Optimal design of thin-walled columns for buckling under loadings controlled by displacements

In this paper the problem of the optimal design of thin-walled tubular columns under loadings controlled by displacement is investigated. A radius of cross-sectional circular profile varying along the axis of the shell-column as well as a wall thickness, which lead to the maximal axial displacement caused by compression before the structure buckles are sought. Both global (buckling of a column) and local (wall buckling of a shell) stability of a structure are taken into account. The geometry of the structure is approximated by the convex Bézier polynomial. The results are obtained using numerical optimization method, namely the simulated annealing method.