End Colloquium Gido Dielemans

Optimization of shell structures including geometrically nonlinear effects and imperfections

In this research a comparison of design objectives is presented for the optimization of shell structures. An initial design is described in a limited number of design variables, which are used for shape optimization. The buckling resistance and imperfection sensitivity of these structures is then analyzed to determine the validity of the optimization strategies. 

A procedure is written to obtain the design objective solutions through means of finite element analysis, including geometrically nonlinear behavior and imperfections. Optimization is performed using an evolutionary algorithm, with the aim of finding a global optimum in a solution landscape with many local design objective minima.