Comparing the fully stressed design and the minimum constrained weight solutions in truss structures

Abstract

The optimization structural design problems of Fully Stressed Design (FSD) and Minimum Constrained Weight (MCW) are compared in this work in a simple truss test case with discrete cross-section type bar sizing, where both optimum designs are coincident. An analysis of the whole search space is included, and the optimization behaviour of evolutionary algorithms are compared with multiple population sizing and mutation rates in both problems. Results of average, best and standard deviation metrics indicate the success and the robustness of the methodology, as well as the fastest and easiest behaviour when considering the FSD case.