Topology Configuration and Prestress Optimization of Cable-supported Shell with Robustness Evaluation Index

Abstract

This article finds out the topology configuration and prestress which have the optimal robustness of cable-supported shells as follows. The structure robustness evaluation index is assessed by the H₂ norm of system transfer function. The robustness based structure design is transformed into continuum topology optimization by using SIMP material model. The improved Big bang-Big crunch (BB-BC) method employing pseudo-gradient factor is used to get the optimal solution of the topology configuration and prestress joint optimization. Examples show that the improved BB-BC method can solve the joint optimization problems effectively. Topology configuration of the cable-supported shell with a single strut varies with the initial prestress conditions reasonably. The comparison of the joint optimized topology configurations of cable-supported shells with different struts shows that the distribution of material of the shell with five struts is more uniform than that of the shell with a single strut.