An augmented Lagrangian coordination method for distributed optimal design in MDO: Part II examples

The formulation flexibility and the numerical performance of the augmented Lagrangian coordination method proposed in the part I paper is demonstrated on several example problems. Results for a number of test problems indicate that the coordination method is effective and robust in finding solutions of the original non-decomposed problem, and does not introduce new local minima for non-convex problems. The required coordination costs are found to be determined by how the problem is partitioned and coordinated. These costs do not only depend on the number of quantities that have to be coordinated, but also on their coupling strengths. The formulation flexibility of the new method provides means to minimize these costs by adapting the problem at hand.