Structures’ Global Stiffness, a Criterion for the Materials’ Selection

Structural and material optimization remains crucial in today’s constructive design and machine building area. The importance of this topic relies on its applications for testing the behavior of different materials under the action of various loading and the evaluation of the computation error. When choosing the materials for a specific application, an important criterion is the global structure stiffness, which must be precisely determined. This paper presents a case study of a statically indeterminate, circular plane structure used in specific engineering devices. This structure’s particular construction requires determining a dimensional parameter from the viewpoint of optimal rigidity (structure stiffness) to ensure minimal device size. A dual approach, the traditional calculus versus the Finite Element Method simulation, is used to solve the problem. The results of the two finite element software (Axis and SolidWorks) used in this study are also compared. Correlating the structural stiffness to the material properties is the best approach to the optimal design solution.