Abstract
The check valves are mechanical valves that permit fluids to flow in only one direction, preventing flow from reversing. It is classified as one way directional valves. There are various types of check valves that used in a marine application. A lift type check valve uses the disc to open and close the passage of fluid. The disc lift up from seat as pressure below the disc increases, while drop in pressure on the inlet side or a build up of pressure on the outlet side causes the valve to close. An important concept in check valves is the cracking pressure which is the minimum upstream pressure at which the valve will operate. On the other hand, optimization is a process of finding the best set of parameters to reach a goal while not violating certain constraints. The AMESim software provides NLPQL(Nonlinear Programming by Quadratic Lagrangian) and genetic algorithm(GA) for optimization. NLPQL is the implementation of a SQP(sequential quadratic programming) algorithm. SQP is a standard method, based on the use of a gradient of objective functions and constraints to solve a non-linear optimization problem. A characteristic of the NLPQL is that it stops as soon as it finds a local minimum. Thus, the simulation results may be highly dependent on the starting point which user give to the algorithm. In this paper, we carried out optimization design of the check valve with NLPQL algorithm.