Some works are done about the multi-objective differential evolution algorithm and the problems of algorithm in mechanical engineering are revealed.Based on the works

the multi-objective differential evolution algorithm is improved and the constrained multi-objective optimization algorithm be suitable for mechanical engineering and based on differential evolution is given.The algorithm is compared with multi-objective particle swarm optimization

which is a popular optimization algorithm

and the validation is carried out by a typical example of the double circular arc gear transmission multi-objective problem.The results show that the algorithm has better performance than particle swarm optimization in the convergence

the Pareto diversity

the convergence speed

the simplicity and the understandability.A practical multi-objective optimization algorithm for the mechanical engineering is provided.