A novel optimization approach for the design of environmentally efficient gridshells with reclaimed steel members

The reuse of structural components from decommissioned structures is gaining traction among researchers and industry professionals. This approach offers significant advantages, including reduced costs and a smaller environmental footprint, by incorporating reclaimed elements from dismantled structures into the design of new ones. Steel elements are particularly well-suited to this purpose because they preserve their mechanical properties over time. Nevertheless, integrating reused members into the structure of a gridshell introduces complexities into the design process, as it adds additional parameters related to the characteristics of the reused members themselves, such as cross-section, length, and material. Therefore, optimizing gridshell structures with reused members necessitates analyzing solutions based on the placement of the reused members within the grid, as well as considering grid configurations that accommodate the characteristics of the reused members. This paper presents a novel approach for optimizing steel gridshells that integrates reclaimed members into the structure. The approach effectively combines a geometry and a size optimization technique through a unique process using genetic algorithms. Applied to a case study derived from the literature and considering different scenarios of reused elements, the approach is also compared to a manual design approach. The results and comparisons demonstrate the proposed approach’s capability to provide lighter solutions, leading to lower costs and a reduced environmental impact, the last highlighted by the evaluation of the greenhouse gas emission for each case.