Transonic Wing and Control Surface Loads Modelling for Aeroservoelastic Analysis

The exponential growth of the aviation sector combined with environmental and energy supply challenges have led companies to innovate to reduce aircraft fuel consumption. Among the many areas currently under research, this thesis investigates the possibility of making aircraft wings lighter thanks to flight load alleviation systems and more...

Topology Optimization of a Concrete Floor Slab Guided by Vacuumatic Formwork Constraints

This thesis presents a design for a topology-optimised concrete floor slab, of which the structural optimisation process is guided by manufacturability constraints from a vacuumatic formwork. The design has been obtained using an open-source, three-dimensional topology optimisation algorithm. Traditional floor systems are cost-optimised but can...

Pretensioned cable-strut roof: A study with parametric design and optimisation

This thesis has been aiming to design a light-weight, structurally safe, and engineering practical pretensioned roof structure. Firstly literature study has been performed to gain insight about the application of tensegrities as roof structures. With some programming and scripting skills some special components based on the Grasshopper...

Topology optimisation of a concrete floor slab guided by manufacturability constraints from a vacuumatic formwork

This paper presents a design for a topology-optimised concrete floor slab, of which the structural optimisation process is guided by manufacturability constraints from a vacuumatic formwork. Ihe design has been obtained using an open-source, tliree-dimensional topology optimisation algorithm. Traditional floor systems are cost-optimised but can...

A novel dynamic aeroelastic framework for aeroelastic tailoring and structural optimisation

Driven by a need to improve the efficiency of aircraft and reduce the fuel consumption, composite materials are applied extensively in the design of aircraft. A dynamic aeroelastic framework for the conceptual design of a generic composite wing structure is presented. The wing is discretised in several spanwise sections, where each section has a...

Solar updraft tower - structural optimisation under dynamic wind action

A solar updraft tower is a type of power plant which uses solar irradiation to generate electricity. It consists of three elements: a solar air collector, wind turbines and a chimney. The proposed concepts for this chimney schematise it as a 1-km-tall reinforced concrete shell, which are vulnerable to resonance induced by storm actions. This...

Steel Grid Shells Stress-Based Sizing Optimisation

The second half of the 20th century brought a revolution, when a computer-aided design (CAD) emerged. The new technologies were not only aiding with the existing designs, they begun to generate them too making the first examples of what is known today as a free-form design. Complicated 3D geometries could now be easily generated, viewed on the...

Optimisation of Reinforced Concrete Structures

The design of reinforcement in concrete structures is a complex procedure, often resulting in inefficient designs. One possible solution to improve the design process and create more efficient designs is structural optimisation. This Master’s Thesis focusses on the development of a technique for optimisation of reinforcement in 3D concrete...

A knowledge-based framework for structural optimization - An object-oriented approach for reuse of explicit knowledge in computational optimisation of steel structures.

During the design process, structural engineers are required to create more efficient designs while achieving maximum integration with other disciplines, satisfying design requirements and ensuring sufficient safety. Even though many algorithms, tools and case studies of computational optimisations for structural design are available in both...

Isogeometric design optimisation

Design optimisation is of paramount importance in most engineering, e.g. aeronautical, automotive, or naval, disciplines. Its interdisciplinary character is manifested in the synthesis of geometric modelling, numerical analysis, mathematical programming, and computer sciences. The evolution of the field is closely related to concomitant advances...