The strut-and-tie model is widely used for the analysis and design of reinforced concrete structures under a plane stress state. To apply this model, it is necessary to define strut-and-tie systems that represent the flow of stresses generated in the analysed structure. To make the concept of the model less dependent on designer experience for regions or structures with geometric or static discontinuity, this strut-and-tie model is defined through an evolutionary structural optimisation (ESO) considering linear isotropic material, which provides the automatic generation of strut-and-tie models. The evolution criterion adopted by the topological optimisation method considers the elimination of less requested elements in terms of tension, based on the elastic-linear analysis. The aim of this study is to develop and implement various strategies to control the removal of these elements, which leads to different final configurations. In this context, optimised solutions to complex problems involving reinforced concrete structures can be obtained. The results of two out of the three practical applications presented were compared with the results provided in the literature to validate the efficiency of the proposed algorithm.