Design of radiant enclosures using inverse and non-linear programming techniques

Traditionally, radiant enclosures have been designed using a forward "trial-and-error" methodology. Recently, however, inverse and optimization methodologies have been applied to design radiant enclosures. Both of these methodologies solve the design problem faster, and the quality of the solutions is usually better than those obtained through the forward design methodology. This article presents forward, inverse, and optimization formulations of the infinitesimal-area method that can be used to solve design problems involving radiant enclosures. The inverse and optimization methodologies are then demonstrated and compared by using them to design a 2-D radiant enclosure containing a transparent medium.