Resizing procedure for optimum design of structures under combined mechanical and thermal loading
An algorithm is reported for resizing structures subjected to combined thermal and mechanical loading. The algorithm is applicable to uniaxial stress elements (rods) and membrane biaxial stress members. Thermal Fully Stressed Design (TFSD) is based on the basic difference between mechanical and thermal stresses in their response to resizing. The TFSD technique is found to converge in fewer iterations than ordinary fully stressed design for problems where thermal stresses are comparable to the mechanical stresses. The improved convergence is demonstrated by example with a study of a simplified wing structure, built-up with rods and membranes and subjected to a combination of mechanical loads and a three dimensional temperature distribution.