On Optimality Conditions for Trusses with Nonuniform Stress Constraints*

ABSTRACT

The optimal design of a truss subjected to a single loading system and stress constraints, which are not necessarily the same in each bar, is considered. Sufficient conditions for global optimality are derived by variational methods. While these optimality criteria lead to a linear programming formulation of the problem, they show in a clear physical way how the optimal design is found, and that advantages accrue from incorporating the optimality criteria in a numerical scheme.