• Journal of Korean Association for Spatial Structures
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.77-85
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• 2011

In this study, micro genetic algorithm is used to find an optimum cross section of grid structures with pretension. Design optimization of trusses consists of arriving at optimum sizes of cross-section and prestressing force parameters, when weight of the truss is minimum, satisfying a set of specified constraints. The present approach is verified by ten-bar truss example showing good agreements with previous results. Features of the proposed method, which help in modeling and application to optimal design of pretensioned truss structures, are demonstrated by solving a problem of seventy two bar truss structures. The minimum weight design of seventy two bar truss is performed for various magnitudes of pretension and optimal prestressing forces are also found for various configurations of pretensioned truss structures.

• Proceedings of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute Conference
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• 1999.10a
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• pp.301-308
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• 1999

This paper describes the application of genetic algorithm(GA) in the discrete optimal design of truss structures. Stochastic processes generate an intial population of design and then apply principles of natural selection/survival of the fittest to improve the design. GA is applied to minimum weight of truss subject to stress and displacement constraints under multiple loading conditions. First, optimum solutions obtained from GA are compared to verify the reliability of GA with m well-known transmission tower structure which is referred to by other authors. Then, discrete optimal design is performed in satisfying service conditions of truss structure with commercially available fabricated sizes. From the results, it is found that GA search technique is very effective for discrete optimal design of truss structure and has high robustness.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.76 no.6
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• pp.799-821
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• 2020

The optimum design of truss structures is one of the significant categories in structural optimization that has widely been applied by researchers. In the present study, new mathematical programming called Consistent Approximation (CONAP) method is utilized for the simultaneous optimization of the size and shape of truss structures. The CONAP algorithm has already been introduced to optimize some structures and functions. In the CONAP algorithm, some important parameters are designed by employing design sensitivities to enhance the capability of the method and its consistency in various optimum design problems, especially structural optimization. The cross-sectional area of the bar elements and the nodal coordinates of the truss are assumed to be the size and shape design variables, respectively. The displacement, allowable stress and the Euler buckling stress are taken as the design constraints for the problem. In the proposed method, the primary optimization problem is replaced with a sequence of explicit sub-problems. Each sub-problem is efficiently solved using the sequential quadratic programming (SQP) algorithm. Several truss structures are designed by employing the CONAP method to illustrate the efficiency of the algorithm for simultaneous shape and size optimization. The optimal solutions are compared with some of the mathematical programming algorithms, the approximation methods and metaheuristic algorithms those reported in the literature. Results demonstrate that the accuracy of the optimization is improved and the convergence rate speeds up.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.44 no.5
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• pp.603-617
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• 2022

Structural design, in general, is developed through trial and error technique which is guided by standards criteria and based on the intuition and experience of the engineer, a context that leads to structural over-dimensioning, with uneconomic solutions. Aiming to find the optimal design, structural optimization methods have been developed to find a balance between cost, structural safety, and material performance. These methods have become a great opportunity in the steel structural engineering domain since they have as their main purpose is weight minimization, a factor directly correlated to the real cost of the structure. Assuming an objective function of minimum weight with stress and displacement constraints provided by Brazilian standards, the present research proposes the sizing optimization and combined approach of sizing and shape optimization, through a software developed to implement the Simulated Annealing metaheuristic algorithm. Therefore, two steel plane frame layouts, each admitting four typical truss geometries, were proposed in order to expose the difference between the optimal solutions. The assessment of the optimal solutions indicates a notable weight reduction, especially in sizing and shape optimization combination, in which the quantity of design variables is increased along with the search space, improving the efficiency of the optimal solutions achieved.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Machine Tool Engineers
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.9-16
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• 2003

A strategy of the optimal shape design with FEA(Finite Element Analysis) for 2-D structure is proposed by comparing subproblem approximation method with first order approximation method. A cantilever beam with two different loading conditions, a concentrated load and an evenly distribute load, and truss structure with a concentrated loading condition are implemented to optimize the shape. It gives a good design strategy on the optimal truss structure as well as the optimal cantilever beam shape. It is found that the convergence is quickly finished with the iteration number below ten. Optimized shapes of cantilever beam and truss structure are shown with stress contour plot by the results of the subproblem approximation method and the first order approximation methd.

