Design Objectives

Design objectives will change from problem to problem. As a designer, the engineer must be
able to identify the objectives pertinent to the problem at hand so that alternatives may be
compared. The problem objective can then be expressed as an objective statement. In structural
engineering, the objective statement can also be put in the form of an objective function.
Objective statements are generally expressed as "maximize" or "minimize" statements.
Objective functions return a single value that can be used to compare alternatives. Some typical
objective statements, and their associated objective functions, are:
Objective Statement
Select the least cost member
Select the least weight member

Objective Function
minimize(cost)
minimize(weight)

Some objective statements contain multiple (and often competing) objectives. An example of
such a statement is:

Select the structural system that has the least cost while minimizing deflections.

In multi-objective statements, the objective function must have weighting factors to combine the
various sub objectives into an single factor. The weighting factors may have units to convert
each of the terms to a common set of units before adding them together. For the example
previously stated, the objective function may take the form:

(Cost Weighting Factor)*(Structure Cost) + (Deflection Weighting Factor)*(Deflections)

Changing the relative values of the weighting factors will have a substantial impact on the final
result, so they must be chosen carefully and with professional judgment. It is common to refine
these weighting factors as the design progresses, taking into account professional judgment and
experience with the design at hand.