Derivation of qualitative sensitivities using existing optimum design results of simple structures

In the past sequential studies on qualitative optimizations, it has been shown that we can carry out optimization with qualitative grasps of the behaviors of the objective functions and constraints. A key issue in carrying out qualitative optimization is the determination of qualitative sensitivities. In this paper, we propose a new method of deriving qualitative sensitivities using existing optimum design results of simple structures. Results of optimum design greatly depend on the formulation of the problem, so it is very difficult for the designer to formulate large-scale or complex problems, and to formulate their sensitivities. Even in these cases, it will be possible to use analogies with the optimization results of simple structures. In this study, we estimate qualitative sensitivities by making use of the local information of these results. We examine the proposed method and show the effectiveness of the method by simple numerical examples.