I just started using STAAD Pro through my college. I am modeling a steel structure and would like to automatically optimize the structure based solely on total deflection (global maximum deflection) and weight. I want each value (deflection and weight) to be weighted according to its importance in the design to yield a maximum score. I can't figure out how to do this. I know there are member optimization routines for various predefined codes, but the codes aren't relevant to this project.
I would like to test varied combinations of steel sections from User Tables to optimize weight and maximum aggregate deflection (of a span) from two different loading cases of the same structure.
Can anyone help me with this problem?
Currently, optimization (member selection) in STAAD can be done on the basis of only 2 criteria
1) That the program choose the least weight section that meets criteria for strength and slenderness of a specific code (US, Canada, Europe, Britain, etc.)
2) That the program choose the least weight section that meets a user specified limit for the ratio of member length to deflection.
For the second condition, the deflection we are referring to is the deflection of individual members. There is no method currently available to perform a member selection that would modify the stiffness of the structure in such a way that the deflection of nodes will fall within some user specified limits.