Optimum spanning for rectangular floor systems – part 1: a unified combinatorial approach

Abstract

In preliminary layout optimisation problems, it is of great importance how to efficiently represent the structure’s layout so that it could account for the relevant objectives. A unified automated technique is presented for finding the optimum spanning of rectangular floors to simplify the computer-aided conceptual design of multi-storey buildings. The technique supports two commonly used floor systems: flat plates and beam–slab floors, in which the number and the size of spans are variables. The paper describes how conceptual design optimisation of rectangular floor systems involving architectural, structural and constructional objectives can be modelled as a multi-objective combinatorial optimisation problem. The method first is presented in a general form that is able to accommodate different objective functions and is not confined to optimisation under a certain type of action effects, loading systems and/or geometrical constraints. Then, the optimisation problem is formulated for cost optimisation of floor as a specific application of the methodology.