Multilevel Structural Optimization

In the complex environment of true multidisciplinary design optimization (MDO), efficiency is one of the most desirable attributes of any approach. In the present research, a new and highly efficient methodology for the MDO subset of structural optimization is proposed and detailed, i.e., for the weight minimization of a given structure under size, strength, and displacement constraints. Specifically, finite element based multilevel optimization of structures is performed. In the system level optimization, the design variables are the coefficients of assumed polynomially based global displacement functions, and the load unbalance resulting from the solution of the global stiffness equations is minimized. In the subsystems level optimizations, the weight of each element is minimized under the action of stress constraints, with the cross sectional dimensions as design variables. The approach is expected to prove very efficient since the design task is broken down into a large number of small and efficient subtasks, each with a small number of variables, which are amenable to parallel computing.