An efficient method for optimal structural design by substructuring

An optimal structural design technique incorporating the concept of substructuring in its formulation is presented. The method is developed using functional analysis techniques and the state space formulation of the optimal design problem. Design sensitivity analysis for the problem is discussed and an integrated computational algorithm for optimal design is presented. As an application of the method, optimal design of general trusses is presented. Numerical results for two standard truss structures of 25 and 200 members are obtained, using substructuring, and are compared with results obtained without substructuring. It is shown that the algorithm with substructuring is up to 66% more efficient.