Computer aided optimal structural design

The primary problem often facing designers of structural systems is determining the shape of the structure. The goal in structural optimization is to computerize the design process and therefore shorten the time it takes to design new products or improve the existing design. Optimal structural design can be divided roughly into three classes: domain optimization, optimal sizing and topology optimization. In the first part of this article, two first classes of structural optimization problems are handled by giving an abstract formulation of the problems and then showing how the typical practical applications can be obtained as special cases from a more general framework. Finite element approximation and design sensitivity analysis are outlined. Moreover, the difficulties in solving optimal structural problems in practice are outlined by examples. Several industrial applications are illustrated. In the second part, an overview of the literature of optimal structural design and software is given. Almost 200 references are included in the paper.