Efficient design sensitivities of structures subjected to dynamic loading

Calculation of design sensitivities often involves much computational effort, particularly in large structural systems with many design variables. Approximation concepts, which are often used to reduce the computational cost involved in repeated analysis, are usually not sufficiently accurate for sensitivity analysis. In this study, approximate reanalysis is used to improve the efficiency of dynamic sensitivity analysis. Using modal analysis, the response derivatives with respect to design variables are presented as a combination of sensitivities of the eigenvectors and the generalized displacements. A procedure intended to reduce the number of differential equations that must be solved during the solution process is proposed. Efficient evaluation of the derivatives, using finite difference and the recently developed combined approximations approach, is presented. Numerical examples show that high accuracy of design sensitivities can be achieved efficiently. (c) 2005 Published by Elsevier Ltd.