scholarly journals System Reliability Based Design Optimization of Truss Structures with Interval Variables

Author(s):  
Mohammad Zaeimi ◽  
Ali Ghoddosain

New products ranging from simple components to complex structures should be designed to be optimal and reliable. In this paper, for the first time, a hybrid uncertain model is applied to system reliability based design optimization (RBDO) of trusses. All uncertain variables are described by random distributions but those lack information are defined by variation intervals. For system RBDO of trusses, the first order reliability method, as well as an equivalent model and the branch and bound method, are utilized to determine the system failure probability; and Improved (μ + λ) constrained differential evolution (ICDE) is employed for the optimization process. Reliability assessment of some engineering examples is proposed to verify our results. Moreover, the effect interval variables on the optimum weight of the truss structures are investigated. The results indicate that the optimal weight depends not only on the uncertainty level but also on the equivalent standard deviation; and a falling-rising behavior is observed.

2009 ◽  
Vol 132 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Tam H. Nguyen ◽  
Junho Song ◽  
Glaucio H. Paulino

This paper proposes a single-loop system reliability-based design optimization (SRBDO) approach using the recently developed matrix-based system reliability (MSR) method. A single-loop method was employed to eliminate the inner-loop of SRBDO that evaluates probabilistic constraints. The MSR method enables us to compute the system failure probability and its parameter sensitivities efficiently and accurately through convenient matrix calculations. The SRBDO/MSR approach proposed in this paper is applicable to general systems including series, parallel, cut-set, and link-set system events. After a brief overview on SRBDO algorithms and the MSR method, the SRBDO/MSR approach is introduced and demonstrated by three numerical examples. The first example deals with the optimal design of a combustion engine, in which the failure is described as a series system event. In the second example, the cross-sectional areas of the members of a statically indeterminate truss structure are determined for minimum total weight with a constraint on the probability of collapse. In the third example, the redistribution of the loads caused by member failures is considered for the truss system in the second example. The results based on different optimization approaches are compared for further investigation. Monte Carlo simulation is performed in each example to confirm the accuracy of the system failure probability computed by the MSR method.


Author(s):  
Ali Kaveh ◽  
Kiarash Biabani Hamedani ◽  
Mohammad Kamalinejad

In this paper, recently developed set theoretical variants of the teaching-learning-based optimization (TLBO) algorithm and the shuffled shepherd optimization algorithm (SSOA) are employed for system reliability-based design optimization (SRBDO) of truss structures. The set theoretical variants are designed based on a simple framework in which the population of candidate solutions is divided into some number of smaller well-arranged sub-populations. In addition, the framework is applied to the Jaya algorithm, leading to a set-theoretical variant of the Jaya algorithm. So far, most of the reliability-based design optimization studies have focused on the reliability of single structural members. This is due to the fact that the optimization problems with system reliability-based constraints are computationally expensive to solve. This is especially the case of statically redundant structures, where the number of failure modes is so high that it is impractical to identify all of them. System-level reliability analysis of truss structures is carried out by the branch and bound method by which the stochastically dominant failure paths are identified within a reasonable time. At last, three numerical examples, including size optimization of truss structures, are presented to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed SRBDO approach. The results indicate the efficiency and applicability of the set theoretical optimization algorithms to solve the SRBDO problems of truss structures.


2005 ◽  
Vol 297-300 ◽  
pp. 1882-1887
Author(s):  
Tae Hee Lee ◽  
Jung Hun Yoo

In practical design applications, most design variables such as thickness, diameter and material properties are not deterministic but stochastic numbers that can be represented by their mean values with variances because of various uncertainties. When the uncertainties related with design variables and manufacturing process are considered in engineering design, the specified reliability of the design can be achieved by using the so-called reliability based design optimization. Reliability based design optimization takes into account the uncertainties in the design in order to meet the user requirement of the specified reliability while seeking optimal solution. Reliability based design optimization of a real system becomes now an emerging technique to achieve reliability, robustness and safety of the design. It is, however, well known that reliability based design optimization can often have so multiple local optima that it cannot converge into the specified reliability. To overcome this difficulty, barrier function approach in reliability based design optimization is proposed in this research and feasible solution with specified reliability index is always provided if a feasible solution is available. To illustrate the proposed formulation, reliability based design optimization of a bracket design is performed. Advanced mean value method and first order reliability method are employed for reliability analysis and their optimization results are compared with reliability index approach based on the accuracy and efficiency.


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