Unimodal Optimization of Axially Compressed Shear Deformable Columns

Abstract

In this study, the unimodal optimality conditions for axially compressed shear deformable columns are formulated and the optimal design problems defined are numerically solved using an iterative procedure based on the finite element method. The results presented show that the optimization results are more reliable than the ones obtained using classical beam theory as cross-sectional  area does not vanish at points where the bending moment is equal to zero.