Optimization of High Modulus Carbon Oar-Shaft using Grey Wolf Optimizer.

Different sports require different set of equipment with different specifications and configurations. The oar-shaft optimal configurations and mechanical characteristics are important problem in rowing sport engineering. The oar-shaft design has a major impact on the effectiveness, performance, and safety of rowing technique. In this paper, the grey wolf optimizer is proposed for tackling the problem of determining the optimal design of the oar-shaft, with continuous design variables, so that all constraints consisting of the stress factor-of-safety (FoS) and target deflection ( Δ t ) are completely satisfied. The efficiency of the proposed GWO algorithm for solving the oar-shaft optimization is demonstrated through sculling and sweeps oar-shaft construction with two type of shafts (Ultra Light and Ultra Light Nano) of different stiffness. For experimental results, we established dataset of 31 shafts' cases using the BRACA-SPORT stiffness options. The experimental result demonstrates that the oar-shaft optimal designs for minimizing the oar-shaft rotational inertia identified with the GWO met the oar-shaft deflection and stress constraints, and the feasible ranges of design parameters—radius, inboard and outboard setting, length and tube wall thickness. The optimal results of 31 shafts construction show that the deflection is an important for minimizing rotational inertia of the shaft and blade about the oarlock. While a lot of studies have focused on various aspects of the shaft construction, this paper initially addressed the problem of oar-shaft optimization in metaheuristics terms for the first time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]