Web application for size and topology optimization of trusses and gusset plates

TL;DR

This paper presents a web-based application for size and topology optimization of trusses and gusset plates, integrating user-friendly interfaces with advanced computational tools for practical structural design.

Contribution

It introduces a novel web application that combines modern web technologies with optimization algorithms for structural engineering, accessible without external software.

Findings

Provides optimized truss and gusset plate designs

Includes comparison with Indian Standard codes

Offers an intuitive interface for structural analysis

Abstract

With its ever growing popularity, providing Internet based applications tuned towards practical applications is on the rise. Advantages such as no external plugins and additional software, ease of use, updating and maintenance have increased the popularity of web applications. In this work, a web-based application has been developed which can perform size optimization of truss structure as a whole as well as topology optimization of individual gusset plate of each joint based on specified joint displacements and load conditions. This application is developed using cutting-edge web technologies such as Three.js and HTML5. The client side boasts of an intuitive interface which in addition to its modeling capabilities also recommends configurations based on user input, provides analysis options and finally displays the results. The server side, using a combination of Scilab and DAKOTA, computes solution and also provides the user with comparisons of the optimal design with that conforming to Indian Standard (IS 800-2007). It is a freely available one-stop web-based application to perform optimal and/or code based design of trusses.