A BACKTRACKING SEARCH ALGORITHM FOR THE SIMULTANEOUS SIZE, SHAPE AND TOPOLOGY OPTIMIZATION OF TRUSSES

Authors

  • RAFAEL RODRIGUES DE SOUZA FEDERAL UNIVERSITY OF SANTA CATARINA
  • LEANDRO FLECK FADEL MIGUEL FEDERAL UNIVERSITY OF SANTA CATARINA
  • RAFAEL HOLDORF LOPEZ FEDERAL UNIVERSITY OF SANTA CATARINA
  • ANDRÉ JACOMEL TORII FEDERAL UNIVERSITY OF PARAÍBA
  • LET͍CIA FLECK FADEL MIGUEL FEDERAL UNIVERSITY OF RIO GRANDE DO SUL

Keywords:

BACKTRACKING SEARCH ALGORITHM, TRUSS OPTIMIZATION, TOPOLOGY OPTIMI-ZATION, SIZE OPTIMIZATION, SHAPE OPTIMIZATION, MIXED VARIABLE PROBLEM

Abstract

THIS PAPER PRESENTS A BACKTRACKING SEARCH OPTIMIZATION ALGORITHM (BSA) TO SIMULTANEOUSLY OPTIMIZE THE SIZE, SHAPE AND TOPOLOGY OF TRUSS STRUCTURES. IT FOCUSES ON THE OPTIMIZATION OF THESE THREE AS-PECTS SINCE IT IS WELL KNOWN THAT THE MOST EFFECTIVE SCHEME OF TRUSS OPTIMIZATION IS ACHIEVED WHEN THEY ARE SIMULTANEOUSLY CONSIDERED. THE MINIMIZATION OF STRUCTURAL WEIGHT IS THE OBJECTIVE FUNCTION, IMPOSING DISPLACEMENT, STRESS, LOCAL BUCKLING AND/OR KINEMATIC STABILITY CONSTRAINTS. THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THE BSA AT SOLVING THIS TYPE OF OPTIMIZATION PROBLEM IS DEMONSTRATED BY SOLVING A SERIES OF BENCHMARK PROBLEMS COMPARING NOT ONLY THE BEST DESIGNS FOUND, BUT ALSO THE STATISTICS OF 100 INDEPENDENT RUNS OF THE ALGORITHM. THE NUMERICAL ANALYSIS SHOWED THAT THE BSA PROVIDED THE BEST DESIGN EVER FOUND FOR MOST OF THE ANALYZED PROBLEMS. MOREOVER, IN SEVERAL CASES, IT WAS ALSO ABLE TO IMPROVE THE STATISTICS OF THE INDE-PENDENT RUNS SUCH AS THE MEAN AND COEFFICIENT OF VARIATION VALUES.

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Published

2016-11-01

Issue

Vol. 13 No. 15 (2016)

Section

Articles

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