EMCH 530 – Engineering Optimization

HW Assignments 1
Due Date: Tuesday, September 21, midnight (electronically)

Problem Statement
A load of P = 5.0 kN should be carried l1 = 4.0 meters from a wall using the beam
and a rod structure as shown in the figure below. The beam is a rectangular
cross section with different wall thicknesses for the top and bottom flange, t1 and
t2, respectively, and web thicknesses of t3. The rod is circular in cross section
with a radius r.

The beam and the rod are made of aluminum with modulus E = 69 GPa and a
yield strength of σ y = 100 MPa.

Formulate the design problem as a Mathematical optimization problem to

minimize the material volume of the structure (in lieu of its weight) such that it
will not fail due to strength and buckling constraints. Being a thin-walled
column, each of the walls can assumed to be buckling as if they are simply
supported on all four edges. One can assume that the bending loads in the beam
is carried by the flanges, and web carries the axial load.

P
l1
l2

l4
Beam Cross-section
l3
t1 w

t3 h
r
Rod Cross-section
t2