Energy xxx (2014) 1e9

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Energy
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/energy

Diesel engine spray characteristics prediction with hybridized artificial

neural network optimized by genetic algorithm
Hadi Taghavifar*, Shahram Khalilarya, Samad Jafarmadar
Mechanical Engineering Department, Technical Education Faculty, Urmia University, Urmia, West Azerbaijan 57561-15311, Iran

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: ANN (artificial neural network) modeling is adopted along GA (genetic algorithm) optimization method
Received 11 April 2013 in order to investigate spray behavior as function of nozzle and engine variant parameters such as crank-
Received in revised form angle, nozzle tip mass flow rate, turbulence, and nozzle discharge pressure. Spray quality is measured in
18 April 2014
SMD (Sauter mean diameter) and spray liquid tip penetration prospective. Experimental data were used
Accepted 4 May 2014
at limited engine condition and elsewhere requisite data was acquired with the aid of curve fitting and
Available online xxx
extrapolation of CFD (computational fluid dynamics) numerical simulation results. Engine crank-angle,
vapor mass flow rate, turbulence, and nozzle outlet pressure were taken as input layer while spray
Keywords:
Artificial neural network
penetration and SMD were used as output layer. It is found out that LevenburgeMarquardt training
Diesel engine algorithm has the least mean square error for ANN and ANN-GA (artificial neural network-genetic al-
Group-hole injector gorithm) at 24, 30 neurons in hidden layer with the amount of 0.8994, 0.3348, respectively. The coef-
GA (genetic algorithm) ficient of determination (R2) for penetration equals 0.994 whereas SMD yields lower amount of 0.992. By
Spray application of GA to optimize the network's interconnecting weights, R2 values have been enhanced to
0.999 for SMD and to 0.998 for penetration (both values are close to unity). Results indicate that the
ANN-GA improved the spray specification modeling simply and with acceptable accuracy.
© 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction network) modeling with different optimization tools has been

Engine performance is highly linked to the fuel consumption
and exhaust emissions. Internal fluid flow in injector is crucial for
spray development, therefore affecting liquid jet disintegration to
droplets. Literature survey reveals that vapor mass fraction (cavi-
tation) and its mass flow rate are conducive to sprays with wider
spray cone angle and smaller droplets [1]. With time elapse,
penetration increases and droplet diameter decreases simulta-
neously. Discharge (ambient) pressure increase, on the other hand
can increase the air resistance against spray penetration leaving
positive effect on spray column disintegration was resulted.
Another investigated input is internal flow turbulence. This factor is
often considered in primary breakup process and is taken into ac-
count as source term Sk in numerical simulations [2]. The aim of this
work is prognostication of the spray behavior based on crucial
objective variables such as turbulence, pressure, vapor mass frac-
tion, and crank-angle with enhanced ANN-GA (artificial neural
network-genetic algorithm). Combined ANN (artificial neural
* Corresponding author. Tel.: þ98 441 2770508; fax: þ98 441 277 1926.
E-mail addresses: h.taghavifar@urmia.ac.ir, haditaghavifar@yahoo.com
(H. Taghavifar).
adopted in various fields of engineering applications: PSO (particle
swarm optimization) for thermal performance analysis [3], entropy
generation in unsteady flows [4], and bees colony for modeling and
optimization of Rankin cycles with two heaters [5]. Zhang et al. [6]
examined pump plant operational schedule for energy consump-
tion reduction with neural network, which then was enhanced by
PSO. Earlier investigations, however, mainly focused on the engine
performance prediction in terms of BSFC (brake specific fuel con-
sumption), exhaust gas temperature and exhaust emission such as
CO, HC, and other pollutant emissions with the aid of ANN
modeling. More recently, Taghavifar et al. [7] used a supervised
ANN to predict exhaust emissions for DI diesel group-hole injectors.
They found 4-17-2 topology with LevenbergeMarquardt training
algorithm to yield the least error. ANN predictability regarding
performance and emission of single cylinder diesel engine was
explored with respect to EGR (exhaust gas recirculation) variation
[8]. The developed ANN could predict with excellent agreement as
the correlation coefficients were in the range of 0.987e0.999. In a
related study, ANN and genetic algorithm were simultaneously
employed for prediction and reduction of emissions [9]. The ANN
was used as a simulation tool with engine operational parameters
and the output then was processed in the objective function of GA.

