Guilherme Fleith de Medeiros

Cross-Sectional Optimization of Reinforced Concrete Columns Considering both Economical and Environmental Costs

This work presents the development and implementation of a mathematical formulation for obtaining optimal sections of reinforced concrete columns subjected to uniaxial flexural compression. In order to minimize the cost of the reinforced concrete columns, the amount and diameters of the reinforcement bars and the dimensions of the columns cross sections were considered as discrete variables. The optimization was made by Harmony Search optimization method, a metaheuristic inspired by music performance. Initially, the economical cost of each material (concrete, steel and formwork) were considered, as usual in most optimization strategies. In the sequence, the lesser environmental cost was studied, by considering the Life Cicle Assessment (LCA) to determine the global warming potential. The results obtained led to a different configuration when the objective is a reduction in carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, regarding the optimum economical cost.

Simultaneous geometry and cross-section optimization of aluminum trusses

Purpose – Trusses constitute a fertile field to demonstrate the application of optimization techniques because of the possibility of several different configurations. Using such techniques allows the search for designs that minimize the use of material to safely comply with the imposed loads. Truss optimization can be classified into three categories: cross-section, shape, and topology. The purpose of this paper is to present a numerical and experimental study developed to minimize the weight of aluminum trusses, taking both the cross-sectional dimensions of the elements and the nodal coordinates as design variables. Design/methodology/approach – Initially, several numerical computer simulations were performed with an optimization program developed by combining the displacement method and a simulated annealing optimization method. Subsequently, two aluminum trusses were selected and built in order to validate the numerical results obtained. Findings – Experimental tests verified the excellent performance ...