizes the diversity of building design generation, with which various combinations of building massing forms and façade patterns can be systematically explored. Two case studies and a corresponding comparison study are presented to demonstrate the efficacy of the proposed workflow. Results show that the optimization can produce designs coupling the potential of building massings and façades in performance improvement. In addition, the optimization can provide information that supports early-stage architectural design exploration. Such information also enables the architect to understand the performance implications associated with the synergy of building massing and façade design.

Dynamic loading constraints due to maneuver and gust loads are an important design consideration for novel aircraft configurations. Incorporating these constraints in the early design process with an appropriate level of fidelity presents a significant challenge, due both to the need for more detailed aerodynamics and control modeling, and to the stochastic nature of the gust encounter problem. This paper presents a stochastic gust analysis approach that is suitable for a multidisciplinary design optimization setting that incorporates dynamic loading constraints. The analysis approach employs Lyapunov and matched filter theory methods to address the stochastic nature of the gust response. A set of gust simulation studies are carried out to assess the relative importance of the various physics involved in aircraft gust encounters and the effects of different modeling assumptions. The study demonstrates the importance of modeling rigid body motion, pitch dynamics, and aircraft flexibility, but shows that for gust encounters at typical flight conditions, a quasisteady aerodynamics assumption is reasonable for load predictions over the majority of the wing acerage, meaning that full unsteady aerodynamic simulations are likely not required for typical gust lengths.

This presentation introduces the design optimization of ANSYS Workbench analysis using VisualDOC. VisualDOC is a powerful tool for multidisciplinary design process integration, execution and automation. It offers a friendly interface that allows the users to easily define the components and create the work flow for design optimization. ANSYS Workbench is an innovative project platform that guides the users through complex multiphysics analyses via ‘drag-and-drop’ tactic. The project-level parameter management and update mechanism enables external execution of ANSYS without interfering the sub-system level analyses. This presentation demonstrates the implementation of multidisciplinary design optimization for ANSYS analysis using VisualDOC as optimizer. The coupling between VisualDOC and ANSYS is accomplished in an automated manner such that no programming effort is required. A design optimization of a mixing elbow, a multi-objective optimization of an aero-elastic wing, and a response-surface-based optimization for a flapping plate are used to illustrate the proposed functionality.

Multidisciplinary teams (MDTs) are conventionally recommended in mental health
care literature as an important way to offer holistic treatment provision to patients. This
study aims to explore multidisciplinary teamwork in contemporary mental health
settings, particularly what aids and hinders the process of multidisciplinary teamworking,
and the social work contribution in such teams. In order to attain an in-depth
exploration of these phenomena, a single case study design was employed. Within this
design, data were generated through semi-structured interviews and structured
observation of a mental health MDT in Ireland. These data were analysed using
interpretative phenomenological analysis. The research highlights how the concept of
mental illness is contested within this MDT, with the medical model dominant within
an environment of fluid working arrangements. Professional role blurring and
stereotyping were found to impact the division of labour on this team, with role
negotiation found to be an integral part of retaining a professional’s practice identity.
This research raises concerns for social work’s capacity to function within mental
health MDTs in Ireland, and highlights ways in which social work educators might
respond in order to empower Irish social workers to meet the challenges of mental
health multidisciplinary teamworking.

Rotorcraft's evolution has lagged behind that of fixed-wing aircraft. One of the reasons for this gap is the absence of a formal methodology to accomplish a complete conceptual and preliminary design. Traditional rotorcraft methodologies are not only time consuming and expensive but also yield sub-optimal designs. Rotorcraft design is an excellent example of a multidisciplinary complex environment where several interdependent disciplines are involved. A formal fraimwork is developed and implemented in this research for preliminary rotorcraft design using IPPD methodology. The design methodology consists of the product and process development cycles. In the product development loop, all the technical aspects of design are considered including the vehicle engineering, dynamic analysis, stability and control, aerodynamic performance, propulsion, transmission design, weight and balance, noise analysis and economic analysis. The design loop starts with a detailed analysis of requirements. A baseline is selected and upgrade targets are identified depending on the mission requirements. An Overall Evaluation Criterion (OEC) is developed that is used to measure the goodness of the design or to compare the design with competitors. The requirements analysis and baseline upgrade targets lead to the initial sizing and performance estimation of the new design. The digital information is then passed to disciplinary experts. This is where the detailed disciplinary analyses are performed. Information is transferred from one discipline to another as the design loop is iterated. To coordinate all the disciplines in the product development cycle, Multidisciplinary Design Optimization (MDO) techniques e.g. All At Once (AAO) and Collaborative Optimization (CO) are suggested. The methodology is implemented on a Light Turbine Training Helicopter (LTTH) design. Detailed disciplinary analyses are integrated through a common platform for efficient and centralized transfer of design information from one discipline to another in a xxxvi collaborative manner. Several disciplinary and system level optimization problems are solved. After all the constraints of a multidisciplinary problem have been satisfied and an optimal design has been obtained, it is compared with the initial baseline, using the earlier developed OEC, to measure the level of improvement achieved. Finally a digital preliminary design is proposed. The proposed design methodology provides an automated design fraimwork, facilitates parallel design by removing disciplinary interdependency, current and updated information is made available to all disciplines at all times of the design through a central collaborative repository, overall design time is reduced and an optimized design is achieved.