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.energy.2014.05.006
0360-5442/© 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Please cite this article in press as: Taghavifar H, et al., Diesel engine spray characteristics prediction with hybridized artificial neural network
optimized by genetic algorithm, Energy (2014), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.energy.2014.05.006
2 H. Taghavifar et al. / Energy xxx (2014) 1e9
Nomenclature
ANN Artificial neural network
ASOI After Start of injection
CFD Computational Fluid Dynamics
CA Crank angle
GDX Gradient descent with momentum and adaptive
learning rate
GA Genetic Algorithm
LM Levenberg-Marquardt
MSE Mean squared error
RP Resilient propagation
R2 Determination coefficient (fraction of variance)
SCG Scaled conjugate gradient
SMD Sauter mean diameter
Cay et al. [10] concluded that powerful learning process of ANN can
well predict CO, HC, and BSFC of SI (spark ignition) engine. Other
investigations have been focused on the engines fueled with bio-
blended fuels that are used to improve the engine performance
[11,12]. Moreover, Togun et al. [13] used artificial neural network in
an attempt to predict the gasoline engine's torque and BSFC.
Group-hole injector layout was used in this study for simulation
purpose. Experimental data acquisition is performed at few typical
engine conditions due to difficulty in dealing with injector micro-
metric dimension. Other dataset were obtained using CFD
(computational fluid dynamics) simulation methodology, curve
fitting technique, and extrapolation. Required experimental setup
and operational conditions are provided in Gao et al. investigation
[14]. The ANN modeling was exploited since the network applica-
tion prevails to mathematical and numerical simulation in terms of
reliability, accuracy, and simplicity when dealing with nonlinear
and complex problems [11,15,16].
The back-propagation algorithm is known as the most compe-
tent algorithm for multi-layered perceptron feed-forward net-
works. The simplest implementation of back-propagation
technique updates the network weights and biases in the direction
of more rapid decrement of the performance function, the negative
of the gradient. The iteration can be expressed as following:
Xkþ1 ¼ Xk  lr  cg
where Xk is a vector of current weights and biases, cg is the
current gradient, and lr is the learning rate. All these algorithms
use the gradient of the performance function to determine how
to adjust the weights for minimum performance. The gradient is
determined using a technique called back-propagation, which
involves performing computations backward through the
network [17].
GA was incorporated with ANN to elevate network efficiency
by determination of optimum network structure, primary weights
and biases, as well as designating the best input-parameters. Since
the best network's architecture in terms of hidden layer neurons
were characterized for each training method according to the
least MSE (mean squared error), GA was solely adopted for finding
the best initialization weights. The interconnecting weights of the
neural network represent a set of chromosome population in GA
application as to optimize the best ANN prediction efficiency. GA
can be assumed as a learning algorithm for training the network.
After completion of algorithm in GA loop, it proceeds by back-
propagation according to LevenbergeMarquardt training
method for further reduction of deviation between experimental
and predicted ANN-GA results. To the best of authors' knowledge,
Please cite this article in press as: Taghavifar H, et al., Diesel engine spray characteristics prediction with hybridized artificial neural network
optimized by genetic algorithm, Energy (2014), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.energy.2014.05.006
although great deal of work has been spent to evaluate the spray
features, the literature is poor regarding spray quality prediction
with hybridized ANN-GA approach as a useful approximation tool
to reduce computational time. Note that the majority of in-
vestigations are dedicated to ANN utilization as to explore engine-
out emission and performance indices [18]. To this end, a thor-
ough study was carried out in order to model spray evolution
based on the effective input variables such as CA, outlet mass flow
rate from nozzle exit tip, discharge pressure, and turbulence ki-
netic energy.
2. Artificial neural network
An aggregate 468 data of group-hole nozzles are available each
consisted of four input parameters (i.e. crank-angle, out-mass flow,
pressure, and turbulence) forming four neurons in the first layer.
Note that the hidden layer can be varied by number of neurons,
contrary to the output layer, which contains two neurons, namely
penetration and SMD (Sauter mean diameter). For group-hole
configuration, different networks were developed. Datasets in the
network were shuffled into three different sets of training, valida-
tion, and testing phases, which were randomly partitioned to 65%,
10%, and 25%, respectively.
A feed-forward with back-propagation algorithm was selected as
the network assessments function due to its documented ability in
dealing with great deal of stochastic problems. Topological config-
uration of the network is a fundamental task in modeling since
increasing number of hidden layers may increase the system effi-
ciency, however, may lead to over-fitting drawback, which decreases
the predictability as well as imposing the computational complexity.
Thus, multilayered perceptron neural network with 4-x-2 architec-
ture (wherein x typifies the number of neurons in the hidden layer
changed from one to thirty) was chosen noting that the attempt is
put on finding the optimum number of neurons in the hidden layer.
To achieve the best network structure, various training functions
were also tested and tried. For deletion of the effect of randomly
chosen weights and biases by the network, implementation of each
set was carried out fifty times and then the developed network with
the minimum MSE (as the network quality index) was considered.
MSE and coefficient of determination, R2, are as given:
1X n  2
MSE ¼ Y  Yj (2)
(1) n i¼1 i
Pn   2
i; j¼1 Yi  Y i Yj  Y j
R2 ¼ P  2 Pn  2 (3)
n
i¼1 Yi  Y i j¼1 Yj  Y j
where Yi and Yj are output variables of actual and predicted by ANN,
respectively, Y is the average over n number samples. Furthermore,
to achieve fast convergence to the lowest error and also to ensure
each input variable provides an equal contribution in the ANN, each
of input variables was normalized in the range of 1 to 1. The
activation function for hidden layer was selected to be the tangent-
sigmoid transfer function since the output of this function falls into
(1,1) spectrum. This range is in compliance limit with the range of
utilized activation function, i.e. tangent-sigmoid.
Traingdx, trainlm, trainrp, and trainscg were mentioned in
literature as the fastest and the most beneficial training functions
for the back-propagation algorithm [19]. On this account, the po-
tential of variable learning rate (traingdx) and resilient back-
propagation (trainrp) as well as LevenbergeMarquardt (trainlm)
and Scaled Conjugate Gradient (trainscg) were evaluated. Fig. 1
represents ANN architecture with single hidden layer in our
application.
 H. Taghavifar et al. / Energy xxx (2014) 1e9 3

