PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS OF STRUCTURAL OPTIMIZATION

Research is automated structural optimization has been actively conducted in the United States for two decades. This paper attempts a critical review of this activity and examines some examples of successful applications in civil engineering design. The question of fully stressed versus mathematical programming approach to proportioning the force distribution in a structure, which has received much research attention, is placed in proper perspective. The emphasis in this paper is on methods and programs applicable to the design of structural elements with a criterion that the program be economically attractive for use. Examples include welded box girders, wide-flange beams and columns, gabled frames, reinforced concrete beams, shear walls, continuous highway bridge girders, and pile foundations. A distinction is made between design problems for which mathematical programming tools are directly applicable and those for which heuristic or intuitive design schemes must be augmented.

• Supplemental Notes:
  • Presented at the ASCE Sixth Conference on Electronic Computation, Atlanta, Georgia, August 7-9, 1974.
• Corporate Authors:

  American Society of Civil Engineers

  345 East 47th Street
  New York, NY  United States  10017-2398
• Authors:
  • Goble, G C
  • Moses, F
• Publication Date: 1975-4

Media Info

• Features: Appendices; Figures; References;
• Pagination: p. 635-648
• Serial:
  • Journal of the Structural Division
  • Volume: 101
  • Issue Number: ST4
  • Publisher: American Society of Civil Engineers

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Automation; Beams; Box girders; Design; Frames; Information processing; Optimization; Pile foundations; Reinforced concrete; Shear walls; Stiffness; Structural engineering
• Uncontrolled Terms: Design criteria; Reinforced concrete beams
• Old TRIS Terms: Rigid frames
• Subject Areas: Bridges and other structures; Design; Highways;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00096122
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: ASCE 11267 Proc Paper
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Jul 2 1975 12:00AM