Evolutionary Structural Optimization—A Trial Review

Since efficient material usage in a structure

is an essential intention in engineering design, objective of a

structural optimization algorithm should be obtaining the lightest and

stiffest structure while considering specific design constraints.

Evolutionary structural optimization (ESO) method has been introduced by

Xie and Steven in 1993 to overcome structural optimization problems by

improving and optimizing the design of structures. Although the

algorithm depends on a plain inspiration, performance level of the ESO

algorithm has increased owing to the contributions of wide-ranging

studies in the subsequent years. This heuristic method has appeared on a

simple—sometimes defined as intuitive—idea that is eliminating (or

removing) the inefficient elements from the initial design region and

attaining a fully stressed structure with an updated topology. Such a

process is performed iteratively until an optimum layout is achieved, or

until a specified volume is acquired; and the decision of process

termination is executed over the feasibility of the designs achieved.

This optimization algorithm is based on finite element method and has

showed its superiorities by subsequent studies in various disciplines.

Within this chapter, a brief on the basis and the main improvement steps

of evolutionary structural optimization is presented. Different

approaches on objectives, constraints, processing and terminating will

be summarized. Thereafter, efficiency and capability of the method will

be demonstrated over some examples.