An BESO Approach for Optimal Retrofit Design of Steel Rectangular-Hollow-Section Columns Supporting Crane Loads

Abstract

In this paper, we propose a cost-effective optimal-topology retrofitting technique for hollow-steel-section columns to sufficiently support industrial running cranes. A so-called bi-directional evolutionary structural optimization (BESO) method was encoded within the MATLAB modeling framework, with a direct interface with an ANSYS commercial finite-element analysis program, to determine the optimal topology of double external steel plates connected to columns in a 3D space. For the initial ground structure, we have adopted standard uniform double U-shaped external stiffener plates located at the top and bottom flange layers of an I-beam to box-column connection (IBBC) area. The influences of inelastic materials and the incorporated nonlinear geometry can effectively describe the premature (local buckling) failures of the columns in an IBBC area. The applications of the proposed optimal-topology BESO-based stiffening method are illustrated through the retrofitting of three hollow-steel-section columns, characterized by non-slender and slender compression sections. Some concluding remarks are provided on the pre- and post-retrofitted responses of the columns, with the results showing both the accuracy and robustness of the proposed external stiffening schemes.

Reliability-based topology optimization of large-tonnage crane boom head with stress constraint

“…where c ∂C=∂x i is the filtered sensitivity, which is used in the optimization process to replace the original sensitivity to avoid the checkerboard phenomenon and grid dependency. H e is a convolution operator, which can be expressed as the difference between the minimum filtering radius and the distance from element i to element e. As shown in equation (7), H e takes the value of 0 outside the filtering region.…”

“…Many scholars have done related research on topology optimization of cranes. Su et al 7 used the Bi-directional Evolutionary Optimization (BESO) method to optimize the crane's hollow steel section column to reduce its weight. Li et al 8 proposed the stability-ensured soft kill option (SSKO) method, which solves the problem that many nonlinear calculations are required for the topology optimization of a crane boom.…”

Seismic Performance Assessment of a Moment-Resisting Frame Steel Warehouse Provided with Overhead Crane

“…However, a significant concentrated load induced by the overhead crane can generate mass asymmetry that could alter the dynamic response, as has been studied in some works [ 31 , 32 , 33 , 34 ]. The presence of overhead cranes within steel warehouse facilities often affects the complexity of their operations [ 35 ] since they involve moving loads that, in some cases, can be decisive in the structural design stage [ 36 , 37 ].…”

Determination of Optimal Cross-Section Dimensions of Rectangular Hollow Sections Under Oblique Bending: Analytical and Numerical Study.

“…Despite high material costs brought by the wide use of the RHS members in the industry, an insignificant number of rigorous research has been devoted to specifying their optimal cross-section dimensions for the loading configuration of oblique bending to reduce their material costs [15][16][17][18]. Comparatively speaking, analytical studies which determine the optimal cross-section dimensions of RHSs for oblique bending are relatively immature compared to other loading configurations like axial compression and pure bending [17][18][19][20][21][22]. In order to fill this noticed deficiency in literature, this analytical study has been dedicated to the identification of the optimal crosssection dimensions of RHS members subjected to oblique bending.…”