Differential Evolution Based Design Optimization of Flywheel with Different Materials

A flywheel is one of the most important renewable sources of power transmission and storage. It has a wide range of applications such as light rail power, hybrid electric vehicles, industrial pulse power and is employed for power quality improvement. It is a rotating structure capable of transmitting power through the rotation of the shaft. A flywheel made from the filaments of composite material provides high specific energy. This paper discusses differential evolution-based optimization procedure to determine the parameters of the flywheel to produce the required energy storage with minimum mass. The procedure is carried out considering different materials to select the best material for the required energy storage. The results of the differential evolution algorithm are compared with particle swarm optimization, and the closeness of the result validates the proposed approach.