scholarly journals FACILITY LAYOUT OPTIMIZATION USING SIMULATION: A CASE STUDY OF A STEEL UTENSILS INDUSTRY

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Cui Wang ◽  
Zhouhua Guo ◽  
Qingsheng Li ◽  
Jing Fang

AbstractIn order to protect the offshore environment and strengthen the comprehensive rectification of sewage outfalls, an evaluation method of regional sewage outfalls by combining the marine numerical simulation and comprehensive evaluation technology was constructed, considering the marine environmental capacity and the ecological impact of sewage discharge from outfalls on the marine eco-environment sensitive areas. Then the layout rationality of each outfall was evaluated and the discharge scale was optimized with a case study of existing sewage outfalls in Xiamen. The results show that, the comprehensive evaluation score of Yundang outfall was 3 points in 2025, evaluated as the outfall with irrational layout. In 2035, the comprehensive evaluation scores of Fenglin and Dalipu outfalls were 3 and 2 points respectively, evaluated as the outfall with irrational discharge scale. It is suggested to control the scale of expansion or increase the reclaimed water reuse rate in Jimei and Gaoqi Wastewater Treatment Plants. This method has enriched the evaluation system for layout optimization of sewage outfalls, providing scientific supports for comprehensive improvement of sewage outfalls and marine environmental management.


Author(s):  
YanFeng Xing

Fixture layout can affect deformation and dimensional variation of sheet metal assemblies. Conventionally, the assembly dimensions are simulated with a quantity of finite element (FE) analyses, and fixture layout optimization needs significant user intervention and unaffordable iterations of finite element analyses. This paper therefore proposes a fully automated and efficient method of fixture layout optimization based on the combination of 3dcs simulation (for dimensional analyses) and global optimization algorithms. In this paper, two global algorithms are proposed to optimize fixture locator points, which are social radiation algorithm (SRA) and GAOT, a genetic algorithm (GA) in optimization toolbox in matlab. The flowchart of fixture design includes the following steps: (1) The locating points, the key elements of a fixture layout, are selected from a much smaller candidate pool thanks to our proposed manufacturing constraints based filtering methods and thus the computational efficiency is greatly improved. (2) The two global optimization algorithms are edited to be used to optimize fixture schemes based on matlab. (3) Since matlab macrocommands of 3dcs have been developed to calculate assembly dimensions, the optimization process is fully automated. A case study of inner hood is applied to demonstrate the proposed method. The results show that the GAOT algorithm is more suitable than SRA for generating the optimal fixture layout with excellent efficiency for engineering applications.


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