Multi-Objective Optimization of Laminated Functionally Graded Carbon Nanotube-Reinforced Composite Plates Using Deep Feedforward Neural Networks-NSGAII Algorithm

Abstract

This paper proposes a novel and efficient DNN-NSGAII approach which is an integration of the deep feedforward neural network (DNN) and the nondominated sorting genetic algorithm II (NSGAII) to solve multi-objective optimization (MOO) problems of laminated functionally graded carbon nanotube-reinforced composite (FG-CNTRC) quadrilateral plates. The core idea of the proposed approach is to use the DNN as an analyzer to evaluate the objective and constraint functions instead of using the time-consuming finite element analysis methods (FEAMs) during the optimization process, while the NSGAII is employed to find a set of Pareto-optimal solutions of the MOO problems. Accordingly, the proposed DNN-NSGAII remarkably saves the computational cost, but still provides a high accurate optimal solution. The precision, efficiency, and capability of the proposed method are demonstrated through two different MOO problems of the FG-CNTRC quadrilateral plates. Obtained results of the DNN-NSGAII are compared with those of other methods to investigate the reliability and efficiency of proposed method. Moreover, the effects of various boundary conditions and carbon nanotube (CNT) distributions on the Pareto-optimal solutions of MOO problems are also examined.