Cost minimization of prestressed steel trusses considering shape and size variables

There are many studies on the optimization of steel trusses in literature; and, a large number of them include a shape optimization. However, only a few of these studies are focused on the prestressed steel trusses. Therefore, this paper aims to determine the amounts of the material and cost savings in steel plane trusses in the case of prestressing. A parallel-chord simply supported steel truss is handled as an example to evaluate the used approach. It is considered that prestressing tendon is settled under the bottom bar, between two end supports, using deviators. Cross-sections of the truss members and height of the truss are taken as the design variables. The prestress losses are calculated in two steps as instantaneous losses and time-dependent losses. Tension increment in prestressing tendon due to the external loads is also considered. A computer program based on genetic algorithm is developed to solve the optimization problem. The handled truss is optimized for different span lengths and different tendon eccentricities using the coded program. The effects of span length and eccentricity of tendon on prestressed truss optimization are investigated. The results of different solutions are compared with each other and those of the non-prestressed solution. It is concluded that the amounts of the material and the cost of a steel plane truss can be reduced up to 19.9% and 14.6%, respectively, by applying prestressing.