Four optimal design problems and a weight minimization problem are considered for elastic plates with small bending rigidity, resting on a unilateral elastic foundation, with inner rigid obstacles and a friction condition on a part of the boundary. The state problem is represented by a variational inequality and the design variables influence both the coefficients and the set of admissible state functions. If some input data are allowed to be uncertain a new method of reliable solutions is employed....

In addition to the optimal design and worst scenario problems formulated in a previous paper [3], approximate optimization problems are introduced, making use of the finite element method. The solvability of the approximate problems is proved on the basis of a general theorem of [3]. When the mesh size tends to zero, a subsequence of any sequence of approximate solutions converges uniformly to a solution of the continuous problem.

Optimal design problems in mechanics can be mathematically formulated as optimal control tasks. The minimum principle is employed in solving such problems. This principle allows us to write down optimal design problems as Multipoint Boundary Value Problems (MPBVPs). The dimension of MPBVPs is an essential restriction that decides on numerical difficulties. Optimal control theory does not give much information about the control structure, i.e., about the sequence of the forms of the right-hand sides...