Table 2
Experimental operation condition and testing specifications (Ref. [14]).

Common rail sys ECD U2-P, Denso Co.

CCD camera (image processing) C4880, Hamamatsu photonics
Pulse generator DG 535, Stanford Inc.
Injector type Group-hole nozzle
Constant volume vessel gas Nitrogen
Impinging wall Stainless steel flat wall

through GA function. In the current hybridized ANN-GA algorithm,

random selection operator was avoided and the weight values
redistribution for each neuron was such handled to give the most
correspondence with experimental data. It can be deduced that the
impact of input parameters on spray characteristics during injec-
Fig. 1. ANN structure with single hidden layer.
tion is determined according to GA optimization method.

4. Semi-empirical data analysis: variation of output

3. Genetic algorithm
parameters versus input values
Genetic algorithm has been largely applied in engine optimi-
The measurements of group-hole nozzles experiments were
zation field due to its potential in optimization. In order to reduce
implemented by Gao et al. [14] in a constant volume chamber using
and optimize the reaction rate of combustion by reducing the
an ultraviolet LAS (laser absorption technique). Their technique
number of involved species, the genetic algorithm was used [20].
chiefly centers around fuel vapor absorption and droplet scattering
Meanwhile GA was also employed for optimization of the fuel
at different wavelengths [14]. The experimental results were taken
consumption and emissions by consideration of various designs
from Ref. [14] for modeling the network to prognosticate the spray
and controllable parameters as operational input parameters [21].
behavior. Further details of their experimental research principals
The function of GA (in our work) when coupled with neural
are presented in Refs. [14,25e28]. Numerical CFD method was
network will be defined in this section as how GA improves ANN
carried out by finite volume method to simulate and solve the
performance in predicting spray structure as a function of given
conservation equations. Nozzle's length-to-diameter ratio is 12.5
input variables: an array of chromosomes as potential responses
while 0.34 mg diesel fuel was injected for 0.6 ms at constant in-
compose the requisite population for initialization of the genetic
jection pressure of 120 MPa through two nozzle holes to a constant
algorithm. ANN weights have to be optimized by GA; therefore,
volume vessel in non-evaporating condition of 300 K. Novel LES
each individual of population was taken randomly as neural
turbulent modeling was approached for two-phase fluid flow
network weights. In this manner, a population of individuals was
simulation in cylindrical vessel. CFD results are in good corre-
created to start genetic algorithm. Thereafter, a cost function
spondence with experimental data. Data-points adjacent to
(fitness function) was defined based on MSE. The chromosomes of
experimentally measured results were extrapolated by curve fitting
population were sorted according to the least cost or the highest
technique to connect experimental and numerical data. Altogether,
fitness. Certain percentages of the most elite members were
the whole dataset were obtained by experimental procedure, CFD
directly transferred to the next generation based on their merit
simulation, and curve fitting technique. Uncertainty analysis along
measured by fitness function. Three GA operators (selection,
with data discrepancy spectrum is listed in Table 1. The highest
