Enhancements of Genetic Algorithm for Minimum Cost Design of Steel Frames Considering Fabrication Cost

Abstract

A discrete optimization problem for minimizing the sum of fabrication cost and steel material cost of steel frames under constraints based on Japanese seismic code is set up. Enhancements of the genetic algorithm for the above-mentioned problem are proposed, which are combined with a 1D (one-dimensional) search or a 2D (two-dimensional) search. After the proposed methods are described, they are applied to a five-story frame. A comparison with an exact solution obtained by a revised enumeration algorithm demonstrates the effectiveness of the proposed methods.