Optimum design of steel bridge structures under the influence of temperature with cuckoo search algorithm

Optimal design is the whole process by the developers aimed at achieving the most efficient result, compliance with certain standards and limitations. In structural engineering, the optimum design of steel structures with minimum weight aims to realize the design of the structure with minimum structure weight that will provide the desired conditions. Optimization algorithm techniques developed for this purpose are used for optimum design solutions of structural systems. In this study, the plane steel truss system problems taken from the literature were first solved for the minimum structure weight according to the limiters specified in the literature. Subsequently, in addition to these limiters, the solutions were renewed by including the temperature effect. For this, a program that works with the finite element method (FEM) is coded in the MATLAB program. In this study, Cuckoo Search Optimization (CSO), one of the algorithm methods, was preferred. The limiters used are stress limiters (AISC-ASD 1989), displacement limiters and in addition the temperature effect. The results obtained should be compared with the results of the literature. It has been observed that the temperature effect increases the structure weight in the optimum design of plane steel truss systems. Keywords: Plane steel truss system, cuckoo search optimization, MATLAB, temperature effect, optimum design