crossover, mutation) will be activated to generate the rest of the
output sensitivity is of turbulence (according to Table 1). One has to
next generation's population [22,23]. Weighted random selection
note that small discharge pressure variation is due to non-
scheme selects members of the available population; meanwhile
evaporative condition establishment. As a result, combustion
the crossover operator combines the components (genes) at the
does not occur and no sudden increasing pressure course happens.
crossover point. In order to avoid GA from converging to local op-
In the present study, special attention is given to physical spray
timum, searching space for candidate solution should be diversified
development rather than heat transfer impact. Operational condi-
by mutation operator. The best individual is survived through each
tion specifications are provided in Table 2. Some detailed sample
generation that is deemed to have the least cost function (error)
datasets are provided as well in Table 3.
[24]. For the spray characteristics optimization, the ANN perfor-
mance was enhanced by weights manipulation of objective vari-
ables of CA, outlet mass flow, discharge pressure, and turbulence 5. Result and discussion

Fig. 2 depicts that SMD decreases while penetration increases as

Table 1
a function of crank-angle. This trend is apparent in almost every
Uncertainty and discrepancy analysis. operational condition since with time lapse, the droplet diameters
No. Objective Min and max discrepancy Std. deviation % Uncertainty
parameters Table 3
1 CA (deg) 0e60 21.02 0.972 Input and output samples.
2 Mass flow 2.13  1013e7.9  108 2.388  108 1.312  109
CA Pressure Outlet mass Turbulence Penetration SMD
rate (Kg/s)
(Degree) (MPa) flow rate (Kg/s) (m2/s2) (mm) (mm)
3 Discharge 1.1e2.1 0.0086 0.0004
pressure (MPa) 10.5 1.18 1.74e-10 1.27637 49.2054 55.925
4 TKE (m2/s2) 0.994e2.145 0.401 0.0185 27.6 1.2 1.65e-9 2.12412 69.6778 9.6850
5 Penetration 6.39e94.98 17.69 0.818 34.1 1.209 1.62e-9 2.13727 73.1014 7.9252
(mm) 46.6 1.21 1.62e-9 2.14356 78.3519 5.2936
6 SMD (mm) 1.711e103.67 31.24 1.445 60 1.21 1.62e-9 2.1451 84.16025 3.4233

Please cite this article in press as: Taghavifar H, et al., Diesel engine spray characteristics prediction with hybridized artificial neural network
optimized by genetic algorithm, Energy (2014), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.energy.2014.05.006
4 H. Taghavifar et al. / Energy xxx (2014) 1e9

Fig. 2. (a). Penetration variation vs. CA for different discharge pressures. (b). SMD variation vs. CA for different discharge pressures.

decreases and spray further traverse into cylindrical chamber. Fig. 2
also shows discharge injection pressure impact on penetration and
SMD. As seen with pressure increase, both penetration and SMD
decrease. Increasing discharge pressure leads to gas resistance in
vessel against injected fuel and subsequently better liquid jet at-
omization was achieved, thereby decrease of droplet diameter was
resulted. Fig. 3 illustrates SMD and liquid spray penetration
variation with respect to chamber pressure. Fig. 3a indicates lower
spray penetration when higher discharge pressure was applied in
spraying chamber due to lower spray droplet diffusion in higher gas
density. Fig. 3b shows the overall SMD reduction when higher in-
jection discharge pressure was applied in the spray injection
chamber, although a slight SMD increase was observed during
1e1.8 MPa discharge pressure increment.