• Journal of Mechanical Science and Technology
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• v.18 no.9
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• pp.1512-1518
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• 2004

Rescaled Simulated Annealing (RSA) has been adapted to solve combinatorial optimization problems in which the available computational resources are limited. Simulated Annealing (SA) is one of the most popular combinatorial optimization algorithms because of its convenience of use and because of the good asymptotic results of convergence to optimal solutions. However, SA is too slow to converge in many problems. RSA was introduced by extending the Metropolis procedure in SA. The extension rescales the state's energy candidate for a transition before applying the Metropolis criterion. The rescaling process accelerates convergence to the optimal solutions by reducing transitions from high energy local minima. In this paper, structural optimization examples using RSA are provided. Truss structures of which design variables are discrete or continuous are optimized with stress and displacement constraints. The optimization results by RSA are compared with the results from classical SA. The comparison shows that the numbers of optimization iterations can be effectively reduced using RSA.

• Journal of Korean Association for Spatial Structures
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• v.10 no.4
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• pp.59-66
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• 2010

This study presents the topology optimization technique by density method to determine the initial shape of space truss structures. Most initial shape design is performed by designer's previous experiences and trial and error method instead of the application of reasonable optimization method. Thus, the reasonable and economical optimization methods are needed to be introduced for the initial shape design. Therefore, we set design domain for cantilever space truss structure as an example model. And topology optimization is used to obtain optimum layout for them, and then size optimization method is used to find the optimum member size. Therefore, the reasonable initial optimal shapes of spatial truss structures can be obtained through the topology and size optimization using density method.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.501-515
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• 2016

Seismic analysis for steel frame structure with brace configuration using topology optimization based on truss-like material model is studied. The initial design domain for topology optimization is determined according to original steel frame structure and filled with truss-like members. Hence the initial truss-like continuum is established. The densities and orientation of truss-like members at any point are taken as design variables in finite element analysis. The topology optimization problem of least-weight truss-like continuum with stress constraints is solved. The orientations and densities of members in truss-like continuum are optimized and updated by fully-stressed criterion in every iteration. The optimized truss-like continuum is founded after finite element analysis is finished. The optimal bracing system is established based on optimized truss-like continuum without numerical instability. Seismic performance for steel frame structures is derived using dynamic time-history analysis. A numerical example shows the advantage for frame structures with brace configuration using topology optimization in seismic performance.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.33 no.5
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• pp.747-753
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• 2019

Metaheuristic algorithm is used to solve the weight minimization problem of truss structures considering shape, and sizing design variables. The cross-sectional areas of the line element in trusses are the design variables for size optimization and the changeable joint coordinates are the shape optimization used in this study. The design of plane and spatial truss structures are optimized by metaheuristic technique named Teaching-Learning-Based Optimization (TLBO). Finite element analyses of structures and optimization process are carried out by the computer program visually developed by the authors coded in MATLAB. The four benchmark problems (trusses 2D ten-bar, 3D thirty-seven-bar, 3D seventy-two-bar and 2D two-hundred-bar) taken from literature are optimized and the optimal solution compared the results given by previous studies.

• Journal of Ship and Ocean Technology
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• v.5 no.2
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• pp.14-26
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• 2001

This paper presents a novel design approach that could generate structural design alternatives having different topologies and then, select the optimum structure from them with simulataneously determining its optimum design variables related to geometry and the member size subjected to the multiple objective design environments. For this purpose, a specialized genetic algorithm, called StrGA_DeAl + MOGA, which can handle the design alternatives and multi-criteria problems very effectively, is developed for the optimal structural design. To validate the developed method, method, plain truss design problems are considered as illustrative example. To begin with, some possible topological of the truss structure are suggested based on the stability criterion that should be satisfied under the given loading condition. Then, with the consideration of the given multi-criteria, several different topology forms are selected as design alternatives for the second step of the conceptual design process. Based on the chosen topolgy of truss structures, the sizing or shaping optimization process starts to determine the optimum design parameters. Ten-bar truss problems are given in the paper to confirm the above concept and methodology.