Integration methodology of different software tools for constrained optimization of structures

It is somewhat impossible to define a general methodology for optimizing all structural problems. In this paper, we merely want to present an approach that integrates the available analysis software with complex optimization problems. The proposed methodology follows two main steps. First, the problem definition must be established, expressing explicit relationships between design variables and objective functions plus constraints. In order to do this with whichever problem may arise, we use interpolation schemes on a collection of different designs. The second step, is the minimization of the problem using any relevant technique, which could be applied. Both steps can be repeated in an iterative process, to find a minimum. Initially, the paper describes the main drawbacks of constrained optimization, later, a general methodology is proposed, so as to overcome these problems and finally a couple of assessment examples are presented. (C) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.