Optimization Concepts and Applications in Engineering

It is vitally important to meet or exceed previous quality and reliability standards while at the same time reducing resource consumption. This textbook addresses this critical imperative integrating theory, modeling, the development of numerical methods, and problem solving, thus preparing the student to apply optimization to real-world problems. This text covers a broad variety of optimization problems using: unconstrained, constrained, gradient, and non-gradient techniques; duality concepts; multiobjective optimization; linear, integer, geometric, and dynamic programming with applications; and finite element–based optimization. In this revised and enhanced second edition of Optimization Concepts and Applications in Engineering, the already robust pedagogy has been enhanced with more detailed explanations, an increased number of solved examples and end-of-chapter problems. The source codes are now available free on multiple platforms. It is ideal for advanced undergraduate or graduate courses and for practicing engineers in all engineering disciplines, as well as in applied mathematics.

Ashok D. Belegundu has been a Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Pennsylvania State University, University Park, since 1986. Prior to this, he taught at GMI, now Kettering University, in Michigan. He received his B. Tech. degree from I.I.T. Madras and his Ph.D. from the University of Iowa. He has been a principal investigator on research projects involving optimization for several agencies including the National Science Foundation, Army Research Office, NASA, SERC (UK), MacNeal-Schwendler Corporation, Gentex Corporation, and Ingersoll-Rand. He has organized two international conferences on optimization in industry and has authored or edited four books and written a chapter in a book. A detailed list of his publications and projects can be found at http://www.mne.psu.edu/Directories/Faculty/Belegundu-A.html. He has advised more than fifty graduate students. He has given short courses on finite elements and optimization to the Forging Industry Association, Hazleton Pumps, Infosys (India). He has served as an associate editor for AIAA Journal and for Mechanics Based Design of Structures and Machines. He teaches a distance education course on optimal design through Penn State.

Tirupathi R. Chandrupatla has been a Professor and Founding Chair of Mechanical Engineering at Rowan University since 1995. He started his career as a design engineer with Hindustan Machine Tools (HMT), Bangalore. He then taught at I.I.T. Bombay. Professor Chandrupatla also taught at the University of Kentucky, Lexington and GMI Engineering and Management Institute (now Kettering University), before joining Rowan. Chandrupatla received the Lindback Distinguished Teaching Award at Rowan University in 2005. He is also the author of Quality and Reliability in Engineering and two books on finite element analysis. Professor Chandrupatla has broad research interests, which include design, optimization, manufacturing engineering, finite element analysis, and quality and reliability. He published widely in these areas and serves as an industry consultant. Professor Chandrupatla is a registered Professional Engineer and also a Certified Manufacturing Engineer. He is a member of ASEE, ASME, SAE, and SME. For further information, visit http://users.rowan.edu/~chandrupatla.