Prestress optimization of hybrid tensile structures.

Cable structures differ from the conventional ones for their lightness and for the versatility of their shapes. As they work only by axial tensile forces, the structural geometry and the pretensioning intensity applied to the cables are closely related. In this paper, a matrix theory suitable for the analysis of a spatial pinjointed structure is recalled and the role of the cable prestress and the optimization of the prestress distribution and of the prestress intensity is studied. In a second part of the paper an optimization procedure, based on a genetic algorithm, is presented. Such a procedure allows searching a solution at the same time of minimum weight and respecting given technological constraints, as shown trough a final example.