Please cite this article in press as: Taghavifar H, et al., Diesel engine spray characteristics prediction with hybridized artificial neural network
optimized by genetic algorithm, Energy (2014), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.energy.2014.05.006
 H. Taghavifar et al. / Energy xxx (2014) 1e9 5

Fig. 3. (a). Penetration vs. discharge pressure after steady state injection is established at 3 ms ASOI. (b). SMD vs. discharge pressure after steady state injection is established at 3 ms
ASOI.

The objective of the current study is to demonstrate ANN
capability to predict spray characteristics in terms of SMD and
penetration when treated with genetic algorithm. Fig. 4 implies
that increasing neurons number in hidden layers for all training
algorithms caused the overall mean square error reduction. An
optimum ANN structure was found to be 4-24-2 for LM (Lev-
enbergeMarquardt) training algorithm since the lowest MSE of
0.8894 is exhibited for LM training function together with 24
neurons in hidden layer. R2 estimation is analyzed at the lowest rate
of MSE. The minimum mean squared error values of each training
trend was obtained to be 0.8894, 3.104, 3.541 and 4.084 for LM, SCG
(scaled conjugate gradient), RP (resilient propagation), GDX
(gradient descent with momentum and adaptive learning rate)
algorithms at 24, 22, 25, 10 number of neurons in hidden layer,
respectively (Fig. 4).
The equation can be generalized by learning a trend between
available data points of spray penetration and SMD based on the
time evolution (CA), outlet mass flow rate, discharge pressure, and

Please cite this article in press as: Taghavifar H, et al., Diesel engine spray characteristics prediction with hybridized artificial neural network
optimized by genetic algorithm, Energy (2014), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.energy.2014.05.006
6 H. Taghavifar et al. / Energy xxx (2014) 1e9

Fig. 4. Mean squared error vs. number of neurons in hidden layer for different training algorithms.

turbulence. Under any iteration of ANN algorithm, the network The regression analysis is given in scatter plots denoting the
tries to correct the developed formulation for SMD and penetration correspondence of desired outputs between the network pre-
outputs, thus closer assessment can be obtained in relation to the dictions results and experimental values for both test and train
experimental data. portions. As seen in Fig. 5a, b at initial time during spray injection,

Fig. 5. (a). The ANN prediction for penetration vs. experimental values for test partition. (b). The ANN prediction for penetration vs. experimental values for training partition. (c).
The ANN prediction for SMD vs. experimental values for testing period. (d). The ANN prediction for SMD vs. experimental values for training period.

Please cite this article in press as: Taghavifar H, et al., Diesel engine spray characteristics prediction with hybridized artificial neural network
optimized by genetic algorithm, Energy (2014), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.energy.2014.05.006
 H. Taghavifar et al. / Energy xxx (2014) 1e9 7

Fig. 6. MSE values for different ANN-GA network training with respect to number of neurons in hidden layer.

the correspondence between modeled ANN and experimental
values are poor. With spray penetration at subsequent times and
spray stabilization, the network performs with higher accuracy in
prediction. The highest deviation range from the fitting line in
terms of penetration was observed during the initial penetration of
10.68e26.29 mm for testing and 6.58e26.74 mm for training
partition. Accordingly, the highest discrepancy from the fitting line
occurs at 0.23 ms ASOI (after start of injection) equal to 27.6% in
testing portion. According to Fig. 5c and d, the highest deviation
range from the fitting line of SMD happens within 34.5e90.56 mm
for testing. Furthermore, the highest discrepancy for SMD occurred
at 0.68 ms ASOI equal to 23.6% from the corresponding

Fig. 7. (a). The ANN-GA prediction for penetration vs. experimental values for test partition. (b). The ANN-GA prediction for penetration vs. experimental values for training
partition. (c). The ANN-GA prediction for SMD vs. experimental values for testing period. (d). The ANN-GA prediction for SMD vs. experimental values for training period.

