Minimum-weight design of continuous beams under displacement and stress constraints

Explicit optimality conditions for minimum-weight design of elastic sandwich beams with segmentwise constant structural stiffness, subject to displacement and mean-square stress constraints, are obtained. An iterative procedure that combines the use of the optimality conditions with finite-element analysis is proposed and is illustrated by numerical examples. These examples suggest that very few iterations are necessary to obtain a good approximation to the optimal design. It is shown that, for practical purposes, the optimization problem may be simplified by using the optimality conditions derived for statically determinate beams instead of those valid for statically indeterminate beams.This research was sponsored by the U.S. Army Research Office, Durham, North Carolina. The authors are grateful to Professor W. Prager for helpful comments.     

Optimal plastic design for partially pressigned strength distribution

The optimal plastic design of structures having a partially predefined strength distribution is considered. Sufficient conditions for optimality as well as upper and lower bounds on minimum structural volume are established and examples involving a continuous beam and a grillage are given. It is shown that most existing theories for optimal plastic design and limit analysis can be derived from the optimality criteria presented.     

Sufficient Optimality Criterion for Linearly Constrained,Separable Concave Minimization Problems

A sufficient optimality criterion for linearly-constrained concave minimization problems is given in this paper. Our optimality criterion is based on the sensitivity analysis of the relaxed linear programming problem. The main result is similar to that of Phillips and Rosen (Ref. 1); however, our proofs are simpler and constructive.In the Phillips and Rosen paper (Ref. 1), they derived a sufficient optimality criterion for a slightly different linearly-constrained concave minimization problem using exponentially many linear programming problems. We introduce special test points and, using these for several cases, we are able to show optimality of the current basic solution.The sufficient optimality criterion described in this paper can be used as a stopping criterion for branch-and-bound algorithms developed for linearly-constrained concave minimization problems.This research was supported by a Bolyai János Research Fellowship BO/00334/00 of the Hungarian Academy of Science and by the Hungarian Scientific Research Foundation, Grant OTKA T038027.     

Minimum-weight design of elastic sandwich beams with deflection constraints

In this paper, minimum-weight design of an elastic sandwich beam with a prescribed deflection constraint at a given point is investigated. The analysis is based on geometrical considerations using then-dimensional space of discretized specific bending stiffness. Since the present method of analysis is different from the method based on the calculus of variations, the conditions of piecewise continuity and differentiability on specific bending stiffness can be relaxed. Necessary and sufficient conditions for optimality are derived for both statically determinate and statically indeterminate beams. Beams subject to a single loading and beams subject to multiple loadings are analyzed. The degree to which the optimality condition renders the solution unique is discussed. To illustrate the method of solution, two examples are presented for minimum-weight designs under dual loading of a simply supported beam and a beam built in at both ends. The present analysis is also extended to the following problems: (a) optimal design of a beam built in at both ends with piecewise specific stiffness and a prescribed deflection constraint and (b) minimum-cost design of a sandwich beam with prescribed deflection constraints.The results presented in this paper were obtained in the course of research supported partly by the US Army Research Office, Durham, North Carolina, Research Grant No. DA-ARO-31-G1008, and partly by the Office of Naval Research, Contract No. N00014-67-A-0109-0003, Task No. NR 064-496. The authors wish to express their thanks to Professor H. Halkin for pointing out the applicability of optimal control theory to the present problem and to Professor W. Prager for his valuable suggestions.     

On the optimal structural design for a nonconservative,elastic stability problem

The design of a cantilever column under a follower load is considered with the aim of maximizing the critical value of the load. The optimality condition is derived, and a modified Ritz method is used to determine an approximate solution for the bending stiffness. Results are obtained numerically for the case of a sandwich column with constant bending stiffness in each of two segments. It is found that, for the same structural weight, the optimal design yields a critical load significantly higher than that for a uniform column.This research was supported in part by the US Army Research Office–Durham and in part by the United States Navy under Grant No. NONR N00014-67-A-0191-0009.     

