ant colony optimisation (aco) algorithm and adaptive refinement mechanism are used in this paper for solution of optimization problems. many of the real engineering problems are، however، of continuous nature and finding their solution by discrete ant based algorithms requires discretisation of the decision variables in which affected the convergence and performance of the algorithm. in this pa...

Fatigue characteristics of asphalt binder have an important role in asphalt mix resistance against cracking. Viscoelastic Continuum Damage (VECD) analysis of asphalt binders has been successfully used in highway research works in order to predict fatigue behavior of hot mix asphalt (HMA). In this method an intrinsic property of the material, called damage function is obtained which is independe...

A level set topology optimization (LSTO) using the stabilized nodally integrated reproducing kernel particle method (RKPM) to solve governing equations is introduced in this paper. This methodology allows for an exact geometry description of a structure at each iteration without remeshing and any interpolation scheme. Moreover, useful characteristics RKPM such as easily controlled order continu...