bbokser / beam-opt

Beam Optimization

Table of Contents

• Intro
• Setup
• Info

---

Intro

This repository contains Python code for mass optimization of a cantilever beam.

---

Setup

1. Clone this directory wherever you want.

2. Make sure both Python 3.8 and pip are installed.

sudo apt install python3.8
sudo apt-get install python3-pip
python3.8 -m pip install --upgrade pip

2. I recommend setting up a virtual environment for this, as it requires the use of a number of specific Python packages.

sudo apt-get install python3.8-venv
cd beam-opt
python3.8 -m venv env

For more information on virtual environments: https://docs.python.org/3/library/venv.html

3. Activate the virtual environment, and then install the following packages.

source env/bin/activate
python3.8 -m pip install numpy nlopt matplotlib argparse

Don't use sudo here if you can help it, because it may modify your path and install the packages outside of the venv.

---

Info

To run the optimization:

cd src
python3.8 main.py titanium 30 0.3 0.05 0.001 0.0004064

Argparse Arguments

• Material
  • titanium, aluminum, or cfrp.
• Mass
  • The mass of the end-effector in kg.
• $L_x$
  • The length of the beam in meters.
• $L_y$
  • The axial offset distance of the end-effector mass from the beam axis.
• Max Deflection
  • Maximum beam deflection in meters.
• Minimum Wall Thickness
  • Minimum wall thickness in meters.