The aim of this work was to optimize the choice of the girder height of two-span beam bridges in order to find more economical forms. Consequently in cooperation with the engineering company BPR Dr. Schäpertöns Consult and the Chair of Structural Analysis of the TU Munich a Finite Element Program was expanded by the option to optimize dimensions of structures. The aim of the optimization was not the minimization of strains but the minimization of reinforcement and thereby the minimization of costs. The optimization tool is an excel program based on VBA, that is designed in a way that a user can use it without even knowing or understanding the code. The user can decide if he wants to do a free-form optimization or a parametric one. For the parametric optimization one can choose either linear, quadratic or cubic haunches. The variables during the optimization are the elementwise cross section heights of the bridge, all other sizes are fixed. The results show that the optimal girder height corresponds directly to the bending moment. The best results were achieved for the free-form optimization. When comparing the parametric formulations one can conclude that the cubic and the linear parametrization can describe the distribution of the bending moment in the best way. In chapter 6.4.8 statements about the optimization results for the building practices were determined.     «

The aim of this work was to optimize the choice of the girder height of two-span beam bridges in order to find more economical forms. Consequently in cooperation with the engineering company BPR Dr. Schäpertöns Consult and the Chair of Structural Analysis of the TU Munich a Finite Element Program was expanded by the option to optimize dimensions of structures. The aim of the optimization was not the minimization of strains but the minimization of reinforcement and thereby the minimization o...     »