Application of a gradient-based algorithm to structural optimization
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428973482-MIT.pdf
Description
Full printable version
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46.76 MB
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Adobe PDF
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f4f21161d13c36d9763b0093eff5efb3
Author(s)
Ghisbain, Pierre
Advisor(s)
Jerome J. Connor.
Date Issued
2009
Publisher
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Abstract
Optimization methods have shown to be efficient at improving structural design, but their use is limited in the engineering practice by the difficulty of adapting state-of-the-art algorithms to particular engineering problems. This study proposes the use of a robust gradient-based algorithm, whose adaptation to a variety of design problems is more straightforward. The algorithm was first applied to truss geometry and beam shape optimization, both forming part of the increasingly popular class of structural form-finding problems. The results showed that the gradient-based method is an appropriate tool for defining shapes in structures. The robustness of the algorithm was verified, as a series of structural configurations were treated with similar efficiency. The gradient-based method was also applied to a more traditional structural design problem through the optimization of a steel girder, resulting in a hybrid scheme featuring a truss stiffener. Throughout the study, emphasis was laid on the practical computer implementation of the gradient-based algorithm in interaction with structural analysis tools.
Description
Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering, 2009.
Includes bibliographical references (leaves 175-180).
Subjects
Civil and Environmental Engineering.
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
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copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but
reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written
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