Optimization investigation on contact finger seal performances based on a fuzzy game approach

Leakage and abrasion are two key performances for the contact finger seal (CFS). They not only contradict each other in CFS design but also relate to many design parameters. In addition, there are some still problems, such as how to choose the best among numerous possible results and how to define the response requirement to objectives, in the general multi-objective optimization method. So far, it is still a challenge for CFS design to solve these problems. For this reason, the work presents a new multi-objective optimization method through combining Nash equilibrium game theory with fuzzy comprehensive evaluation theory, in which the leakage and abrasion are taken as the optimization objectives. The results are compared to that of the weighted average and finite element method (FEM). The results show that the CFS, which is obtained by presented optimization method, has good performances. Compared respectively with the weighted average optimization method and FEM, the computational results demonstrate that the presented method can effectively reflect the different response requirements of optimization objectives through examples. Furthermore, the decision-making difficulty for multi-objective optimization of CFS performances is significantly reduced under the condition of meeting optimization requirement. The current work is validated by test results.