Program “West” for Optimization of Rectangular and Square Section Tubes from the Safety Point of View

A desk top computer program has been developed to enable selection of the lightest or cheapest standard or non-standard section tubes meeting the following safety criteria: maximum bending strength, energy absorbed and remaining strength after a given hinge rotation angle. It also enables selection of minimum material properties if section dimensions and the target safety performance are specified. The program can also produce bending collapse properties of given sections which may be further used either directly in design, or as input data to finite element programs for collapse analysis. The theory on which the program is based was verified by an extensive experimental work on tubes and complete structures.