Analysis and optimum design of curved roof structure

Curved roof structures are frequently designed to supply the users of the structure with ordinary light with a sense of capaciousness as well as grandness in public facilities such as stations, buying malls, leisure centers and airports.This thesis? presents a method for analysis and optimum design of 2D and 3D curved roof structures subjected to static loading. Here the optimization refers to minimization of total weight of curved roof structures such that they can resist applied forces (stress constraint) and don?t exceed certain deformations (displacement constraints). The finite element formulations are implemented for the static analysis of curved roof trusses to determine the stresses and displacements.Optimization is an automated design procedure in which the computers are utilized to obtain the best results. A program was modified and used to automate analysis and optimization of the structure written in FORTRAN language based Finite Element analysis and Genetic Algorithm optimization technique. The developed method is tested on several examples and compared with previous researches or SAP2000 results. It is concluded that this method can serve as a useful tool in engineering design and optimization of curved roofs.Keywords: curved roof structures, size optimization, finite element method, genetic algorithm.