An enhanced particle swarm optimization for design of pin connected structures

In this paper, a new technique in weight optimization of pin-connectedstructures is proposed. using some principles of structural analysis, the concepts ofsimilar trusses in structural analysis and optimum similar trusses in optimization of trussstructures are introduced. based on these denitions, the technique searches for one ofthe optimum similar trusses to map it into boundary and nd the optimum truss. thetechnique is referred to as searching optimum similar trusses (sost). it is general andits implementation in standard particle swarm optimization (pso) is developed in thisarticle, which is called psost. rapid convergence with few numbers of analyses andaccurate constraint handling is achieved by the technique, and absolutely feasible solutionsare obtained. several benchmark planar and spatial truss structures have been optimizedusing this approach. the results show remarkable improvement both in accuracy andparticularly in convergence rate of the design.