Development of novel web application for analysis, design and optimization of trusses

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 speci ed load conditions. It performs topology optimization of 2D plane stress/plane strain problems and also incorporates a novel method of interpretation of these results in form of closely possible truss structures. 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 con gurations based on user input, provides analysis options and nally 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. The web application is accessible in the IIT Gandhinagar campus on a permanent server 192.168.11.217 as well as on a back up server 192.168.11.35.