| The current process for designing optomechanical devices typically involves independent design optimization within each discipline. For instance, an optics engineer would optimize the optics of the device for image quality using ray-tracing software. The structural engineer would optimize the design to minimize deformation using the finite element method. Independently optimizing the optics and structures of optomechanical systems negates the possibility of exploiting the interdisciplinary interactions. This can lead to increased product development time and cost.; Multidisciplinary Design Optimization (MDO) techniques have been in development over the last decade and have been applied primarily to aerospace problems. The goal of MDO is to take advantage of the interactions between disciplines as well as to improve the product development time. The application of MDO formulations to the design of Optomechanical systems has not been achieved thus far. The aim of this study is to evaluate and develop MDO formulations for optomechanical devices that may be used to reduce the product development time and cost. In addition, the feasibility of obtaining a more global optimum design using these multidisciplinary optimization techniques is investigated.; Several MDO formulations were evaluated during this study and compared to the current design optimization process. The formulations evaluated were the Multidisciplinary Design Feasible (MDF), the Sequenced Individual Discipline Feasible (SDO-IDF), and the Sequenced Multidisciplinary Design Feasible (SDO-MDF). The current optimization process is called Independent Design Optimization (IDO). For the examples examined, the results showed that the IDO formulation optimizes each discipline but does not guarantee a multidisciplinary optimum for coupled problems. The SDO-MDF formulation was found to be the least efficient of the formulations examined, while the SDO-IDF showed the most promise in terms of efficiency. |
