Shape and cross-section

optimisation of a truss
structure
Lluis Gil, Antoni Andreu
Made
by Aakash Mohan

Introduction
Truss optimization refers to optimisation both in terms
of shape and size.

So, basically the design variables would be the nodal

coordinates regarding the shape optimisation and crosssection areas regarding the size optimisation

Objective function
Weight of the structure has been chosen as the onjective function.
Although cost might have been a better choice from the point of
view of real engineering construction. It is known that nowadays
cost is not directly related to the quantity of material, but to other
local factors such as the cost of labour or building difficulties.
It makes sense to use the weight as objective function in
automatically and mass-manufactured parts (prefabricated),
where the quantity of material has a marked infuence on the cost
of the product.

Objective function

where, li is the length of ith bar which depeds on

the nodal coordinates x, Ai the area of the crosssection and i, the specific weight of the material

Constraints
The set of equations which govern the structural
behaviour is treated as a constraint to the optimisation
problem.
1. Ku = P, where K is the stiffness matrix, u the unknown
displacement vector and P, the external force vector.
2. Pi < PU, Where Pi is the value of axial stress and PU is
the maximum axial stress for the material of the bar.

The optimisation
methodology
The technique for transforming a nonlinear problem of
conditional minimisation into a nonlinear, unconditional
minimisation problem involves the use of the penalty
function.
Consequently, a penalty function is defined by means of
the constraints,and subsequently added to the original
objective function.

Penalty function

Modified objective function

The objective function which will be minimised is the
sum of the weight of the structure and the penalty
function.

F(x) = w(x) + p(x),

where, w(x) is the weight function and p(x) is the penalty
function

The optimisation algorithm

Due to different nature of design variables, two different
algorithms were used for shape and size optimisation.
Fully stressed design method is used for the crosssection optimisation and Conjugate gradient method is
used for optimisation of the nodal coordinates.

Optimiation strategy
Solve KU = P

No

Relati
ve
Min.

Yes

Sizing
optimisation

Check Convergence criteria for size

optimization
Yes

Evaluate objective
function
Check convergence for Conjugate
gradient method (Shape optimisation)

No

Apply conjugate gradient method till the

convergence is achieved
The strategy of combining both kinds of optimisation
improves the results and stabilises the convergence
process.
It can be said that the cross-section optimisation is
included in the evaluation of the objective function.
Thus, the geometrical optimisation acts simultaneously
with a sizing optimisation

Fig - Relative minima of weight and objective function

do not coincide

Typical Example
In this example, a long isostatic
beam made by truss geometry
needs to be optimised. Its
original design can be seen in
the figure. The variables of the
problem are the cross-sections
of each pair of symmetric bars
for which 0.5 cm2 < Ai < 60
cm2 and the nodal coordinates. The supports are
considered to be fixed. The
applied forces are self-weight
and the loads shown in figure.

Sol. After going through the proposed method, we got

the optimised
structure after 45 iterations as shown below.

Striking observation
Notice that the upper and lower cords have shifted up
and down increasing the inertia of an equivalent
continuous beam, which adapts the shape against the
bending moments.
About 4900 kg of material are needed in the initial
design to avoid any bar breaking. In this case, the final
weight of the optimised structure is 1754 kg with a
saving of 64% of material.