• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.27 no.7
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• pp.1234-1242
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• 2003

In this paper we present a simple and efficient robust optimal design formulation for MEMS structures and its application to a resonant-type micro probe. The basic idea is to use the gradient index (GI) to improve robustness of the objective and constraint functions. In the robust optimal design procedure, a deterministic optimization for performance of MEMS structures is followed by design sensitivity analysis with respect to uncertainties such as fabrication errors and change of operating conditions. During the process of deterministic optimization and sensitivity analysis, dominant performance and uncertain variables are identified to define GI. The GI is incorporated as a term of objective and constraint functions in the robust optimal design formulation to make both performance and robustness improved. While most previous approaches for robust optimal design require statistical information on design variations, the proposed GI based method needs no such information and therefore is cost-effective and easily applicable to early design stages. For the micro probe example, robust optimums are obtained to satisfy the targets for the measurement sensitivity and they are compared in terms of robustness and production yield with the deterministic optimums through the Monte Carlo simulation. This method, although shown for MEMS structures, may as well be easily applied to conventional mechanical structures where information on uncertainties is lacking but robustness is highly important.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.36 no.10
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• pp.1109-1114
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• 2012

The performance of a system can be affected by various variables such as manufacturing tolerances, uncertainties of material properties, and environmental factors acting on the system. Robust design optimization has attracted much attention in the design of products because it can find the best design solution that minimizes the variance of the response while considering the distribution of the variables. However, the computational cost and accuracy of optimization have thus far been a challenging problem. In this study, robust design optimization using the multiplicative decomposition method is proposed in order to solve these problems. Because the proposed method calculates the mean and variance of the system directly from the kriging metamodel using the multiplicative decomposition method, it can be used to search for a robust optimum design accurately and efficiently. Several mathematical and engineering examples are used to demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed method.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Manufacturing Process Engineers
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• v.7 no.4
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• pp.149-154
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• 2008

The concept of robust design was introduced by Dr. G. Taguchi in the late 1940s, and his technique has become commonly known as the Taguchi method or the robust design. In this research, a robust design procedure for microgyroscope is suggested based on the kriging and optimization approaches. The kriging interpolation method is introduced to obtain the surrogate approximation model of true function. Robustness is calculated by the kriging model to reduce real function calculations. For this, objective function is represented by the probability of success, thus facilitating robust optimization. The statistics such as mean and variance are obtained based on the reliable kriging model and the second-order statistical approximation method.

• International Journal of Automotive Technology
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• v.4 no.4
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• pp.193-201
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• 2003

The problem of brake judder is typically caused by defects of quality manufacturing. DFSS (Design for six sigma) is a design process for quality improvement. DFSS will result in more improved but less expensive quality products. This paper presents an implementation of DFSS for quality improvement of the brake judder of heavy-duty trucks. Carrying out 5 steps of DFSS, the major reasons for defects of quality are found. The numerical approximation of the brake system is derived by means of the response surface method. Its quality for brake judder is improved by using the sigma based robust design methodology. Results are compared between the conventional deterministic optimal design and the proposed sigma based robust design. The proposed one shows that manufacturing cost may increase as the quality level increase. The proposed one, however, is more economical in aspect of the overall cost since the probability of failure dramatically goes down.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Automotive Engineers
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.203-209
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• 2014

The rear center-hinge bracket is designed for supporting and folding the rear-seat backrest. This bracket needs to be strong enough to be able to rigidly hold the rear-seat backrest and to withstand luggage loads from the car trunk that are generated when a vehicle is driving on the roads. Particularly, current accident studies report that many serious occupant injuries occurred when the rear-seat back easily folded inward toward the car interior, driven by the luggage loads in the trunk. Given this fact, the robust design of the rear center-hinge bracket that mainly supports the rear backrest has become more important for providing customer safety and preventing high warranty and durability problems. However, none of the studies have emphasized its significant role and considered its robust optimization. Therefore, this paper presents how the hinge-bracket design is optimized based on an application of the finite-element method coupled with the parameter design using Taguchi's design experiment. Finally, Taguchi method's application optimizes a robust center-hinge bracket that shows more rigid performance although it has lighter weight and thinner thickness.

• Journal of Korean Society for Quality Management
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.86-96
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• 2001

The objective of this research is to develop a robust design methodology for plastic injection molded parts wherein warpage will be minimized by a complex method which is a kind of a simple direct search method. The design space considered for optimization is divided Into two sub-design space : mold and process conditions. Warpage is quantified using the Moldflow injection molding simulation software. The design methodology was applied to an actual part of a fax machine, the Guide-ASF model, through two different design policies. The significance of this study is the synthesis of a computer simulation of injection molding process and optimization technique to determine the optimal robust design solution.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Manufacturing Process Engineers
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.8-15
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• 2008

Current trend of design technologies shows engineers to objectify or automate the given decision-making process. The numerical optimization is an example of such technologies. However, in numerical optimization, the uncertainties are uncontrollable to efficiently objectify or automate the process. To better manage these uncertainties, Taguchi method, reliability-based optimization and robust optimization are being used. Based on the independence axiom of axiomatic design theory that illustrates the relationship between desired specifications and design parameters, the designs can be classified into three types: uncoupled, decoupled and coupled. To best approach the target performance with the maximum robustness is one of the main functional requirements of a mechanical system. Most engineering designs are pertaining to either coupled or decoupled ones, but these designs cannot currently accomplish a real robustness thus a trade-off between performance and robustness has to be made. In this research, the game theory will be applied to optimize the trade-off.

• Journal of Institute of Control, Robotics and Systems
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• v.5 no.3
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• pp.363-369
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• 1999

In this paper, we design the robust $H_{\infty}$ controller for water level control of steam generator using a mixed $H_{\infty}$ optimization with model-matching method. Firstly we choose the desired model which has good disturbance rejection performance. Secondly we design a stabilizing controller to keep the model-matching error small and also provide sufficiently large stability margin against additive perturbations of the nominal plant. Simulation results show that proposed robust $H_{\infty}$ controller at specific power operation has satisfactory performances against the variations of load power, steam flow rate, primary circuit coolant temperature, and feedwater temperature. It can be also observed that the proposed robust $H_{\infty}$ controller exhibits better robust stability than conventional PI controller.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Aeronautical & Space Sciences
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• v.37 no.3
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• pp.255-266
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• 2009

In this study, a robust aerospace system design process for the aerospace system is developed by considering the uncertainties of user requirements, manufacturing errors, and operational environment variation. User requirements are analyzed and quantified by decision making models and system engineering methods to select alternative concepts which satisfies the various requirements. Robust design and optimization method is applied to derive the robust solution of the selected system. First, a variance of objective function is calculated, and a mean value and a variance of target value are determined by the deterministic design optimization results of the system. A robust optimum design formulation is then needed to derive the robust solution that minimizes the variance of the response and moves the mean values to the target value. It is applied to Very Light Jet (VLJ) aircraft to which much attention is paid recently in civil aerospace market.

• Journal of Integrative Natural Science
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.76-81
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• 2018

Robust design is an approach to reducing performance variation of quality characteristic values in quality engineering. Product array approach which is used in the Taguchi parameter design has a number of advantages by considering the noise factor. Taguchi has an idea that mean and variation are handled simultaneously to reduce the expected loss in products and processes. Taguchi has used the signal-to-noise ratio (SN) to achieve the appropriate set of operating conditions where variability around target is low in the Taguchi parameter design. Many Statisticians criticize the Taguchi techniques of analysis, particularly those based on the SN. In this paper we propose a substantially simpler optimization procedure for robust design using desirability function without resorting to SN.