Dual Target Optimization of Two-Dimensional Truss Using Cost Efficiency and Structural Reliability Sufficiency

Abstract

The main contribution of this study is to open a discussion regarding the structural optimization associated with the cost efficiency and structural reliability sufficiency consideration. To do so, several various optimization approaches are investigated to deliberate both cost and reliability concerns. Particularly, particle swarm optimization is highlighted as a reliable optimization approach. Accordingly, an illustrative example is rendered to compare the feasibility of the considered optimization approaches. The feasibility of the investigated approaches is evaluated using the cost and reliability analysis. For the considered example, it was observed that the PSO optimization algorithm has multiple advantages such as easy realization, fast convergence, and promising performance in nonlinear performance optimization. The PSO optimization algorithm can be successfully applied in various fields of civil engineering. This popularity is due to the understandable performance of the PSO as well as its simplicity. In this paper, first, the literature on the subject has been described by two-dimensional truss analysis using the finite element method and optimized using the PSO particle swarm algorithm. A comparison of the results with this reference indicates the accuracy of this particle swarm algorithm in truss optimization. Indeed, this study ignites two main insights in structural optimizations assessment. The first illustration is related to how to establish a framework for structural system reliability analysis associated with the different degrees of indeterminacies. And the second illustration is related to making a decision problem concerning the structural optimization while both cost and reliability metric are two main parameters for the construction point of the view.