Mechanical Engineering, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore 560 012, India
Optimization hinders evolution!
ME256 Variational Methods and Structural Optimization Jan.-May., 2016
Instructor: G. K. Ananthasuresh , Room 106, ME Building, suresh at mecheng.iisc.ernet.in
Lectures: Tu, Th: 08:30 AM - 10:00 AM; Venue: ME Lecture Hall

Homework #2
Assigned: Jan. 19th, 2016
Due: Jan. 26th, 2016
Points: 50
Additional points for work that is beyond instructor's expectation!
Look up Homework #1 of 2010 offering of this course and the solution posted there to know what is meant by "beyond instructor's expectation".

1. 20 points
   Solve the following problem and estimate the change in the minimum value of the objective function if "4" in g1 or g2 is replaced by 4.01, 4.05. amd 4.1 using the Lagrange multipliers and re-solving the problem.
   
2. 30 points
   A statically determinate truss is shown in the figure below along with a simple strucural optimization problem to be solved.
   
   P is the load applied and u is the displacement at that point. Let P = 200 kg. All truss members are made of aluminium with E = 70 GPa. The cross-section areas, A_is, are the optimization variables. Take V^* as 0.2 m³. SE denotes twice the strain energy stored in the loaded truss. USe truss fem Matlab code along with fmincon routine in Matlab. You need matcut.m and veccut.m in the same folder to run femtruss.m.