OPTIMIZATION OF SUPPORT LAYOUT FOR THE CONSTRUCTION OF SPACESTRUCTURES BASED ON ENERGY METHOD

摘要

In this paper, the theory of least strain energy is applied to the optimization of support layout for the constructionrnof space structures. The optimization is carried out based on the fact that better support layouts correspond tornsmaller strain energy of the structure. The energy method applied to support layout optimization for a single trussrnconsisting of a few members is called the Entire Strain Energy Searching Method (ESESM). Directly applyingrnESESM to spatial structures with many structural members is very inefficient and much computer time is needed.rnAs a result a semi-energy method combining the energy method with the traditional method is proposed for thernsupport layout optimization of large structures. And it is shown that the semi-energy method is efficient enoughrnfor practical application and the result from it is close to the empirical support layout used in practice.