Two Nonsmooth Approaches to Simultaneous Geometry and Topology Design of Trusses

Abstract

The optimization of the geometry and topology of structural layout has great impact on the performance of truss- and grillagelike structures and recent years have seen a revived interest in this area of structural optimization. Most of the work deals with analytical approaches to the subject while there is still a strong demand for efficient numerical methods. Our aim is to convince the reader that tools from nonsmooth optimization can be very helpful in this context. More precisely: we will show that with appropriate problem reformulations and by use of nonsmooth codes we can optimize trusses simultaneously with respect to geometry and topology.