Optimal design of structures using cyber-physical wind tunnel experiments with mechatronic models

This paper explores the use of a cyber-physical systems (CPS) approach to optimize the design of rigid, low-rise structures subjected to wind loading, with the intent of producing a foundational method to study more complex structures through future research. The CPS approach combines the accuracy of physical wind tunnel testing with the ability to efficiently explore a search space using numerical optimization algorithms. The approach is fully automated, with experiments executed in a boundary layer wind tunnel (BLWT), sensor feedback monitored by a computer, and actuators used to bring about physical changes to a mechatronic structural model. Because the model is undergoing physical change as it approaches the optimal solution, this approach is given the name “loop-in-the-model” optimization.