Simulated Annealing Application for Structural Optimization

Several methods are available for weight and shape optimization of structures, among which Evolutionary Structural Optimization (ESO) is one of the most widely used methods. In ESO, however, the optimization criterion is completely case-dependent. Moreover, only the improving solutions are accepted during the search. In this paper a Simulated Annealing (SA) algorithm is used for structural optimization problem. This algorithm differs from other random search methods by accepting non-improving solutions. The implementation of SA algorithm is done through reducing the number of finite element analyses (function evaluations). Computational results show that SA can efficiently and effectively solve such optimization problems within short search time.