ISSN 2319-5347, ISI Impact Factor: 0.763

VOLUME 03 NO. 03 JULY 2014: 

Title:        Optimal Design of Simply Supported Prestressed Concrete Girders using Direct Optimization Technique
Authors:    Muhammad Afaq Khalid, Bashir Alam, Muhammad Rizwan, Abdul Rehman
Abstract:  In this work an algorithm is developed for the optimal design of simply supported prestressed concrete girders subjected to the stress and deflection constraints of the ACI code specifications. The objective is to minimize the total cost of the symmetrical I-section girder, considering cost of concrete, prestressing and mild steel. The design variables considered are, width and thickness of flange, width and depth of web, tendon layout, and area of prestressing and mild steel. Explicit constraints on the design variables are developed on the basis of geometric requirements, practical conditions for construction, and code restrictions. The technique for optimization used is modified Box Complex method; applied for the first time to prestressed concrete girders and has proven as an efficient tool for finding the optimal design of simply supported prestressed concrete girders. In order to perform analysis, design and optimization of simply supported prestressed concrete girders a program is formulated in Visual Basics .NET (VB.Net) programming language. The technique resulted in optimum solution for design variables having different sensitivities. The designs of two prestressed concrete girders are optimized in order to observe the behavior of this technique. The result demonstrates encouraging design improvements and rate of convergence.

Keywords:  Optimization; Box Complex Method; Prestressed concrete girders; Minimum cost; ACI-Code
Page no:      293-298

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