Optimal design of double layer barrel vaults considering nonlinear behavior

The present paper focuses on size optimization of double layer barrel vaults considering nonlinear behavior. In order to tackle the optimization problem an improved colliding bodies optimization (ICBO) algorithm is proposed. The important task that should be achieved before optimization of structural systems is to determine the best form having the least cost. In this study, an attempt is done to find the best form then it is optimized considering linear and non-linear behaviors. In the optimization process based on nonlinear behavior, the geometrical and material nonlinearity effects are included. A large-scale double layer barrel vault is presented as the numerical example of this study and the obtained results indicate that the proposed ICBO has better computational performance compared with other algorithms.