Thesis (M.S.)--Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 1994. / Vita. Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 127-129). Also available via the Internet.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Toronto, 2006. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 67-06, Section: B, page: 3254. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Sydney, 2002. / Title from title screen (viewed Apr. 28, 2008). Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy to the School of Aeronautical, Mechatronic and Mechanical Engineering. Includes bibliographical references. Also available in print form.

Orientador: Alberto Luiz Serpa / Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Faculdade de Engenharia Mecânica / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-18T01:31:50Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Paiva_MarianaZimianide_M.pdf: 3892993 bytes, checksum: a92803b64d6cc9ced6e88c9828446bbd (MD5) Previous issue date: 2009 / Resumo: Este trabalho propõe técnicas para o projeto das chamadas estruturas inteligentes, ou seja, aquelas estruturas que consideram simultaneamente o projeto de alguns de seus parâmetros juntamente com o projeto do controlador. Este tipo de abordagem possibilita encontrar um resultado de projeto que vai desde uma estrutura sem a necessidade do controlador ativo (ou seja, um projeto passivo) até o caso do projeto do controlador ótimo para uma estrutura específica. Este ponto de vista pode ser considerado inovador na área de projeto e controle de estruturas, pois permite buscar situações de controladores mais adequados em termos do desempenho desejado e dos custos envolvidos para controlar a estrutura. A abordagem utilizada é baseada em métodos de otimização. Neste caso, o problema de controle foi formulado usando os conceitos das desigualdades matriciais lineares e a formulação H?, que caracterizam uma metodologia atual na área de controle ótimo e robusto, permitindo ainda que outros parâmetros da estrutura possam ser considerados como variáveis de decisão, caracterizando uma otimização paramétrica da estrutura juntamente com o projeto do controlador. Neste trabalho, a otimização e o controle de vibrações de uma viga flexível foram realizados usando três tipos de estratégias de otimização, chamadas aqui de Otimização Passiva Estrutural, Otimização Ativa Serial e Otimização Ativa Simultânea. A implementação foi realizada usando o aplicativo MATLAB / Abstract: This work proposes techniques for the design of smart structures, that is, those structures that consider simultaneously the design of some of its parameters and the design of the controller. This type of approach allows to find a global design that will result either in a structure without the active controller requirement (i.e. a passive design) or the optimal controller for a specific structure. This point of view can be considered as one of the most innovative in the design and control of structures, because it provides more appropriate controllers in terms of desired performance and costs involved to control the structure. The approach used is based on optimization methods. In this case, the control design problem was formulated using the concepts of linear matrix inequalities and H? formulation, which is a current methodology in the area of robust and optimal control. It allows that other parameters of the structure can be considered as decision variables, representing a parametric optimization of structure together with the controller design. In this work, the simultaneous optimization and control for vibration suppression in a flexible beam was performed using three kinds of optimization strategies, called here as passive structural optimization, active serial optimization and active simultaneous optimization. The implementation was performed using the MATLAB software / Mestrado / Mecanica dos Sólidos e Projeto Mecanico / Mestre em Engenharia Mecânica

Thesis (Ph.D.(Mechanical Engineering))--University of Pretoria, 2003. / Summaries in Afrikaans and English. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.Eng.(Mechanical Engineering))--University of Pretoria, 1999. / Summaries in Afrikaans and English. Includes bibliographical references.

