Succesful doctoral examination at FST: Algorithmic conceptual design of technical systems under uncertainty

It is located within the Collaborative Research Center 805 at the Chair of Fluid Systems within the Department of Mechanical Engineering at TU Darmstadt. It examines the conceptual design of technical systems under consideration of uncertainty with the help of exact optimization algorithms. These are particularly suitable for a systematic design, since they lead to the identification of globally optimal system structures and thus reduce structural uncertainty.

The system design optimized with respect to a defined objective function depends significantly on the selected parameterization. However, since this parameterization is subject to uncertainty during the conceptual design, the use of different parametrizations usually results in different solution structures. Furthermore, the search for solutions for technical system designs is situated within a field of conflicting goals. These are the use of efficient solution algorithms, an efficient model development and an appropriate approximation of the relevant reality with the help of the developed system model. These above-mentioned points are addressed in the thesis. Based on two technical systems, it is shown how mixed-integer nonlinear modeling can be used for conceptual design under uncertainty. The use cases considered are a decentralized water distribution system in high-rise buildings and the powertrain of battery electric vehicles with a multi-speed transmission.

Mr. Leise has passed the doctoral examination with distinction, for which we congratulate him warmly.