Please cite this article in press as: Taghavifar H, et al., Diesel engine spray characteristics prediction with hybridized artificial neural network
optimized by genetic algorithm, Energy (2014), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.energy.2014.05.006
8 H. Taghavifar et al. / Energy xxx (2014) 1e9
experimental value. Higher discrepancies from the fitting line have
been occurred for lower penetration and higher SMD data-points
associated with the initial spray injection period. The highest tur-
bulence amount and the stochastic behavior of fluid flow at primary
fuel injection caused the poor modeling ability of the network. The
results, however, indicate that the selected input parameters
outperform when dealing with SMD and penetration at late injec-
tion time coinciding with stabilized flow establishment. The tur-
bulence parameter takes effect during the late injection when
secondary breakup is initiated; hence, more powerful model based
on effective input variables is able to generate spray characteristics
with less error propagation. As shown in Fig. 7, the GA acts upon the
high deviation range of data-points generated by ANN and by
correcting the network results, maps the scatter plot points on the
unity slope line. The optimization by GA is through handling the
allocated weights for turbulence during early spray injection period
that regulates the importance of each parameter at any spray in-
jection time. It was shown that determination coefficient for the
test and train phasing are close to unity (an excellent indicator of
ANN's predictive merit). In the training period, for SMD and
penetration, the mean square error was within the range of
0.8894e6.933. A general conclusion can be drawn from Fig. 5;
penetration modeling is more accurate than SMD results. This
phenomenon can be traced back to the accuracy of data acquisition
measurement for penetration in comparison to SMD. It was
deduced that the increment of neuron number leads to decrement
of modeling error. However, there is a limit in the number of
neurons to avoid over-fitting drawback. Since LM method prevails,
its predictive ability for spray quality was taken into account. The
overall MSE evaluation yields that GDX algorithm has poor accuracy
by 71.78% difference with LM at 20 neuron numbers. It can be
appreciated that higher correlation with respect to experimental
data (R2 values are closer to 1) is achieved for training phasing.
Obtained R2 coefficient for test and train session for penetration
and SMD are 0.992, 0.994, 0.975, 0.992, accordingly.
Genetic algorithm was employed to improve neural network
performance so that better agreement between predicted and
experimental data can be obtained. As shown in Fig. 6, MSE values
are plotted with respect to neuron numbers in hidden layer for
hybridized ANN-GA methodology. MSE values were further
reduced by optimization of neural network weights, implemented
by genetic algorithm. The best performance in terms of mean
square error was achieved at 30 neurons, which denotes higher
number of neurons in hidden layer is conducive to more MSE
reduction with ANN-GA application. Scatter plots of ANN-GA pre-
dicted data versus experimental data according to 4-30-2 archi-
tecture trained by LevenbergeMarquardt are shown in Fig. 7. It is
clear from Figs. 5 and 7 that data point are well mapped to the
fitting line in the case of ANN-GA that illustrates its superior per-
formance, and accuracy compared with ANN. Table 4 summarizes a
global comparison between ANN and ANN-GA hybrid model.
6. Conclusion
Neural network modeling is a powerful tool for data processing
in order to predict the results based on given series of input pa-
rameters, and therein its applicability in broad spectrum of
Table 4
ANN-GA and ANN performance comparison.
ANN-GA ANN
2
R (SMD-training) 0.998 0.992
MSE 0.3348 0.8994
Structure 4-30-2 4-24-2
Please cite this article in press as: Taghavifar H, et al., Diesel engine spray characteristics prediction with hybridized artificial neural network
optimized by genetic algorithm, Energy (2014), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.energy.2014.05.006
scientific research is proven. Current study's ANN structure is
consisted of four input layers, a single hidden layer and two output
layers. SMD and penetration features of diesel spray were predicted
through four sets of data processing elements including CA, injector
discharge pressure, injector outlet mass flow rate, and turbulence.
Data gathering is achieved by experimental data, extrapolation
from a graph, curve fitting, and CFD simulation. R2 values are very
close to unity for testing and training data. Maximum determina-
tion coefficient was designated to penetration training period equal
to 0.994 and 0.999 for ANN and ANN-GA, respectively. Lower MSE
rate in network modeling demonstrates that the network structure
is able to predict accurately. The lowest amount of error is achieved
by using LM training algorithm. Every neural network modeling
can lead to an optimization problem where its weights have to be
such optimized for the best efficiency of network. GA optimization
in current investigation yielded 62.77% MSE reduction. The novelty
of research covers the new horizon of spray quality prediction with
the aid of ANN-GA modeling successfully.
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Please cite this article in press as: Taghavifar H, et al., Diesel engine spray characteristics prediction with hybridized artificial neural network
optimized by genetic algorithm, Energy (2014), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.energy.2014.05.006