Boundary optimal control of MHD flows

This paper deals with some optimal control problems associated with the equations of steady-state, incompressible magnetohydrodynamics. These problems have direct applications to nuclear reactor technology, magnetic propulsion devices, and design of electromagnetic pumps. These problems are first put into an appropriate mathematical formulation. Then the existence of optimal solutions is proved. The use of Lagrange multiplier techniques is justified and an optimality system of equations is derived. The theory is applied to an example.The work of L. S. Hou was supported in part by the Natural Science and Engineering Research Council of Canada under Grant Number OGP-0137436 and by a Simon Fraser University President's Research grant.     

Asymptotically efficient rank MANOVA tests for restricted alternatives in randomized block designs

In a randomized block design MANOVA model, for intrablock as well as aligned rank tests for homogeneity of treatment effects against some restricted alternatives, asymptotic optimality is studied by reference to the corresponding restrieted likelihood ratio tests. Tests based on aligned ranks are better than intra-block rank tests when the error distributions are homogeneous aeross the blocks.Work of this author was partially supported by the Office of Naval Research, Contract No. N00014-83-K-0987.     

Optimum design of wing structures with multiple frequency constraints

In this paper, design optimization of aircraft wing structures with multiple frequency constraints was considered. An optimality criterion algorithm along with a scaling procedure was used. Large-scale structural design problems were considered for demonstrating the reliability and efficiency of the algorithm. A simplified fighter wing, and an intermediate-complex wing were considered as design examples. Design histories and the first few frequencies at the initial and final conditions are presented.     

A simple constraint qualification in convex programming

We introduce and characterize a class of differentiable convex functions for which the Karush—Kuhn—Tucker condition is necessary for optimality. If some constraints do not belong to this class, then the characterization of optimality generally assumes an asymptotic form.We also show that for the functions that belong to this class in multi-objective optimization, Pareto solutions coincide with strong Pareto solutions,. This extends a result, well known for the linear case.Research partly supported by the National Research Council of Canada.     

Structural weight minimization using necessary and sufficient conditions

This paper considers problems of weight minimization of complex, determinate or indeterminate structures, subject to inequality constraints. Limitations of size of the structural members, allowable stresses, natural frequencies, etc., furnish constraints on the design. We are here principally concerned with the theoretical determination of the necessary and sufficient conditions relating a proposed design to the true constrained minimum-weight design. As an important special case, a study is made of the conditions under which a fully stressed design is a minimum-weight design. Although much attention has been directed toward the fully stressed approach to minimum-weight design, sufficiency conditions and questions relating to global optimality vs local optimality have heretofore not been considered in detail. Example solutions are presented illustrating the application of the present results to design problems. In one such solution, it is demonstrated that, for a broad class of statically determinate structures, sufficiency conditions exist which ensure that the fully stressed design is a globally minimum-weight design.     

Optimal design of elastic structures for multipurpose loading

The optimal design of elastic beams subjected to two alternative loading systems is considered for compliance constraints and a minimum-cross-section constraint. Sufficient conditions for optimality are established, and a technique for determining the optimal design is presented. Two examples are given. Generalizations to more than two loading systems and more complex structures are straightforward.     

Convex composite minimization withC 1,1 functions

In this paper, we present second-order optimality conditions for convex composite minimization problems in which the objective function is a composition of a finite-valued or a nonfinite-valued lower semicontinuous convex function and aC ^1,1 function. The results provide optimality conditions for composite problems under reduced differentiability requirements.This paper is a revised version of the Departmental Preliminary Report AM92/32, School of Mathematics, University of New South Wales, Kensington, NSW, Australia.Research of this author was supported in part by an Australian Research Council Grant.     

Global optimality of extremals: An example

The question of the existence and the location of Darboux points (beyond which global optimality is lost) is crucial for minimal sufficient conditions for global optimality and for computation of optimal trajectories. Here, we investigate numerically the Darboux points and their relationship with conjugate points for a problem of minimum fuel, constant velocity, horizontal aircraft turns to capture a line. This simple second-order optimal control problem shows that ignoring the possible existence of Darboux points may play havoc with the computation of optimal trajectories.The authors are indebted to G. Moyer for his constructive comments. This research was supported, for the first author, by a National Research Council Associateship at NASA Ames Research Center.on leave from the Technion, Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel.     

