Application of structural optimization to practical tall steel building design

Although it has long been recognised that structural optimization techniques have much to offer in engineering practice, the application of such technology for large scale tall building frameworks has been quite limited to date. This paper aims to present an efficient optimization technique for the practical design of tall steel building frameworks. The design optimization is first expressed in an explicit form and then solved by a rigorously derived Optimality Criteria method. The effectiveness and practicality of the automatic optimal design technique are illustrated through a range of three 50-story steel frameworks.