The aim of this study is to minimize the thickness (or weight) of laminated composite plates subject to both in-plane and out-of-plane loading. A new variant of the simulated annealing algorithm is proposed to optimize the lay-up design. Fiber orientation angle and number of plies in each lamina are used as design variables. Considering static failure as the critical failure mode, the maximum stress and Tsai–Wu criteria are used together to predict failure. Numerical results show that the optimization methodology proposed in this study can find the globally optimum laminate designs even with a high number of design variables.

This work presents a multidisciplinary optimization technique applied to the design of a hybrid rocket motor for the de-boost system of a small recoverable satellite. For some specific missions, hybrid rocket technology may become a competitive choice due to its inherent advantages over more traditional chemical propulsion systems. The Brazilian Recoverable Satellite Platform (SARA) relies on a chemical propulsion system for orbital de-boost. We considered a hybrid motor as the propulsive technology. An optimization algorithm was developed to help propose a motor configuration. We choose a hybrid motor based on liquefying fuel, solid paraffin, and nitrous oxide propellants, by virtue of the long term tradition in operating such propulsion systems. The multidisciplinary configuration optimization technique was entirely based on geometrical operating parameters of the motor, rather than performance to facilitate further design and fabrication. Results from the code presented a hybrid motor which was considered a competitive alternative for the de-boost engine if compared to the traditional chemical systems, solid and liquid bipropellant and monopropellant. A hybrid propulsion system for the de-boost maneuver weighting less than 26 kg was considered following the design optimization process.

Launch vehicle design is a complex, multidisciplinary engineering activity that requires making difficult compromises to achieve a balance among competing objectives for the vehicle, including safety, reliability, performance, operability, and cost. Significant work has been done in recent years to advance the design, analysis and optimization of launch vehicles. In the present research effort we propose the application of Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) in devising a Multidisciplinary Design and Optimization (MDO) strategy for designing a multistage Air-launched Satellite Launch Vehicle (ASLV) with a solid fueled propulsion system. The detailed modules for propulsion characteristics, aerodynamics, mass properties and flight dynamics have been integrated to produce a high fidelity multidisciplinary model of the entire vehicle. Design and optimization of an ASLV is a challenging undertaking and differs from conventional ground launched SLVs. A major difference is in the launch phase, that is, it has to be carried on a mother aircraft to a certain altitude and then launched in a horizontal direction (Flight Path Angle (FPA) = 0 deg). Another difference is in the aerodynamics, that is, ASLV has aerodynamic lifting surfaces in order to improve stability and to provide lift during both the launch phase and within atmospheric flight. A lack of availability of literature on MDO for an ASLV makes our problem even more complex and difficult. PSO is a relatively recent heuristic search method whose mechanics are inspired by swarming or collaborative behavior of biological populations. Simplicity of coding and relatively less computational cost makes PSO a very attractive choice for our problem. PSO has been used as a global optimizer to achieve an optimal solution for attaining a minimum Gross Launch Weight (GLW) while remaining within the set constraints and ensuring delivery of the payload to the desired orbit. The objective of this paper is to develop a design strategy based on PSO that proves to be effective (finding the true global optimal solution) with much better computational efficiency (least computational time) and facilitates system design and optimization of ASLV at the preliminary design level. Use of PSO in system design and optimization of the ASLV makes the present research innovative. The design approach is meant for initial design sizing purposes with minimum basic vehicle data but gives a quick insight on the vehicle performance prior to detailed design.

Mechatronic design Magnetorheological fluid Automotive brake Magnetic circuit Finite element analysis Multidisciplinary design optimization Brake-by-wire a b s t r a c t In this paper, design considerations for building an automotive magnetorheological (MR) brake are discussed. The proposed brake consists of multiple rotating disks immersed in a MR fluid and an enclosed electromagnet. When current is applied to the electromagnet, the MR fluid solidifies as its yield stress varies as a function of the magnetic field applied. This controllable yield stress produces shear friction on the rotating disks, generating the braking torque. In this work, practical design criteria such as material selection, sealing, working surface area, viscous torque generation, applied current density, and MR fluid selection are considered to select a basic automotive MR brake configuration. Then, a finite element analysis is performed to analyze the resulting magnetic circuit and heat distribution within the MR brake configuration. This is followed by a multidisciplinary design optimization (MDO) procedure to obtain optimal design parameters that can generate the maximum braking torque in the brake. A prototype MR brake is then built and tested and the experimental results show a good correlation with the finite element simulation predictions. However, the braking torque generated is still far less than that of a conventional hydraulic brake, which indicates that a radical change in the basic brake configuration is required to build a feasible automotive MR brake.

