COST OPTIMIZATION OF END-FILLED CASTELLATED BEAMS USING META-HEURISTIC ALGORITHMS

The main object of this research is to optimize an end-filled castellated beam. In order to support high shear forces close to the connections, sometimes it becomes necessary to fill certain holes in web opening beam. This is done by inserting steel plates and welding from both sides. Optimization of these beams is carried out using three meta-heuristic methods involves CSS, CBO, and CBO-PSO algorithms. To compare the performance of these algorithms, the minimum cost of the beam is taken as the design objective function. Also, in this study, two common types of laterally supported castellated beams are considered as design problems: beams with hexagonal openings and beams with circular openings. A number of design examples are considered to solve in this case. Comparison of the optimal solution of these methods demonstrates that the hexagonal beams have less cost than cellular beams. It is observed that optimization results obtained by the CBO-PSO for more design examples have less cost in comparison to the results of the other methods.