Based on the traditional structural optimization method

a structural/material optimization method for turbine frame was developed in consideration of the effects of structural parameters and properties of materials on the performance of turbine frame.The original optimization problem was decomposed into structure level and the material level.The first one was solved by feasible direction method while the second problem was solved by parallel genetic algorithms.A distributed computer system was designed by C language and employed to obtain the optimal material combination and structural parameters of one typical turbine frame.The result shows that the structure/material optimization may obtain better design than structure optimization.In the examples

compared with the worst material combination

the mass of the optimal material combination is reduced by 29.0%.