TY - CHAP A1 - Rausch, Lea A1 - Leise, Philipp A1 - Ederer, Thorsten A1 - Altherr, Lena A1 - Pelz, Peter F. ED - Papadrakakis, M. ED - Ppadopoulos, V. ED - Stefanou, G. ED - Plevris, V. T1 - A comparison of MILP and MINLP solver performance on the example of a drinking water supply system design problem T2 - ECCOMAS Congress 2016 VII European Congress on Computational Methods in Applied Sciences and Engineering N2 - Finding a good system topology with more than a handful of components is a highly non-trivial task. The system needs to be able to fulfil all expected load cases, but at the same time the components should interact in an energy-efficient way. An example for a system design problem is the layout of the drinking water supply of a residential building. It may be reasonable to choose a design of spatially distributed pumps which are connected by pipes in at least two dimensions. This leads to a large variety of possible system topologies. To solve such problems in a reasonable time frame, the nonlinear technical characteristics must be modelled as simple as possible, while still achieving a sufficiently good representation of reality. The aim of this paper is to compare the speed and reliability of a selection of leading mathematical programming solvers on a set of varying model formulations. This gives us empirical evidence on what combinations of model formulations and solver packages are the means of choice with the current state of the art. KW - Technical Operations Research KW - Mixed-Integer Nonlinear Optimisation KW - Solver Per- formance KW - Drinking Water Supply KW - System Design Problem Y1 - 2016 SN - 978-618-82844-0-1 N1 - ECCOMAS Congress 2016 VII European Congress on Computational Methods in Applied Sciences and Engineering, 5–10 June 2016.Crete Island, Greece SP - 8509 EP - 8527 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Rausch, Lea A1 - Friesen, John A1 - Altherr, Lena A1 - Meck, Marvin A1 - Pelz, Peter F. T1 - A holistic concept to design optimal water supply infrastructures for informal settlements using remote sensing data JF - Remote Sensing N2 - Ensuring access to water and sanitation for all is Goal No. 6 of the 17 UN Sustainability Development Goals to transform our world. As one step towards this goal, we present an approach that leverages remote sensing data to plan optimal water supply networks for informal urban settlements. The concept focuses on slums within large urban areas, which are often characterized by a lack of an appropriate water supply. We apply methods of mathematical optimization aiming to find a network describing the optimal supply infrastructure. Hereby, we choose between different decentral and central approaches combining supply by motorized vehicles with supply by pipe systems. For the purposes of illustration, we apply the approach to two small slum clusters in Dhaka and Dar es Salaam. We show our optimization results, which represent the lowest cost water supply systems possible. Additionally, we compare the optimal solutions of the two clusters (also for varying input parameters, such as population densities and slum size development over time) and describe how the result of the optimization depends on the entered remote sensing data. KW - water supply design KW - mathematical optimization KW - slum classification KW - remote sensing Y1 - 2018 SN - 2072-4292 U6 - http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/rs10020216 VL - 10 IS - 2 SP - 1 EP - 23 PB - MDPI CY - Basel ER - TY - CHAP A1 - Altherr, Lena A1 - Dörig, Bastian A1 - Ederer, Thorsten A1 - Pelz, Peter Franz A1 - Pfetsch, Marc A1 - Wolf, Jan T1 - A mixed-integer nonlinear program for the design of gearboxes T2 - Operations Research Proceedings 2016 N2 - Gearboxes are mechanical transmission systems that provide speed and torque conversions from a rotating power source. Being a central element of the drive train, they are relevant for the efficiency and durability of motor vehicles. In this work, we present a new approach for gearbox design: Modeling the design problem as a mixed-integer nonlinear program (MINLP) allows us to create gearbox designs from scratch for arbitrary requirements and—given enough time—to compute provably globally optimal designs for a given objective. We show how different degrees of freedom influence the runtime and present an exemplary solution. Y1 - 2017 SN - 978-3-319-55701-4 U6 - http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-55702-1_31 SP - 227 EP - 233 PB - Springer CY - Cham ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Altherr, Lena A1 - Leise, Philipp A1 - Pfetsch, Marc E. A1 - Schmitt, Andreas T1 - Algorithmic design and resilience assessment of energy efficient high-rise water supply systems JF - Applied Mechanics and Materials N2 - High-rise water supply systems provide water flow and suitable pressure in all levels of tall buildings. To design such state-of-the-art systems, the consideration of energy efficiency and the anticipation of component failures are mandatory. In this paper, we use Mixed-Integer Nonlinear Programming to compute an optimal placement of pipes and pumps, as well as an optimal control strategy.Moreover, we consider the resilience of the system to pump failures. A resilient system is able to fulfill a predefined minimum functionality even though components fail or are restricted in their normal usage. We present models to measure and optimize the resilience. To demonstrate our approach, we design and analyze an optimal resilient decentralized water supply system inspired by a real-life hotel building. KW - MINLP KW - Buffering Capacity KW - Uncertainty KW - Water Supply Networks KW - Booster Stations Y1 - 2018 U6 - http://dx.doi.org/10.4028/www.scientific.net/AMM.885.211 SN - 1662-7482 VL - 885 SP - 211 EP - 223 PB - Trans Tech Publications CY - Bäch ER - TY - BOOK A1 - Altherr, Lena T1 - Algorithmic System Design under Consideration of Dynamic Processes N2 - Nach Stand von Wissenschaft und Technik werden Komponenten hinsichtlich ihrer Eigenschaften, wie Lebensdauer oder Energieeffizienz, optimiert. Allerdings können selbst hervorragende Komponenten zu ineffizienten oder instabilen Systemen führen, wenn ihr Zusammenspiel nur unzureichend berücksichtigt wird. Eine Systembetrachtung schafft ein größeres Optimierungspotential - dem erhöhten Potential steht jedoch auch ein erhöhter Komplexitätsgrad gegenüber. Die vorliegende Arbeit ist im Rahmen des Sonderforschungsbereichs 805 entstanden, dessen Ziel die Beherrschung von Unsicherheit in Systemen des Maschinenbaus ist. Die Arbeit zeigt anhand eines realen Systems aus dem Bereich der Hydraulik, wie Unsicherheit in der Entwicklungsphase beherrscht werden kann. Hierbei ist neu, dass die durch den späteren Betrieb zu erwartende Systemdegradation eines jeden möglichen Systemvorschlags antizipiert werden kann. Dadurch können Betriebs- und Wartungskosten vorausgesagt und minimiert werden und durch eine optimale Betriebs- und Wartungsstrategie die Verfügbarkeit des Systems garantiert werden. Wesentliche Fragen bei der optimalen Auslegung des betrachteten hydrostatischen Getriebes sind dessen physikalische Modellierung, die Darstellung des Optimierungsproblems als gemischt-ganzzahliges lineares Programm, und dessen algorithmische Behandlung zur Lösungsfindung. Hierzu werden Heuristiken zum schnelleren Auffinden sinnvoller Systemtopologien vorgestellt und mittels mathematischer Dekomposition eine Bewertung des dynamischen Verschleiß- und Wartungsverlaufs möglicher Systemvorschläge vorgenommen. Die Arbeit stellt die Optimierung technischer Systeme an der Schnittstelle von Mathematik, Informatik und Ingenieurwesen sowohl gründlich als auch anschaulich und nachvollziehbar dar. KW - Mixed Integer Programming KW - Technical Operations Research KW - Optimization KW - System Design Y1 - 2016 SN - 978-3-8440-4848-3 PB - Shaker CY - Aachen ER - TY - CHAP A1 - Altherr, Lena A1 - Ederer, Thorsten A1 - Schänzle, Christian A1 - Lorenz, Ulf A1 - Pelz, Peter F. T1 - Algorithmic system design using scaling and affinity laws T2 - Operations Research Proceedings 2015 N2 - Energy-efficient components do not automatically lead to energy-efficient systems. Technical Operations Research (TOR) shifts the focus from the single component to the system as a whole and finds its optimal topology and operating strategy simultaneously. In previous works, we provided a preselected construction kit of suitable components for the algorithm. This approach may give rise to a combinatorial explosion if the preselection cannot be cut down to a reasonable number by human intuition. To reduce the number of discrete decisions, we integrate laws derived from similarity theory into the optimization model. Since the physical characteristics of a production series are similar, it can be described by affinity and scaling laws. Making use of these laws, our construction kit can be modeled more efficiently: Instead of a preselection of components, it now encompasses whole model ranges. This allows us to significantly increase the number of possible set-ups in our model. In this paper, we present how to embed this new formulation into a mixed-integer program and assess the run time via benchmarks. We present our approach on the example of a ventilation system design problem. KW - Optimal Topology KW - Piecewise Linearization KW - Ventilation System KW - Similarity Theory Y1 - 2017 SN - 978-3-319-42901-4 SN - 978-3-319-42902-1 U6 - http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-42902-1 N1 - International Conference of the German, Austrian and Swiss Operations Research Societies (GOR, ÖGOR, SVOR/ASRO), University of Vienna, Austria, September 1-4, 2015 SP - 605 EP - 611 PB - Springer CY - Cham ER - TY - CHAP A1 - Altherr, Lena A1 - Ederer, Thorsten A1 - Vergé, Angela A1 - Pelz, Peter F. T1 - Algorithmische Struktursynthese eines hydrostatischen Getriebes T2 - Antriebssysteme 2015 : Elektrik, Mechanik, Fluidtechnik in der Anwendung Y1 - 2015 SN - 978-3-18-092268-3 N1 - Antriebssysteme 2015 - Elektrik, Mechanik, Fluidtechnik in der Anwendung. VDI/VDE-Fachtagung. 