• Computers and Concrete
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• v.17 no.6
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• pp.761-786
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• 2016

This paper proposes an automated procedure for optimum seismic design of reinforced concrete (RC) frame structures. This procedure combines a smart pre-processing using a Tree Classification Method (TCM) and a nonlinear optimization technique. First, the TCM automatically creates sections database and assigns sections to structural members. Subsequently, a real valued model of Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) algorithm is employed in solving the optimization problem. Numerical examples on design optimization of three low- to high-rise RC frame structures under earthquake loads are presented with and without considering strong column-weak beam (SCWB) constraint. Results demonstrate the effectiveness of the TCMin seismic design optimization of the structures.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.21 no.6
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• pp.1389-1410
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• 2016

This paper proposes a hybrid of topological derivative-based level set method (LSM) and isogeometric analysis (IGA) for structural topology optimization. In topology optimization a significant drawback of the conventional LSM is that it cannot create new holes in the design domain. In this study, the topological derivative approach is used to create new holes in appropriate places of the design domain, and alleviate the strong dependency of the optimal topology on the initial design. Furthermore, the values of the gradient vector in Hamilton-Jacobi equation in the conventional LSM are replaced with a Delta function. In the topology optimization procedure IGA based on Non-Uniform Rational B-Spline (NURBS) functions is utilized to overcome the drawbacks in the conventional finite element method (FEM) based topology optimization approaches. Several numerical examples are provided to confirm the computational efficiency and robustness of the proposed method in comparison with derivative-based LSM and FEM.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.70 no.6
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• pp.649-659
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• 2019

Vibration-based structural damage detection through optimization algorithms and minimization of objective function has recently become an interesting research topic. Application of various objective functions as well as optimization algorithms may affect damage diagnosis quality. This paper proposes a new damage identification method using Moth-Flame Optimization (MFO). MFO is a nature-inspired algorithm based on moth's ability to navigate in dark. Objective function consists of a term with modal assurance criterion flexibility and natural frequency. To show the performance of the said method, two numerical examples including truss and shear frame have been studied. Furthermore, Los Alamos National Laboratory test structure was used for validation purposes. Finite element model for both experimental and numerical examples was created by MATLAB software to extract modal properties of the structure. Mode shapes and natural frequencies were contaminated with noise in above mentioned numerical examples. In the meantime, one of the classical optimization algorithms called particle swarm optimization was compared with MFO. In short, results obtained from numerical and experimental examples showed that the presented method is efficient in damage identification.

• International Journal of Naval Architecture and Ocean Engineering
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.711-722
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• 2020

An optimization framework using genetic algorithms has been developed towards an automated parametric optimization of the Octabuoy semi-submersible design. Compared with deep draft production units, the design of the shallow draught Octabuoy semi-submersible provides a floating system with improved motion characteristics, being less susceptible to vortex induced motions in loop currents. The relatively large water plane area results in a decreased natural heave period, which locates the floater in the wave period range with more wave energy. Considering this, the hull design of Octabuoy semi-submersible has been optimized to improve the floater's motion performance. The optimization has been conducted with optimized parameters of the pontoon's rectangular cross section area, the cone shaped section's height and diameter. Through numerical evaluations of both the 1st-order and 2nd-order hydrodynamics, the optimization through genetic algorithms has been proven to provide improved hydrodynamic performance, in terms of heave and pitch motions. This work presents a meaningful framework as a reference in the process of floating system's design.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.143-152
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• 2021

Large dams are a part of the infrastructure of any society, and a huge amount of resources are consumed to build them. Among the various types of dams, the optimum design of concrete gravity dams requires special attention because these types of dams require a huge amount of concrete for their construction. On the other hand, concrete gravity dams are among the structures whose design, regarding the acting forces, geometric parameters, and resistance and stability criteria, has some complexities. In the present study, an optimization methodology is proposed based on Sequential Quadratic Programming (SQP), and a computer program is developed to perform optimization of concrete gravity dams. The optimum results for 45 concrete gravity dams are studied and regression analyses are performed to obtain some explicit formulas for optimization of the gravity dams. The optimization of concrete gravity dams can be provided easily using the developed formulas, without the need to perform any more optimization process.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Intelligent Systems
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.450-456
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• 2014

Humanoid robot is the most suitable robot platform for effective human and robot interaction. However, the robot's complicated body structure containing more than twenty joint actuators makes it difficult to generate stable and elaborate postures using the conventional inverse kinematic method. This paper proposes an alternative approach to generate difficult postures of touching an object placed in front of the foot by the left or right hand with its torso bent forward in single support phase using the fast computational optimization method, particle swarm optimization. The simulated postures are also applied to a commercial humanoid robot platform, which validates the feasibility of the proposed approach.

