Efficient optimization of plane trusses

Abstract

An algorithm based on the General Geometric Programming technique is presented for minimum weight design of plane trusses of fixed geometry. The underlying concept of the approach presented in this article is to condense and subsequently linearize all the primal constraints. A cutting plane algorithm is used iteratively to solve the resulting linear programming problem. It is shown that the number of constraints required for solving the problem in the present approach is independent of the size of the truss for many practical problems.