Problems And Methods Of Optimal Structural Design

Problems and Methods of Optimal Structural Design

The author offers a systematic and careful development of many aspects of structural optimization, particularly for beams and plates. Some of the results are new and some have appeared only in specialized Soviet journals, or as pro ceedings of conferences, and are not easily accessible to Western engineers and mathematicians. Some aspects of the theory presented here, such as optimiza tion of anisotropic properties of elastic structural elements, have not been con sidered to any extent by Western research engineers. The author's treatment is "classical", i.e., employing classical analysis. Classical calculus of variations, the complex variables approach, and the Kolosov Muskhelishvili theory are the basic techniques used. He derives many results that are of interest to practical structural engineers, such as optimum designs of structural elements submerged in a flowing fluid (which is of obvious interest in aircraft design, in ship building, in designing turbines, etc.). Optimization with incomplete information concerning the loads (which is the case in a great majority of practical design considerations) is treated thoroughly. For example, one can only estimate the weight of the traffic on a bridge, the wind load, the additional loads if a river floods, or possible earthquake loads.

Recent Advances in Optimal Structural Design

Sponsored by the Technical Committee on Structural Design of the Technical Administrative Committee on Analysis and Computation of the Technical Activities Division of the Structural Engineering Institute of ASCE. This report documents the dramatic new developments in the field of structural optimization over the last two decades. Changes in both computational techniques and applications can be seen by developments in computational methods and solution algorithms, the role of optimization during the various stages of structural design, and the stochastic nature of design in relation to structural optimization. Topics include: Ømethods for discrete variable structural optimization; Ødecomposition methods in structural optimization; Østate of the art on the use of genetic algorithms in design of steel structures; Øconceptual design optimization of engineering structures; Øtopology and geometry optimization of trusses and frames; Øevolutionary structural optimization; Ødesign and optimization of semi-rigid framed structures; Øoptimized performance-based design for buildings; Ømulti-objective optimum design of seismic-resistant structures; and Øreliability- and cost-oriented optimal bridge maintenance planning. The book concludes with an extensive bibliography of journal papers on structural optimization published between 1987 and 1999.

Problems and Methods of Optimal Structural Design