Optimal Analysis Of Structures By Concepts Of Symmetry And Regularity

Optimal analysis is defined as an analysis that creates and uses sparse, well-structured and well-conditioned matrices. The focus is on efficient methods for eigensolution of matrices involved in static, dynamic and stability analyses of symmetric and regular structures, or those general structures containing such components. Powerful tools are also developed for configuration processing, which is an important issue in the analysis and design of space structures and finite element models. Different mathematical concepts are combined to make the optimal analysis of structures feasible. Canonical forms from matrix algebra, product graphs from graph theory and symmetry groups from group theory are some of the concepts involved in the variety of efficient methods and algorithms presented. The algorithms elucidated in this book enable analysts to handle large-scale structural systems by lowering their computational cost, thus fulfilling the requirement for faster analysis and design of future complex systems. The value of the presented methods becomes all the more evident in cases where the analysis needs to be repeated hundreds or even thousands of times, as for the optimal design of structures by different metaheuristic algorithms. The book is of interest to anyone engaged in computer-aided analysis and design and software developers in this field. Though the methods are demonstrated mainly through skeletal structures, continuum models have also been added to show the generality of the methods. The concepts presented are not only applicable to different types of structures but can also be used for the analysis of other systems such as hydraulic and electrical networks.

Optimal analysis is defined as an analysis that creates and uses sparse, well-structured and well-conditioned matrices. The focus is on efficient methods for eigensolution of matrices involved in static, dynamic and stability analyses of symmetric and regular structures, or those general structures containing such components. Powerful tools are also developed for configuration processing, which is an important issue in the analysis and design of space structures and finite element models. Different mathematical concepts are combined to make the optimal analysis of structures feasible. Canonical forms from matrix algebra, product graphs from graph theory and symmetry groups from group theory are some of the concepts involved in the variety of efficient methods and algorithms presented. The algorithms elucidated in this book enable analysts to handle large-scale structural systems by lowering their computational cost, thus fulfilling the requirement for faster analysis and design of future complex systems. The value of the presented methods becomes all the more evident in cases where the analysis needs to be repeated hundreds or even thousands of times, as for the optimal design of structures by different metaheuristic algorithms. The book is of interest to anyone engaged in computer-aided analysis and design and software developers in this field. Though the methods are demonstrated mainly through skeletal structures, continuum models have also been added to show the generality of the methods. The concepts presented are not only applicable to different types of structures but can also be used for the analysis of other systems such as hydraulic and electrical networks.

This book proposes and validates a number of methods and shortcuts for frugal engineers, which will allow them to significantly reduce the computational costs for analysis and reanalysis and, as a result, for structural design processes. The need for accuracy and speed in analyzing structural systems with ever-tighter design tolerances and larger numbers of elements has been relentlessly driving forward research into methods that are capable of analyzing structures at a reasonable computational cost. The methods presented are of particular value in situations where the analysis needs to be repeated hundreds or even thousands of times, as is the case with the optimal design of structures using different metaheuristic algorithms. Featuring methods that are not only applicable to skeletal structures, but by extension also to continuum models, this book will appeal to researchers and engineers involved in the computer-aided analysis and design of structures, and to software developers in this field. It also serves as a complement to previous books on the optimal analysis of large-scale structures utilizing concepts of symmetry and regularity. Further, its novel application of graph-theoretical methods is of interest to mathematicians.

The book presents recently developed efficient metaheuristic optimization algorithms and their applications for solving various optimization problems in civil engineering. The concepts can also be used for optimizing problems in mechanical and electrical engineering.

The main purpose of the present book is to develop a general framework for population-based metaheuristics based on some basic concepts of set theory. The idea of the framework is to divide the population of individuals into subpopulations of identical sizes. Therefore, in each iteration of the search process, different subpopulations explore the search space independently but simultaneously. The framework aims to provide a suitable balance between exploration and exploitation during the search process. A few chapters containing algorithm-specific modifications of some state-of-the-art metaheuristics are also included to further enrich the book. The present book is addressed to those scientists, engineers, and students who wish to explore the potentials of newly developed metaheuristics. The proposed metaheuristics are not only applicable to structural optimization problems but can also be used for other engineering optimization applications. The book is likely to be of interest to a wide range of engineers and students who deal with engineering optimization problems.

