Optimal Design of Reinforced Concrete Floor Slabs According to the Criterion of Minimum Cost
Traditional design methods of reinforced concrete floor slabs with due regard for the risk analysis necessitate to significant increase the material stock. The purpose of optimization of reinforced concrete slabs is to find a rational solution which would meet such main requirements as strength, reliability, safety. That’s why in the tasks of optimal design of structures a certain target function is formed together with the requirement to minimize or maximize it and complex of requirements with due regard for efficiency and manufacturability, operating costs and risks as well as limitations on material and labor resources. The most common optimality criterion is the minimum cost. The method for calculation and optimization of building structures can be significantly improved by increasing the use of risk analysis. The magnitude of the risk of structural systems, which are under the influence of outside forces, is determined by the magnitude of the destruction of structures and responsibility of structures. The use of probabilistic apparatus makes it possible to quantitatively determine the safety level of structures and the use of search algorithms - to design them according to the criterion of minimum cost. When choosing search optimization techniques, the imperative requirement is simultaneous account of changes in the target function and boundary conditions in the course of moving towards the optimum. The algorithm based on the method of random search meets this requirement. The proposed improved search technique makes it possible to assuredly solve the problem of the optimizing choice of parameters of structures, both with the non-linear constraints and with a non-linear target function.