Solving an Engineering Design Problem

Using the Genetic Algorithm

Case Study: A Stepped Beam

 A Stepped Beam

The beam must be able to support the given load, P, at a fixed distance L
from the support. Designers of the beam can vary the width (bi) and
height (hi) of each section with constant length, l, to find the minimum
volume.
Design Objective: Beam Volume
The volume of the beam, V, is the sum of the
volume of the individual sections

V l b1h1 b2 h2 b3 h3 b4 h4 b5 h5
Design Constraint 1: Bending Stress
The bending stress in each part of the
cantilever should not exceed the maximum
allowable stress, max.
6 Pl
2
max
b5 h5
6 P4l
2
max
b2 h2
6 P2l
2
max
b4 h4
6 P5l
2
max
b1h1
6 P3l
2
max
b3h3
Design Constraint 2: End Deflection
The end deflection of the cantilever, , can be
calculated using Castigliano's second theorem.
It should be less than the maximum allowable
deflection, max.

Pl 3E 61 I1 37 I 2 19 I 3 7 I 4 1 I 5 max
3
Design Constraint 3: Aspect Ratio
For each step of the cantilever, the aspect
ratio must not exceed a maximum allowable
aspect ratio, amax.

hi
amax
bi
State the Optimization Problem

Let

x1 = b1, x2 = h1, x3 = b2, x4 = h2, x5 = b3,

x6 = h3, x7 = b4, x8 = h4, x9 = b5, x10 = h5

Minimize
V l x1 x2 x3 x4 x5 x6 x7 x8 x9 x10
State the Optimization Problem
Subject to
1) Bending stress
6 Pl 6 P 4l
2
max 2
max
b5 h5 b2 h2
6 P 2l
max
6 P 5l
2
b4 h4
max
6 P 3l b1h1
2

2
max
b3h3
2) End deflection
Pl 3 244 148 76 28 4
3 max
E x1x2 x3 x 43 x5 x63 x7 x83 x9 x103

3) Aspect ratio
x 2 x1 20, x 4 x 3 20, x 6 x 5 20,
x 8 x 7 20, x10 x 9 20
 Design Parameters
End load, P = 50000 N
Total beam length, L = 100 cm
Maximum beam end deflection, max = 2.7 cm
The allowable stress in each beam section,
max = 14000 N/cm2
Youngs Modulus, E = 2 x 107 N/cm2
 Set the Bounds
1 x1 5; 30 x2 65;
2.4 x3 & x5 3.1; 45 x4 & x6 60;
1 x7 & x9 5; 30 x8 & x10 65

Create vectors containing the lower bound (lb)

and upper bound constraints (ub).

Lb = [1 30 2.4 45 2.4 45 1 30 1 30];

Ub = [5 65 3.1 60 3.1 60 5 65 5 65];
 Set the Options
To obtain a more accurate solution, increase
the PopulationSize, and Generations options
from their default values, and decrease the
EliteCount and TolFun options.
Result

Minimum volume: 63295.4 cm3

x1 b1 3
x2 h1 60
x3 b2 2.83
x4 h2 56.60
x5 b3 2.56
x6 h3 51.19
x7 b4 2.23
x8 h4 44.50
x9 b5 1.77
x10 h5 35.35