Influence of geometric imperfections on the efficacy of optimization approaches for grid-shells

The current literature provides a wide range of examples of structural optimization based on different strategies and mainly finalized to obtain light solutions safe toward strength and stability requirements. Recently, many studies focused the attention on the role of geometric imperfections that inevitably arise during the construction process by leading to an alteration of the ideal shape at the basis of the optimization process. This occurrence could particularly affect the safety level of the obtained optimized solution. Aim of the present paper is to assess the efficacy of some approaches previously carried out by the authors for the structural optimization of grid-shells here specifically considering the presence of geometric imperfections. To this purpose, numerical analyses are presented in the paper by introducing different geometric imperfection scenarios and also accounting for different case studies.