A CAD EXPERT SYSTEM FOR STRUCTURAL DESIGN OF REPAIRS

THE OBJECTIVE OF THIS PROPOSED RESEARCH IS TO DEVELOP A CAD-BASED EXPERT SYSTEM FOR THE DESIGN OF STRUCTURAL REPAIRSAND FOR THE DETAILED DESIGN OF STRUCTURAL MEMBERS. THE SYSTEM WILL COUPLE VARIATIONAL GEOMETRY, AUTOMATED FINITE ELEMENT MESH GENERATION AND DESIGN SENSITIVITY ANALYSIS INTO A TOOL CAPABLE OF PROVIDING FEEDBACK ON THE EFFECTS OF "WHAT IF" CHANGES AND OF ALSO DETERMINING, VIA A GRADIENT DESCENT SEARCH STRATEGY, THE OPTIMUM SHAPE FOR THE REPAIR CONCEPT UNDER CONSIDERATION. PRE-MESHED STANDARD STRUCTURALELEMENTS WHICH CAN BE INTERCONNECTED WITHOUT REGARD FOR NODAL COMPATIBILITY VIA VIRTUAL NODES OR FASTENERS WILL ALLOW COMPLEX FINITE ELEMENT MODELS OF REPAIRS TO BE QUICKLYSYNTHESIZED USING TINKERTOY POINT N'CLICK CONSTRUCTION TECHNIQUES. THE SYSTEM WILL BE CAPABLE OF ACCOMMODATING THEEVOLUTIONARY DESIGN PROCESS AND WILL ALLOW A DESIGN TO UNDERGO SUCCESSIVE REFINEMENT AS EMEMBERS ARE MODIFIED, ADDED, OR DELETED. THROUGH THE COUPLING OF VARIATIONAL GEOMETRY WITH OPTIMIZATION THEORY, THE NUMBER OF CONSTRAINTSWHICH MUST BE SATISFIED IN MINIMIZING THE OBJECTIVE FUNCTIONCAN BE DRAMATICALLY REDUCED, ALLOWING THE APPLICATION OF OPTIMIZATION TECHNIQUES TO STRUCTURAL DESIGN PROBLEMS WHICH IN THE PAST WOULD HAVE BEEN IMPOSSIBLE TO SOLVE.