• International Journal of Aeronautical and Space Sciences
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.29-36
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• 2016

Tensairity girder is a light weight inflatable fabric structural concept which can be used in road emergency transportation. It uses low pressure air to stabilize compression elements against buckling. With the purpose of obtaining the comprehensive target of minimum deflection and weight under ultimate load, the cross-section and the inner pressure of tensairity girder was optimized in this paper. The Variable Complexity Modeling (VCM) method was used in this paper combining the Kriging approximate method with the Finite Element Analysis (FEA) method, which was implemented by ABAQUS. In the Kriging method, the sample points of the surrogate model were outlined by Design of Experiment (DOE) technique based on Optimal Latin Hypercube. The optimization framework was constructed in iSIGHT with a global optimization method, Multi-Island Genetic Algorithm (MIGA), followed by a local optimization method, Sequential Quadratic Program (SQP). The result of the optimization gives a prominent conceptual design of the tensairity girder, which approves the solution architecture of VCM is feasible and efficient. Furthermore, a useful trend of sensitivity between optimization variables and responses was performed to guide future design. It was proved that the inner pressure is the key parameter to balance the maximum Von Mises stress and deflection on tensairity girder, and the parameters of cross section impact the mass of tensairity girder obviously.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.37 no.5
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• pp.475-487
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• 2011

In a flexible multi-body dynamic system the typical topological optimization method for structures cannot be directly applied, as the stiffness varies with position. In this paper, the topological optimization of the flexible multi-body dynamic system is converted into structural optimization using the equivalent static load method. First, the actual boundary conditions of the control system and the approximate stiffness curve of the mechanism are obtained from a flexible multi-body dynamical simulation. Second, the finite element models are built using the absolute nodal coordination for different positions according to the stiffness curve. For efficiency, the static reanalysis method is utilized to solve these finite element equilibrium equations. Specifically, the finite element equilibrium equations of key points in the stiffness curve are fully solved as the initial solution, and the following equilibrium equations are solved using a reanalysis method with an error controlled epsilon algorithm. In order to identify the efficiency of the elements, a non-dimensional measurement is introduced. Finally, an improved evolutional structural optimization (ESO) method is used to solve the optimization problem. The presented method is applied to the optimal design of a die bonder. The numerical results show that the presented method is practical and efficient when optimizing the design of the mechanism.

• Korean Journal of Computational Design and Engineering
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• v.17 no.5
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• pp.375-386
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• 2012

Most engineering design problems require analyses or simulations to evaluate objective functions. However, a single simulation can take many hours or even days to finish for many real world problems. As a result, design optimization becomes impossible since they require hundreds or thousands of simulation evaluations. The surrogate-based optimization (SBO) strategy became a remedy for such computationally expensive analyses and simulations. A surrogate-based optimization strategy has been developed in this study in order to improve global optimization performance. The strategy is a heuristic algorithm and it exploits not only multiple surrogates, but also multiple optimizers. Multiple optimizations of multiple surrogate models yield multiple candidate design points of optima. During the sequential sampling process, the algorithm ranks candidate design points, selects the points as many as specified, and builds the improved surrogate model. Various mathematical functions with different numbers of design variables are chosen to compare the proposed method with the other most recent algorithm, MSEGO. The proposed method shows superior performance to the other method.

• Journal of Mechanical Science and Technology
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.366-375
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• 2006

In this paper, it is intended to introduce a method to solve multi-objective optimization problems and to evaluate its performance. In order to verify the performance of this method it is applied for a vertical roller mill for Portland cement. A design process is defined with the compromise decision support problem concept and a design process consists of two steps: the design of experiments and mathematical programming. In this process, a designer decides an object that the objective function is going to pursuit and a non-linear optimization is performed composing objective constraints with practical constraints. In this method, response surfaces are used to model objectives (stress, deflection and weight) and the optimization is performed for each of the objectives while handling the remaining ones as constraints. The response surfaces are constructed using orthogonal polynomials, and orthogonal array as design of experiment, with analysis of variance for variable selection. In addition, it establishes the relative influence of the design variables in the objectives variability. The constrained optimization problems are solved using sequential quadratic programming. From the results, it is found that the method in this paper is a very effective and powerful for the multi-objective optimization of various practical design problems. It provides, moreover, a reference of design to judge the amount of excess or shortage from the final object.