SIZING, SHAPE, AND TOPOLOGY DESIGN OPTIMIZATION OP TRUSSES USING GENETIC ALGORITHM

A procedure is developed for the combined sizing, shape, and topology design of,space trusses. Discrete and continuous values are used to define the cross-sectional areas of the members. The nodal locations are treated as continuous design variables using the hybrid natural approach for shape optimal design. Element connectivity and boundary conditions are treated as Boolean design variables in the context of topology design. The traditional genetic algorithm is modified to handle the problem formulation. Simple concepts are used to accelerate convergence and reduce the computational effort. Numerical examples are solved to illustrate the proposed methodology. Several conclusions drawn from the research results are presented along with some thoughts on computational strategies.