On optimal plastic design of yoke elements

The paper discusses optimal plastic design of yoke elements, like yokes, ends of connecting rods, chain links, etc. A design process consists of two steps: first, using the boundary perturbation method, we find a class of fully plastic solutions, and then choose the optimal one from among them. Unicriterial optimization may be employed if we look for maximal limit load-carrying capacity of constant-volume elements. However, if characteristic dimensions of the yoke are prescribed, then multicriterial optimization must be used. A comparison with some solutions obtained earlier by other authors is also given.