Optimization plays an important role in scientific and engineering research. This paper presents the effects of using the catenoidal shape to design the structure of a chimney cooling tower. The paper compares some geometrical variations of the catenoid with the reference existing hyperboloidal structure. It also compares internal forces, deformation and stability of the catenoidal structure. The comparison shows some predominance of the catenoid over the popular hyperboloid structure of the shell. The paper attempts to find an optimal shape of the cooling tower in order to reduce the amount of material and labor. The paper utilizes engineering tools and the designing process for chimney cooling towers.

In determining the effects of actions when designing road structures, the influence of the loads caused by the buffeting of the passing vehicles (high-cycle forces) is neglected. Taking into account the fatigue load, they can have a very large impact on the assessment of the load capacity. The subject of analysis is the pressure and velocity distributions around a truck. At the current stage of the work, it can be concluded that the gusts of passing trucks affect the dynamics of the gantry structure and the elements suspended on it, such as platforms or boards. There is a strong suction force. It is possible to simplify the model in such a way that the board and the wind move with the speed of the vehicle while the truck remains stationary. Due to the lack of reliable guidelines for strength calculations of such structures, advanced Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) tools were used. This paper also presents a shaking table built by the authors for dynamic loading of structural models. It describes the construction of the shaking table and the kind of movement made by the table deck. It also shows a scheme of the table deck suspension on linear bearings, as well as a scheme of the table motion system.