EVOLUTION OF OPTIMUM STRUCTURAL SHARES USING GENETIC ALGORITHM

The optimum structural shape design of skeletal structures has traditi onally been solved by using conceptual designs, often based on ground structures, in which the generated designs resemble the conceptual des igns. If the design could be approached without the use of conceptual designs or ground structures, there is a potential for generating new and innovative designs, especially when more complex design problems a re attempted. A methodology using such a design approach, made possibl e by the use of the genetic algorithm, is proposed in this paper. The proposed methodology uses the genetic algorithm;to evolve optimum stru ctural shape designs, which are free to assume any geometry and topolo gy. The sizing, configurational, and topological aspects of the design are simultaneously addressed. Discrete member sizes are considered. T he methodology is capable of addressing single and multiple loadings, and plane or space structures. A new string representation scheme, gen eralized penalty function, and fitness function are introduced. The pr oposed methodology is applied to two illustrative examples involving s ingle-span plane trusses and the results described