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The Structural Engineer, Volume 62, Issue 14, 1984
The shape of a structure often plays a significant part in deciding its cost. In this paper a method is proposed for the design of pin-jointed space frames which includes the shape, i.e. their geometry and topology, as a variable to be decided not by the designer but by the method itself. The method includes stress, serviceability, buckling and stiffness requirements as constraints to be satisfied, while the cost of the material is minimised. In doing so the self-weight of the structure, which is changing during the design process, is fully considered as a design variable. To reduce cost, members are allowed to be grouped together so that those in a group have the same cross-section. However, a member is allowed to have a variable length as the joints at its end are allowed to move in a 3-dimensional space. Examples are given of the design method which include a dome and a transmission tower. Professor K.I. Majid and X. Tang
In tall structures the designer often has to deal with a major question in design, ‘what is the natural frequency of the structure, does it correspond to a known dynamic load, and, if so, how can the structure be altered to change that natural frequency sufficiently?’ G.M. Naief