OPTIMAL PLACEMENT OF ACTIVE ELEMENTS IN CONTROL AUGMENTED STRUCTURAL SYNTHESIS

A methodology for structural/control synthesis is presented in which t he optimal location of active members is treated in terms of (0,1) var iables. Structural member sizes, control gains, and (0,1) placement va riables are treated simultaneously as design variables. Optimization i s carried out by generating and solving a sequence of explicit approxi mate problems using a branch and bound strategy. Intermediate design v ariable and intermediate response quantity concepts are used to enhanc e the quality of the approximate design problems. Numerical results fo r example problems are presented to illustrate the efficacy of the des ign procedure set forth.