This dissertation presents an exhaustive comparative study on optimization in structural acoustics. A combination of a commercially available finite element software package and additional user-written programs is used to modify the shape of a structure. This is done iteratively and without manual intervention to achieve significant improvements of the objective function. The optimization process continues automatically until the predefined maximum number of function evaluations is reached. The design variables are the structure's local geometry modification values at selected surface key-points. The objective of the optimization includes the minimization of the root mean square level of structure borne sound (a general measure of the vibrational sensitivity of a structure). In addition, the structural mass remains constant and the allowable ranges of design variable values are restricted by prescribed upper and lower limits. The optimization procedure is tested on the finite element model of a rectangular plate made of steel. Twelve different optimization methods are tested against each others. These methods are considered either as approximate or exact. The approximate optimization methods use either an approximated value of objective function, e.g., hybrid design of experiments and hybrid neural networks, or the approximated values of the first and the second derivatives of the objective function, e.g., method of feasible directions, sequential quadratic programming method, Newton method, limited memory Broyden-Fletcher-Goldfarb-Shanno method for bound constrained problems, method of moving asymptotes, mid-range multi- oints method and controlled random search method. The exact optimization methods, e.g., genetic algorithms, tabu search and simulated annealing, are derivative-free methods and they use the exact value of objective function. Furthermore, a statistical approach is followed for the comparison of methods. Advantages and disadvantages of each optimization algorithm are reported in details. The rate of convergence (a measure of optimization speed) and the robustness level of each optimization method are evaluated. Some optimization methods are classified as fast, medium and slow. Method of moving asymptotes and mid-range multi-points method are introduced as the fastest methods. Finally, it is experienced that the use of e ective structural-acoustic analysis methods can drastically reduce the total optimization time. If the powerful optimization methods become equipped with effective (fast and reliable) structural acoustic analysis methods, then they can present more desirable optimization results in a shorter period of computation time. In this case, they can even be considered as a suitable replacement for the complex and the multi-stages hybrid optimization algorithms.

The major concern in the design of the multi-storey buildings is the structure to have enough lateral stability to resist wind forces. There are different ways to limit the lateral drift. First method is to use unbraced frame with moment-resisting connections. Second one is to use braced frames with moment-resisting connections. Third one is to use pin-jointed connections instead of moment-resisting one and using bracings. Finally braced frame with both moment-resisting and pin-jointed connections is a solution. There are lots of bracing models and the designer should choose the appropriate one. This thesis investigates optimal lateral bracing systems in steel structures. The method selects appropriate sections for beams, columns and bracings, from a given steel section set, and obtains a design with least weight. After obtaining the best designs in case of weight, cost analysis of all structures are carried out so that the most economical model is found. For this purpose evolution strategies optimization method is used which is a member of the evolutionary algorithms search techniques. First optimum design of steel frames is introduced in the thesis. Then evolution strategies technique is explained. This is followed by some information about design loads and bracing systems are given. It is continued by the cost analysis of the models. Finally numerical examples are presented. Optimum designs of three different structures, comprising twelve different bracing models, are carried out. The calculations are carried out by a computer program (OPTSTEEL) which is recently developed to achieve size optimization design of skeletal structures.

Thesis (M.S.)--Mississippi State University. Department of Mechanical Engineering. / Title from title screen. Includes bibliographical references.

Steel has become widespread and now it can be accepted as the candidate of being main material for the structural systems with its excellent properties. Its high quality, durability, stability, low maintenance costs and opportunity of fast construction are the advantages of steel. The correct use of the material is important for steel&rsquo / s bright prospects. The need for weight optimization becomes important at this point. Available sources are used economically through optimization. Optimization brings material savings and at last economy. Optimization can be achieved with different ways. This thesis investigates the effect of the appropriate choice of column orientation on minimum weight design of steel frames. Evolution strategies (ESs) method, which is one of the three mainstreams of evolutionary algorithms, is used as the optimizer in this study to deal with the current problem of interest. A new evolution strategy (ES) algorithm is proposed, where design variables are considered simultaneously as cross-sectional dimensions (size variables) and orientation of column members (orientation variables). The resulting algorithm is computerized in a design optimization software called OFES. This software has many capabilities addressing to issues encountered in practical applications, such as producing designs according to TS-648 and ASD-AISC design provisions. The effect of column orientations is numerically studied using six examples with practical design considerations. In these examples, first steel structures are sized for minimum weight considering the size variables only, where orientations of the column members are initially assigned and kept constant during optimization process. Next, the weight optimum design of structures are implemented using both size and orientation design variables. It is shown that the inclusion of column orientations produces designs which are generally 4 to 8 % lesser in weight than the cases where only size variables are employed.