This book presents efficient metaheuristic algorithms for optimal design of structures. Many of these algorithms are developed by the author and his colleagues, consisting of Democratic Particle Swarm Optimization, Charged System Search, Magnetic Charged System Search, Field of Forces Optimization, Dolphin Echolocation Optimization, Colliding Bodies Optimization, Ray Optimization. These are presented together with algorithms which were developed by other authors and have been successfully applied to various optimization problems. These consist of Particle Swarm Optimization, Big Bang-Big Crunch Algorithm, Cuckoo Search Optimization, Imperialist Competitive Algorithm, and Chaos Embedded Metaheuristic Algorithms. Finally a multi-objective optimization method is presented to solve large-scale structural problems based on the Charged System Search algorithm. The concepts and algorithms presented in this book are not only applicable to optimization of skeletal structures and finite element models, but can equally be utilized for optimal design of other systems such as hydraulic and electrical networks.

The author has published many papers and books on topological transformations for optimal analysis of structures, where many methods and algorithms are developed. However, the framework of this book generalizes many concepts and makes the previously developed methods conceptually more attractive. The aim of the present work is two folds. On the one hand, it shows to mathematicians how the apparently pure mathematical concepts can be applied to the efficient solution of problems in structural mechanics. On the other hand, it illustrates to engineers the important role of mathematical concepts for the solution of engineering problems. The present framework provides efficient means for looking at problems and developing ideas by transforming the models (structures, networks, systems) to other spaces (higher dimension, lower dimension, or identical dimension) to simplify the problems. This book is attractive for those who look at the deeper aspects of concepts and helps the reader to develop his/her own ideas. In general, it opens a new horizon for improving the existing methods in civil, mechanical, and electrical engineering.

Graph theory gained initial prominence in science and engineering through its strong links with matrix algebra and computer science. Moreover, the structure of the mathematics is well suited to that of engineering problems in analysis and design. The methods of analysis in this book employ matrix algebra, graph theory and meta-heuristic algorithms, which are ideally suited for modern computational mechanics. Efficient methods are presented that lead to highly sparse and banded structural matrices. The main features of the book include: application of graph theory for efficient analysis; extension of the force method to finite element analysis; application of meta-heuristic algorithms to ordering and decomposition (sparse matrix technology); efficient use of symmetry and regularity in the force method; and simultaneous analysis and design of structures.

This book discusses the application of metaheuristic algorithms in a number of important optimization problems in civil engineering. Advances in civil engineering technologies require greater accuracy, efficiency and speed in terms of the analysis and design of the corresponding systems. As such, it is not surprising that novel methods have been developed for the optimal design of real-world systems and models with complex configurations and large numbers of elements. This book is intended for scientists, engineers and students wishing to explore the potential of newly developed metaheuristics in practical problems. It presents concepts that are not only applicable to civil engineering problems, but can also used for optimizing problems related to mechanical, electrical, and industrial engineering. It is an essential resource for civil, mechanical and electrical engineers who use optimization methods for design, as well as for students and researchers interested in structural optimization.

This book gathers selected papers from two important conferences held on October 24–28, 2018, in Warsaw, Poland: theFifteenth National Conference of Operational and Systems Research, BOS-2018, one of the leading conferences in the field of operational and systems research not only in Poland but also at the European level; andthe Seventeenth International Workshop on Intuitionistic Fuzzy Sets and General Nets, IWIFSGN-2018, one of thepremiere conferences on fuzzy logic. The papers presented here constitute a fair and comprehensive representation of the topics covered by both BOS-2018 and IWIFSGN-2018, includingextensions of the traditional fuzzy sets, in particular on the intuitionistic fuzzy sets, as well as other topics in uncertainty and imprecision modeling, the Generalized Nets (GNs), a powerful extension of the traditional Petri net paradigm, and InterCriteria Analysis, a new method for feature selection and analyses in multicriteria and multi-attribute decision-making problems. The Workshop was dedicated to the memory of Professor Beloslav Riečan (1936–2018), a regular participant at the IWIFSGN workshops.