On the solution of a minimum weight elastoplastic problem involving displacement and complementarity constraints Original Research Article

This paper deals with a special class of minimum weight design problem involving discretized structures, holonomic (reversible) plasticity, and constraints on displacements. A key feature of the optimization problem is the presence of complementarity conditions, involving the orthogonality of two sign-constrained vectors. This problem falls within the important class of so-called Mathematical Programs with Equilibrium Constraints (MPECs). Two simple algorithms are proposed to solve our synthesis problem and application is illustrated by some examples concerning truss-like structures.