| Summary: | This paper describes the development of truss optimization by finding its optimum topology (member disposition). The objective of this work is to obtain the truss with minimum weight that able to meet its design requirement (design constraints). Optimization is a mathematical technique used to find an optimum design, a design that minimize a certain objective function but still meet its design constraints. In this research, the objective function was the weight of the structure while the constraints were strength and displacement. Optimization was done by removing members which do not contribute to the load carrying capacity. Through conventional member size optimization non contributing members were identified and deleted. Linear Extended Interior Penalty Function was utilized to accomplish the mission. The truss structural responses were found by Finite Element Analysis coupled with an approximation procedure. Examples of a three-bar and six bar truss structures were demonstrated. Results showed that the truss topology could be optimized by members deletion strategy using the optimization procedure reported in this paper. Copyright © 2009 by ASME.
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