• Computers and Concrete
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• v.3 no.5
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• pp.313-334
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• 2006

A novel formulation aiming to achieve optimal design of reinforced concrete (RC) structures is presented here. Optimal sizing and reinforcing for beam and column members in multi-bay and multistory RC structures incorporates optimal stiffness correlation among all structural members and results in cost savings over typical-practice design solutions. A Nonlinear Programming algorithm searches for a minimum cost solution that satisfies ACI 2005 code requirements for axial and flexural loads. Material and labor costs for forming and placing concrete and steel are incorporated as a function of member size using RS Means 2005 cost data. Successful implementation demonstrates the abilities and performance of MATLAB's (The Mathworks, Inc.) Sequential Quadratic Programming algorithm for the design optimization of RC structures. A number of examples are presented that demonstrate the ability of this formulation to achieve optimal designs.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.50 no.3
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• pp.323-347
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• 2014

This paper proposes a Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) algorithm, which is improved by making use of the Harmony Search (HS) approach and called HS-PSO algorithm. A computer code is developed for optimal sizing design of non-linear steel frames with various semi-rigid and rigid beam-to-column connections based on the HS-PSO algorithm. The developed code selects suitable sections for beams and columns, from a standard set of steel sections such as American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC) wide-flange W-shapes, such that the minimum total cost, which comprises total member plus connection costs, is obtained. Stress and displacement constraints of AISC-LRFD code together with the size constraints are imposed on the frame in the optimal design procedure. The nonlinear moment-rotation behavior of connections is modeled using the Frye-Morris polynomial model. Moreover, the P-${\Delta}$ effects of beam-column members are taken into account in the non-linear structural analysis. Three benchmark design examples with several types of connections are presented and the results are compared with those of standard PSO and of other researches as well. The comparison shows that the proposed HS-PSO algorithm performs better both than the PSO and the Big Bang-Big Crunch (BB-BC) methods.

• Journal of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute of Korea
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• v.26 no.5
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• pp.351-358
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• 2013

In the electric power supplying industry, outdoor sealing end (pothead) is used and sometimes it is necessary to check the seismic qualification analysis or test which is intended to demonstrate that the equipment have adequate integrity to withstand stress of the specified seismic event and still performs their function. And since the pothead is mounted on the supporting jig, the avoidance of resonance between the pothead and jig is required. In order to design jig, three types of optimization are performed to get the minimum weight while satisfying the natural frequency constraint using ANSYS. Optimal array, position and thickness of truss members of the jig are obtained through topology, shape and sizing optimization process, respectively. And seismic analysis of the pothead on the jig for given RRS acceleration computes the displacement and stress of the pothead which shows the safety of the pothead. The obtained natural frequency, mass, and member thickness of the jig are compared with those of the reference jig which was used for seismic experimental test. The numerical results of the jig in the research is more optimized than the jig used in the experimental test.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.50 no.3
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• pp.365-382
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• 2014

In this article, the force method and Charged System Search (CSS) algorithm are used for the analysis and optimal design of truss structures. The CSS algorithm is employed as the optimization tool and the force method is utilized for analysis. In this paper in addition to member's cross sections, redundant forces, geometry and topology variables are considered as the optimization variables. Minimum complementary energy principle is used directly to analyze the structure. In the presented method, redundant forces are calculated by the CSS in order to minimize the energy function. Combination of the CSS and force method leads to an efficient algorithm in comparison to some of the optimization algorithms.

• 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.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.165-180
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• 1999

The cost effectiveness of using steel roof systems for residential buildings is becoming increasingly apparent with the decrease in manufacturing cost of steel components, reliability and efficiency in construction practices, and the economic and environmental concerns. While steel has been one of the primary materials for structural systems, it is only recently that its use for residential buildings is being explored. A comprehensive system for the design of residential steel roof truss systems is presented. In the first stage of the research the design curves obtained from the AISI-LRFD code for the manufactured cross-sections were verified experimentally. Components of the truss systems were tested in order to determine their member properties when subjected to axial force and bending moments. In addition, the experiments were simulated using finite element analysis to provide an additional source of verification. The second stage of the research involved the development of an integrated design approach that would automatically design a lowest cost roof truss given minimal input. A modified genetic algorithm was used to handle sizing, shape and topology variables in the design problem. The developed methodology was implemented in a software system for the purpose of designing the lowest cost truss that would meet the AISI code provisions and construction requirements given the input parameters. The third stage of the research involved full-scale testing of a typical residential steel roof designed using the developed software system. The full scale testing established the factor of safety while validating the analysis and design procedures. Evaluation of the test results indicates that designs using the present approach provide a structure with enough reserve strength to perform as predicted and are very economical.

• Journal of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute of Korea
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• v.29 no.6
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• pp.555-562
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• 2016

Seismic design of braced frames that simultaneously considers economic issues and structural performance represents a rather complicated engineering problem, and therefore, a systematic and well-established methodology is needed. This study proposes a multi-objective seismic design method for an inverted V-braced frame with suspended zipper struts that uses the non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm-II(NSGA-II). The structural weight and the maximum inter-story drift ratio as the objective functions are simultaneously minimized to optimize the cost and seismic performance of the structure. To investigate which of strength- and performance-based design criteria for braced frames is the critical design condition, the constraint conditions on the two design methods are simultaneously considered (i.e. the constraint conditions based on the strength and plastic deformation of members). The linear static analysis method and the nonlinear static analysis method are adopted to check the strength- and plastic deformation-based design constraints, respectively. The proposed optimal method are applied to three- and six-story steel frame examples, and the solutions improved for the considered objective functions were found.