Uniformly overtaking and weakly overtaking optimal solutions in infinite-horizon optimal control: When optimal solutions are agreeable

In this paper, we investigate the relationship between two classes of optimality which have arisen in the study of dynamic optimization problems defined on an infinite-time domain. We utilize an optimal control framework to discuss our results. In particular, we establish relationships between limiting objective functional type optimality concepts, commonly known as overtaking optimality and weakly overtaking optimality, and the finite-horizon solution concepts of decision-horizon optimality and agreeable plans. Our results show that both classes of optimality are implied by corresponding uniform limiting objective functional type optimality concepts, referred to here as uniformly overtaking optimality and uniformly weakly overtaking optimality. This observation permits us to extract sufficient conditions for optimality from known sufficient conditions for overtaking and weakly overtaking optimality by strengthening their hypotheses. These results take the form of a strengthened maximum principle. Examples are given to show that the hypotheses of these results can be realized.This research was supported by the National Science Foundation, Grant No. DMS-87-00706, and by the Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, Summer Research Fellowship Program.     

A general criterion for optimal structural design

A general criterion of structural optimality is presented and discussed. It applies to multipurpose structures subjected to multiple or movable loadings, the design of which is defined by several design functions. The cost is assumed to be a convex function of the various specific energies associated with the respective behavioral constraints. This criterion is shown to include most (if not all) criteria used up to now.     

Systematic occurrence of repeated eigenvalues in structural optimization

Examples of finite-dimensional structural design problems with constraints on natural frequency and buckling are used to demonstrate that repeated eigenvalues may be expected to occur when a structure is optimized. It is shown that a repeated eigenvalue is not generally differentiable with respect to design variables. Directional derivatives are shown to exist, and a method of calculating directional derivatives is given. Necessary conditions of optimality are derived and applied to a vibration optimization problem. Extensions of the theory to distributed-parameter structures and numerical methods are outlined.This research was supported by NSF Grant No. CMS-80-05677     

Decomposable searching problems I. Static-to-dynamic transformation

Transformations that serve as tools in the design of new data structures are investigated. Specifically, general methods for converting static structures (in which all elements are known before any searches are performed) to dynamic structures (in which insertions of new elements can be mixed with searches) are studied. Three classes of such transformations are exhibited, each based on a different counting scheme for representing the integers, and a combinatorial model is used to show the optimality of many of the transformations. Issues such as online data structures and deletion of elements are also examined. To demonstrate the applicability of these tools, several new data structures that have been developed by applying the transformations are studied.     

A general model for matroids and the greedy algorithm

We present a general model for set systems to be independence families with respect to set families which determine classes of proper weight functions on a ground set. Within this model, matroids arise from a natural subclass and can be characterized by the optimality of the greedy algorithm. This model includes and extends many of the models for generalized matroid-type greedy algorithms proposed in the literature and, in particular, integral polymatroids. We discuss the relationship between these general matroids and classical matroids and provide a Dilworth embedding that allows us to represent matroids with underlying partial order structures within classical matroids. Whether a similar representation is possible for matroids on convex geometries is an open question. S. Fujishige’s research was supported by a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of Japan.     

Optimality conditions and constraint qualifications in Banach space

In this paper, necessary optimality conditions for nonlinear programs in Banach spaces and constraint qualifications for their applicability are considered. A new optimality condition is introduced, and a constraint qualification ensuring the validity of this condition is given. When the domain space is a reflexive space, it is shown that the qualification is the weakest possible. If a certain convexity assumption is made, then this optimality condition is shown to reduce to the well-known extension of the Kuhn-Tucker conditions to Banach spaces. In this case, the constraint qualification is weaker than those previously given.This work was supported in part by the Office of Naval Research, Contract Number N00014-67-A-0321-0003 (NRO 47-095).     

Characterization of optimality in convex programming without a constraint qualification

Necessary and sufficient conditions of optimality are given for convex programming problems with no constraint qualification. The optimality conditions are stated in terms of consistency or inconsistency of a family of systems of linear inequalities and cone relations.This research was supported by Project No. NR-047-021, ONR Contract No. N00014-67-A-0126-0009 with the Center for Cybernetics Studies, The University of Texas; by NSF Grant No. ENG-76-10260 at Northwestern University; and by the National Research Council of Canada.