Author(s)

U. KlaUaek & S. Kravanja

Abstract

This paper presents the economical comparison between three different composite systems: composite I beams, composite trusses consisting of channel sections and composite trusses made up of hollow sections. The comparison was made for simply supported beams for different spans and different loads. Composite structures were designed in accordance with Eurocodes for both the ultimate and the serviceability limit states. In order to carry out the comparison between the three different structural systems, the optimal design solutions were obtained for the individual combination of the span and imposed load. The optimization was subjected to a minimization of the structure’s selfmanufacturing costs and performed by the nonlinear programming (NLP) approach. Further, a comparison between the obtained optimal costs was made for all defined spans. Keyword

Keywords