SIMULATING GRAVITY BY ROTATION AS A MULTI-OBJECTIVE DESIGN PROBLEM A metaheuristic approach toward the design of a space station with artificial gravity

Long-term human Space exploration requires appropriate design strategies to deal with extraterrestrial conditions, including the perception of zero gravity. Studies have shown how microgravity negatively impacts living beings' physiology, causing non-negligible effects on the human body. Many proposals in the literature exist for a space station with artificial gravity by rotation to mitigate its impact. The so-generated fictitious force is associated with centrifugal force and is related to the object mass, its distance from the rotation axis, and the angular velocity. The design problem involves balancing the parameters considering their reciprocal relationship and user experience. Increasing the radius could be convenient during this process since the generated force can achieve a G value with a relatively lower angular velocity. Still, it would also significantly increase the station's circumference and, therefore, the launch effort. Vice versa, the same gaol achieved by a low radius requires high angular speed, which negatively impacts the user experience. The present work investigates the adequate combination between the mentioned parameters using a generative design strategy based on a metaheuristic algorithm, exploring configuration for a Space station with artificial gravity. The design problem involves intertwined and conflictual interests between the parameters, which would be difficult to resolve if based on manual calculations. There have been defined objectives to lead the research of the (near) optimal configuration, including the energy feasibility, crew member number, economical effort, as well as the number of internal rooms for a hypothetical long term staying.