Abstract
The problem of optimal structural design having linked discrete variables is addressed. For such applications, when a discrete value for a variable is selected, values for other variables linked to it must also be selected from a table. The design of steel structures using available sections is a major application area of such problems. Three strategies that combine a continuous variable optimization method with a genetic algorithm, simulated annealing, and branch and bound method are presented and implemented into a computer program for their numerical evaluation. Three structural design problems are solved to study the performance of the proposed methods. CPU times for solution of the problems with discrete variables are large. Strategies are suggested to reduce these times.
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Huang, M.W., Arora, J.S. Optimal design of steel structures using standard sections. Structural Optimization 14, 24–35 (1997). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01197555
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01197555