Optimum design of steel trusses

A procedure is presented for optimum design of steel trusses with constraints on stresses, displacements and design variables. Buckling is considered in the compression stresses constraints. The procedure intends to solve practical problems and it complies with the Albanian Steel Structural Design Code KTP-10-78. Optimum design of trusses is formulated as a problem of nonlinear mathematical programming and it is solved by the optimization method of Sequential Linear Programming with Move Limits. The difficulties introduced by the buckling constraints are successfully overcome. Due to the use of some approximation concepts, the procedure is presented computationally as an efficient one. Based on the results of some examples, useful recommendations are given for a favourite initial design of the procedure and also for the move limits parameter.