11.11.15-12.11.15, Aachen. Veröffentlicht in der Reihe VDI-Berichte, Bandnummer 2268. SP - 145 EP - 155 PB - VDI-Verlag CY - Düsseldorf ER - TY - CHAP A1 - Schänzle, Christian A1 - Altherr, Lena A1 - Ederer, Thorsten A1 - Lorenz, Ulf A1 - Pelz, Peter F. T1 - As good as it can be: Ventilation system design by a combined scaling and discrete optimization method T2 - Proceedings of FAN 2015 N2 - The understanding that optimized components do not automatically lead to energy-efficient systems sets the attention from the single component on the entire technical system. At TU Darmstadt, a new field of research named Technical Operations Research (TOR) has its origin. It combines mathematical and technical know-how for the optimal design of technical systems. We illustrate our optimization approach in a case study for the design of a ventilation system with the ambition to minimize the energy consumption for a temporal distribution of diverse load demands. By combining scaling laws with our optimization methods we find the optimal combination of fans and show the advantage of the use of multiple fans. Y1 - 2015 N1 - Proceedings of FAN 2015, Lyon (France), 15 – 17 April 2015 SP - 1 EP - 11 ER - TY - CHAP A1 - Lorenz, Imke-Sophie A1 - Altherr, Lena A1 - Pelz, Peter F. ED - Neufeld, Janis S. ED - Buscher, Udo ED - Lasch, Rainer ED - Möst, Dominik ED - Schönberger, Jörn T1 - Assessing and Optimizing the Resilience of Water Distribution Systems Using Graph-Theoretical Metrics T2 - Operations Research Proceedings 2019 N2 - Water distribution systems are an essential supply infrastructure for cities. Given that climatic and demographic influences will pose further challenges for these infrastructures in the future, the resilience of water supply systems, i.e. their ability to withstand and recover from disruptions, has recently become a subject of research. To assess the resilience of a WDS, different graph-theoretical approaches exist. Next to general metrics characterizing the network topology, also hydraulic and technical restrictions have to be taken into account. In this work, the resilience of an exemplary water distribution network of a major German city is assessed, and a Mixed-Integer Program is presented which allows to assess the impact of capacity adaptations on its resilience. KW - OR 2019 KW - business analytics KW - decision analytics KW - digital economy KW - mathematical optimization Y1 - 2020 SN - 978-3-030-48439-2 SN - 978-3-030-48438-5 U6 - http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-48439-2_63 N1 - Annual International Conference of the German Operations Research Society (GOR), Dresden, Germany, September 4-6, 2019 SP - 521 EP - 527 PB - Springer CY - Cham ER - TY - CHAP A1 - Leise, Philipp A1 - Simon, Nicolai A1 - Altherr, Lena T1 - Comparison of Piecewise Linearization Techniques to Model Electric Motor Efficiency Maps: A Computational Study T2 - Operations Research Proceedings 2019 N2 - To maximize the travel distances of battery electric vehicles such as cars or buses for a given amount of stored energy, their powertrains are optimized energetically. One key part within optimization models for electric powertrains is the efficiency map of the electric motor. The underlying function is usually highly nonlinear and nonconvex and leads to major challenges within a global optimization process. To enable faster solution times, one possibility is the usage of piecewise linearization techniques to approximate the nonlinear efficiency map with linear constraints. Therefore, we evaluate the influence of different piecewise linearization modeling techniques on the overall solution process and compare the solution time and accuracy for methods with and without explicitly used binary variables. KW - MINLP KW - Powertrain KW - Piecewise linearization KW - Efficiency optimization Y1 - 2020 SN - 978-3-030-48439-2 SN - 978-3-030-48438-5 U6 - http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-48439-2_55 N1 - Annual International Conference of the German Operations Research Society (GOR), Dresden, Germany, September 4-6, 2019 SP - 457 EP - 463 PB - Springer CY - Cham ER -