Ants colony algorithm approach for multi-objective optimisation of surface grinding operations

An ant colony based optimisation procedure has been developed to optimise grinding conditions, viz. wheel speed, workpiece speed, depth of dressing and lead of dressing, using a multi-objective function model with a weighted approach for the surface grinding process. The procedure evaluates the production cost and production rate for the optimum grinding condition, subjected to constraints such as thermal damage, wheel wear parameters, machine tool stiffness and surface finish. The results are compared with Genetic Algorithm (GA) and Quadratic Programming (QP) techniques.