OPTIMAL-CONTROL OF SEMI-COERCIVE VARIATIONAL-INEQUALITIES WITH APPLICATION TO OPTIMAL-DESIGN OF BEAMS AND PLATES

A class of optimal design problems is considered, where the state prob lem is governed by a semi-coercive variational inequality. The latter includes a nonlinear monotone operator, the coefficients of which are chosen as the design (control) variables. If unique solvability of the state problem is guaranteed, the existence of an optimal design can b e proven on an abstract level. Some applications are presented to the optimization, of the thickness of elastic and elasto-plastic beams and plates.