Optimisation of planar trusses using direct design considering frequency constraints

Abstract

In this paper, the authors presented the method to establish and solve the optimisation of steel trusses subjected to several load combinations and frequency constraints. A direct design was employed to account for the non-geometric non-linear behaviour of the structure. The objective function of the optimisation problem was the total cost of the structure which was simplified as a function of total weight. The constraints of the optimisation included the strength and serviceability conditions, and structural frequency requirements. The differential evolution algorithm was applied to solve the proposed optimisation problem. A 10-bar planar truss was studied to illustrate this work.