Abstract:Orthotropic Composite Bridge Decks have gained increased practical application in recent years due to their excellent fatigue resistance, static load-bearing capacity, and relatively low self-weight. These decks typically consist of orthotropic steel decks (OSD) and concrete layers. Significant changes in structural stiffness occur after the addition of the concrete layer. If the orthotropic plates are still constructed in the traditional OSD manner, it will result in unnecessary increases in steel usage and welding volume. This paper employs a genetic algorithm with the objective of minimizing the cost per unit area while considering two types of constraints: constitution constraints and load-bearing capacity constraints, in accordance with existing standards. Two stress control strategies are applied to optimize the constitution of orthotropic composite bridge decks with varying spans and concrete thicknesses. Additionally, the paper addresses the impact of changes in constitution on load distribution and load-bearing capacity. The optimization results show that, for a bridge span of 4.5 meters, compared to the non-optimized composite bridge deck, the optimized solution reduces steel usage by 1.7%~10.1%, and welding volume by 16.5%~31.8%.