Structural design using Cellular Automata for eigenvalue problems

Cellular Automata (CA) is an emerging paradigm for the analysis and design of complex systems. Recently, it has been successfully applied to structural design. In this work, an algorithm for designing structures for eigenvalue requirements is presented. The proposed algorithm, being fully local in nature, lends itself to CA-type implementation. To illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach, the design of Euler-Bernoulli columns for a prescribed buckling load is considered. Excellent agreement between the CA results and exact solutions is obtained. A more complex column design problem with local constraints is also considered, and the CA design is compared to the design obtained using a state-of-the-art structural optimization software.