Hybrid decomposition-based control co-design of energy systems using graph-based models

Smith, Kayla Michelle

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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/129858 Copy

Description

Title

Hybrid decomposition-based control co-design of energy systems using graph-based models

Author(s)

Smith, Kayla Michelle

Issue Date

2025-07-11

Director of Research (if dissertation) or Advisor (if thesis)

Alleyne, Andrew

Doctoral Committee Chair(s)

Alleyne, Andrew

Committee Member(s)

• Dullerud, Geir
• Allison, James
• Clarke, Matthew

Department of Study

Mechanical Sci & Engineering

Discipline

Mechanical Engineering

Degree Granting Institution

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Degree Name

Ph.D.

Degree Level

Dissertation

Keyword(s)

• Energy Systems
• Control Co-Design
• Decomposition-Based Optimization
• Hybrid Optimization
• System Optimization

Abstract

Energy systems, defined in this work as systems that generate, use, transfer, or store energy, are critical to everyday life. Designing energy systems to be efficient is an important task, because energy system performance has significant environmental and economic impacts. Within energy system design, there are two design questions that can be asked. The first is “What is the best overall design for the system?”. The second is “What is the best subsystem to optimize and how do I optimize it?”. This dissertation seeks to answer both types of design problems. There are several challenges that arise with energy system design. First, many energy systems are dynamic systems that require controllers to actuate the system to achieve desirable performance. To adequately design the system, both the plant and control design need to be considered together. Second, with technological advances, many energy systems are more interconnected than in the past, resulting in large systems consisting of several subsystems each with their own performance goals. Energy system design frameworks must be capable of optimizing large interconnected systems. Lastly, many energy systems are designed using existing components from manufacturers, resulting in a component selection problem. Energy system design algorithms should incorporate discrete component-based design. To address these challenges, this dissertation proposes a hybrid, decomposition-based control co-design approach. This framework combines two different design frameworks to address all three challenges. The hybrid optimization framework addresses the component-based design problem by converting the discrete component selection problem into a continuous problem. Then after the continuous solution is found, a sorted search algorithm is applied to efficiently find the optimal combination of components. The second framework is a decomposition-based control co-design framework. This framework partitions the system based on the dynamics of the system, resulting in subsystems that have little power flow between them. Then the subsystem problems are coordinated and solved to ensure consistency among the solutions. This framework is applied to two different case studies: a thermal management system and a quadrotor system. In the thermal management system case study the decomposition-based control co-design portion of the framework is applied and studied. This case study demonstrates the ability of the decomposition-based framework to converge for a single energy domain system. In the quadrotor case study, the full hybrid, decomposition-based approach is applied. This case study demonstrates the computational benefits of the full framework and is able to solve the component selection problem. Additionally, this case study demonstrates the effectiveness of the proposed methods on a multi-domain electro-mechanical system. Overall, the two case studies demonstrate the ability of the proposed framework to efficiently optimize systems while addressing the component selection problem.

Graduation Semester

2025-08

Type of Resource

Thesis

Handle URL

https://hdl.handle.net/2142/129858

Copyright and License Information

Copyright 2025 Kayla Michelle Smith

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