A Design Methodology to Support the Optimization of Steel Structures

Steel constructions are widely used in several applications such as structures for buildings, stores, factories, and power plants. The scope of the research is to study a methodology to reduce the weight and the cost related to big frame steel structures during the early design phase, which is the phase where most of the project layout is defined. The main aim of this paper is the development of a platform-tool to support the automatic optimization of a steel structure using virtual prototyping tools and genetic algorithms. The focus is on the design of heavy steel structures for oil & gas power plants. This work describes in detail the design methodology and estimates the weight saving related to the re-design process of a test case structure. The design cases considered in the paper are those relevant to the operating.