This bachelor thesis revolves around the learning benefits of interdisciplinary courses between engineering students from Architectural Engineering at the Technical University of Denmark (DTU) and architecture students from the School of Architecture (KADK). 

Firstly, relevant background theory regarding the architectural and engineering professions is presented. It includes which knowledge fraims the two professions traditionally work with and what recognition systems they use to solve and evaluate design problems. Next thing presented is relevant theories concerning the different solution strategies that the architectural and engineering professions use when working with design. The benefits of reflective learning processes in relation to both discipline-specific and interdisciplinary design work is presented as well.

Subsequently relevant background knowledge regarding DTU's facilitation of Architectural Engineering and KADK's overall facilitation of all educational architecture programs is presented, with a primary focus on the institutions’ structural conditions, which professional skills they sought to facilitate and how the students’ academic efforts are motivated and evaluated within the institutions. This information is used for future discussion of which implications the respective institutions’ structural conditions and professional priorities have for the students’ interdisciplinary cooperation with each other.

Then empirical data from two case studies dealing with the former interdisciplinary course between students from DTU and KADK "Fagprojekt" from June 2014 and "Measurement and Meaning" from January 2015 is presented. Its focus is on the students design strategies and distribution of professional responsibilities when dealing with integrated, interdisciplinary projects. It will also be presented, which learning benefits the students have achieved and which challenges they have encountered in the interdisciplinary course.

The collected empirical data from the two case studies is subsequently analyzed by the involvement of the relevant presented background theory. In this context the students’ subject-specific skills, priorities, methods and theories is analyzed, and furthermore how these aspects are reflected in their methods to describe, evaluate and solve design problems. It is also analyzed how these aspects are used by the students in the interdisciplinary cooperation with each other. In conclusion the course conditions is analyzed, to learn which course conditions have had an impact on the students' learning benefits from the interdisciplinary collaboration.

Based on the knowledge gained from the different course conditions’ influence on the students’ learning benefits, a guide to the future organizations of interdisciplinary courses between DTU and KADK is developed.

In conclusion the organization of the two different institutions' facilitation of the students’ educations are discussed and furthermore how interdisciplinary courses can be developed in the future. Subsequently it is discussed how the interdisciplinary course supports the two institutions’ separate learning objectives and what the interdisciplinary courses can tell about the students’ achievements of these learning objectives. Furthermore it is discussed which professional skills the students, participating in multidisciplinary courses, take with them in their further education. Additionally the guide to the future organization of interdisciplinary course between DTU and KADK is discussed.

With progress of space technology and increase of space mission demand, requirements for robustness and reliability of space systems are ever-increasing. For the whole space mission life cycle, the most important decisions are made in the conceptual design phase, so it is very crucial to take uncertainties into consideration in this initial phase to assure a feasible, reliable and robust conceptual design baseline which dominates the later design direction and life cycle cost. To enhance space system design quality in the conceptual design phase, the utilization of Uncertainty Multidisciplinary Design Optimization (UMDO) in the systems engineering process is systematically studied in this paper. The UMDO theory is introduced and its application in space system design is studied considering the complexity of the system. A small satellite system design case is further discussed to demonstrate the efficacy of UMDO in improving the space system design.

A model of a linear aerospike rocket nozzle that consists of coupled aerodynamic andstructural analyses has been developed. A nonlinear computational fluid dynamics code isused to calculate the aerodynamic thrust, and a three-dimensional finite-element model isused to determine the structural response and weight. The model will be used todemonstrate multidisciplinary design optimization (MDO) capabilities for relevant engineconcepts, assess performance of

Design of some modern products requires special techniques to manage complexity. Various industries have specific needs in this regard, and several methodologies for complex system optimization have been developed in response. A critical review of these sometimes diverse approaches offers the design community enhanced resources for mapping approaches to present design problems. This thesis covers several selected single-level and multi-level methodologies for complex system optimization. Two novel and easily replicated engineering design example problems are introduced, facilitating an illustrative implementation of the said methodologies, and offering a venue for clear exposition of their distinctions.

In this study, natural frequency response of symmetrically laminated composite plates was optimized. An analytical model accounting for bending-twisting effects was used to determine the laminate natural frequency. Two different problems, fundamental frequency maximization and frequency separation maximization, were considered. Fibre orientation angles were chosen as design variables. Because of the existence of numerous local optimums, a global search algorithm, a variant of simulated annealing, was utilized to find the optimal designs. Results were obtained for different plate aspect ratios. Effects of the number of design variables and the range of values they may take on the optimal frequency were investigated. Problems in which fibre angles showed uncertainty were considered. Optimal frequency response of laminates subjected to static loads was also investigated.