System Analysis

What is a System???
A system may be defined as a collection of physical and human elements
which are interconnected and organized in such a way as to achieve some
specified objectives.

A fundamental property of a system is that the performance achieved by the
system as a whole is beyond the total capability of the constituent components
of the system operating in isolation.

Examples of Common Civil Engineering Systems:
1. A bridge
2. A building
3. The traffic system in a city
4. A railway network
5. An irrigation scheme consisting of dams and canals
6. Water treatment and supply system in a city
7. Sewage collection, Treatment and disposal system in a city

And many others
What is a System Analysis???
1. Analysis regarding the design of a new system or modification/augmentation of
the design of an existing system, such the resource utilization, in terms of,
money, land, energy, raw materials, human resource etc. in the system are
minimized.

2. Analysis regarding the operation and maintenance of an existing system to
increase efficiency and reliability and to decrease costs, resource and energy
utilization.

Based on system analysis, efficient design of systems are possible and also efficient
operation and maintenance of existing systems are possible.

Objective of this course ??
1. To learn about certain basic mathematical and statistical techniques for analysis
of simple civil engineering systems
2. to formulate Civil Engineering system problems such that they are amenable to
the system analysis techniques.

System analysis becomes more and more difficult as systems become more complex.
Really complex systems, specially those which are dependent on human inputs are
often very difficult, if not impossible to analyze mathematically or statistically.
P 2 kN =
tan 1 u=
tan 0.667 o =
tan 1 u=
tan 0.667 o =
A
B
C
D
E
0.4L
L L
1.2L
Problem 1: Optimization of a Truss
Member Compressive Force Member Tensile Force
AB and DE
(0.566L)
AC and CE
(L)
BD
(1.2L)
BC and DC
(0.895L)
P
.Csc
2
o
P
.Cot
2
u
| |
P
. Cot Cot
2
u+ o
P
.Csc
2
u
P 2 kN =
tan 1 u=
tan 0.667 o =
tan 1 u=
tan 0.667 o =
A
B
C
D
E
Optimization of a Truss
Member Compressive Force Member Tensile Force
AB and DE
(0.566L, A
1
)
AC and CE
(L, A
2
)
BD
(1.2L, A
4
)
BC and DC
(0.895L, A
3
)
P
.Csc
2
o
P
.Cot
2
u
| |
P
. Cot Cot
2
u+ o
P
.Csc
2
u
Minimize:

Total Weight = .L.[1.132(A
1
) + 2.000(A
2
) + 1.790(A
3
) + 1.200(A
4
)]
A
1
, A
2
, A
3
, A
4
are the cross-sectional areas
Optimization of a Truss: Design Criteria

Tensile Stress:




Compressive Stress:






Buckling Criteria:





Maximum Deflection Criteria: Maximum Vertical Deflection at C




yt
3
P.Csc
S
2.A
o
s
yt
2
P.Cot
S
2.A
u
s
yc
1
P.Csc
S
2.A
u
s
yc
4
P
.(Cot Cot ) S
2.A
u+ o s
2
1
2
.E.A P.Csc
2 1.281.L
t u
s
2
4
2
.E.A P
.(Cot Cot )
2 5.76L
t
u+ o s
max
1 2 3 4
P.L 0.566 0.500 2.236 2.700
.
E A A A A
(
+ + + s o
(

P 2 kN =
A
C
D
E
Member Compressive
Force
Member Tensile Force
AB and DE
(0.566L, A
1
)
AC and CE
(L, A
2
)
BD
(1.2L, A
4
)
BC and DC
(0.895L, A
3
)
P
.Csc
2
o
P
.Cot
2
u
| |
P
. Cot Cot
2
u+ o
P
.Csc
2
u
Final Optimization Problem:

Minimize:
Total Weight (W) = .L.[1.132(A
1
) + 2.000(A
2
) + 1.790(A
3
) + 1.200(A
4
)]

Subject to constraints:
yt
3
P.Csc
1). S 0
2.A
o
>
yt
2
P.Cot
2). S 0
2.A
u
>
yc
1
P.Csc
3). S 0
2.A
u
>
yc
4
P
4). S .(Cot Cot ) 0
2.A
u+ o >
2
1
2
.E.A P.Csc
5). 0
1.281.L 2
t u
>
2
4
2
.E.A P
6). .(Cot Cot ) 0
5.76L 2
t
u+ o >
max
1 2 3 4
P.L 0.566 0.500 2.236 2.700
7). . 0
E A A A A
(
o + + + >
(

1 2 3 4 1
8). A , A , A , A d >
1 2 3 4 2
9). A , A , A , A d s
i
1 2 3 4
Mathematically,
Min f(X): Subject to g (X) 0 i = 1,...,15
where, X=[A , A , A , A ]
>
The optimization problem discussed has,

4 variables, i.e., X = [A
1
, A
2
, A
3
, A
4
]

1 objective f(X)

15 constraints, g
i
(X), i = 1, 15

Such a problem is known as a multi-variable, single objective NON-LINEAR
optimization problem.

An optimization problem is non linear if either f(X) or g
i
(X) is non-linear.

A complex optimization problem might have numerous objectives, which are often
antagonistic to each other, may have numerous variables and numerous constraints
and also are mostly non-linear.
i
1 2 3 4
Mathematically,
Min f(X): Subject to g (X) 0 i = 1,...,15
where, X=[A , A , A , A ]
>