• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
• /
• v.12 no.3
• /
• pp.39-55
• /
• 1992

In this research, a Three Level Decomposition technique has been developed for configuration design optimization of truss structures. In the first level, as design variables, behavior variables are used and the strain energy has been treated as the cost function to be maximized so that the truss structure can absorb maximum energy. For design constraint of the optimal design problem, allowable stress, buckling stress, and displacement under multi-loading conditions are considered. In the second level, design problem is formulated using the cross-sectional area as the design variable and the weight of the truss structure as the cost function. As for the design constraint, the equilibrium equation with the optimal displacement obtained in the first level is used. In the third level, the nodal point coordinates of the truss structure are used as coordinating variable and the weight has been taken as the cost function. An advantage of the Three Level Decomposition technique is that the first and second level design problems are simple because they are linear programming problems. Moreover, the method is efficient because it is not necessary to carry out time consuming structural analysis and techniques for sensitivity analysis during the design optimization process. By treating the nodal point coordinates as design variables, the third level becomes unconstrained optimal design problems which is easier to solve. Moreover, by using different convergence criteria at each level of design problem, improved convergence can be obtained. The proposed technique has been tested using four different truss structures to yield almost identical optimum designs in the literature with efficient convergence rate regardless of constraint types and configuration of truss structures.

• Journal of the Korea Organic Resources Recycling Association
• /
• v.24 no.4
• /
• pp.59-68
• /
• 2016

The application of the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology to assess the environmental impact of rapeseed cultivation in winter fallow after harvesting rice was investigated and compared with barley cultivation in crop rotation system. Data for input materials were collected and analyzed by 1 ton rapeseed and barley as functional unit. For the Life Cycle Impact Assessment (LCIA) the Eco-indicator 95 method has been chosen because this is well documented and regularly applied impact method. From the comparison of impact categories such as greenhouse effect, ozone depletion, acidification, heavy metals, carcinogens, summer smog, and energy resources for 1 ton of final product, emission potential from rapeseed was higher than that from barley. The range from 65 to 96% of these potential came from chemical fertilizer. On the other hand, eutrophication potential from barley was higher than that from rapeseed, mainly came from utilizing the chemical fertilizer. During the cultivation of barley and rape, environmental burden by heavy metals was evaluated by 0.5 Pt, larger than points from other impact categories. The sum of points from all impact categories in barley and rapeseed was calculated to be 0.78 Pt and 0.82 Pt, respectively. From the sensitivity analysis for barley and rapeseed, scenario 1 (crop responses to fertilization level) showed the environmental burden was continuously increased with the amount of fertilization in barley cultivation, while it was not increased only at the optimum crop responses to fertilization in rapeseed (R3). With these results, rapeseed cultivation in winter fallow paddy contributed to the amounts of environmental burden much more than barley cultivation. It is, however, highly determined that environmental weighted point resulted from evaluating both cultivation was not significantly different.