Improving Full-scale Transmission Tower Design through Topology and Shape Optimization

Application of structural optimization to transmission tower design is facilitated since major costs, e.g. material, transportation, erection and maintenance, are directly proportional to structural mass and economies of scale exist. In this paper, Structural Topology and Shape Annealing (STSA), a structural topology optimization method that combines structural grammars with simulated annealing, is applied to reduce the structural mass of an existing tower. STSA has previously been validated on smaller scale benchmark tasks. The challenges of extending STSA for application to a full-scale, highly constrained, practical design task are presented. Key results include a 16.7% mass reduction of the existing primary members through combined optimization of the tower envelope, joint locations, and discrete section sizes as well as an optimized tower configuration having 16 fewer joints and 80 fewer primary members. Promising results for a practical, full-scale application serve to validate the STSA method for combined topology, shape and discrete section size structural optimization. CE Database Subject Headings: optimization, algorithms, computer-aided design, structural design, towers, steel structures 1 University Lecturer, Engineering Design Centre, Cambridge University Engineering Department, Trumpington St., Cambridge, CB2 1PZ, UK, [email protected] 2 Professor (F.ASCE), Applied Computing and Mechanics Laboratory, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, 1015 Lausanne EPFL, Switzerland, [email protected]