Abstract

The paper deals with a new method which can be used in initial design of the bridge constructions, when the fundamental decisions related to the type of the bridge must be considered. Sensitivity based topology optimization is the modern, interdisciplinary design tool, which is used in many practical problems. The numerical topology optimization algorithm consists of two basic steps at each iteration: the first, the analysis of the system is performed and the second, the design variables are updated. In the problem of topology optimization the optimal redistribution of the artificial, non-real material should be determined in design domain in order to minimize the-mean compliance of the structure. This material is called Simple Isotropic Material with Penalization [1]. In optimization process the artificial material with intermediate non real density  is redistributed. It is concentrated in stiffened zones  = o. The result of the optimization is the optimal global shape of the construction. The presented examples demonstrate how quickly and easily one can obtain the optimal global shape of the bridge construction using numerical topology optimization procedure.