Topology design of truss structures in a multicriteria environment

As an analogy of the general design process, this article presents a novel design approach that could generate structural design alternatives having different topologies and then select the optimal structures from them together with simultaneously determining the optimal design variables related to geometry and member size subjected to a multiple objective design environment. For this purpose, a specialized genetic algorithm, called StrGA_De Al + MOGA, that can handle the design alternatives and multicriteria problems very effectively is developed for the optimal structural design. To validate the developed method, plain-truss design problems are considered as illustrative examples. To begin with, the promising topologies are generated under the name of design alternatives with consideration of the given multiobjective environment. Based on the selected topology of truss structures, the sizing or geometric optimization process starts to determine the optimal design parameters. Three-bar and ten-bar truss problems are treated in the article to test the concept and methodology.