Assessment Approach of Design Procedures Against the Earthquake Hazard Be Means of Design Optimization

Abstract eng:
Structural optimization problems are characterized by various objective and constraint functions, which are generally non-linear functions of the design variables. These functions are usually implicit, discontinuous and non-convex. The mathematical formulation of structural optimization problems with respect to the design variables, the objective and constraint functions depend on the type of the application. During the last three decades there has been a growing interest in problem solving systems based on algorithms which rely on analogies to natural processes. These systems have some selection process based on fitness of individuals and some recombination operators and they are used in this work for assessing design approaches against the earthquake hazard. The first objective of this study is the assessment of the European seismic design codes and in particular of EC2 and EC8 with respect to the recommended behaviour factor q. The assessment is performed on two reinforced concrete multi-storey buildings, having symmetrical and nonsymmetrical plan view respectively, which were optimally designed under four different values of the behaviour factor. In the mathematical formulation of the optimization problem the initial construction cost is considered as the objective function to be minimized while the cross sections and steel reinforcement of the beams and the columns constitute the design variables. The provisions of Eurocodes 2 and 8 are imposed as constraints to the optimization problem. Life-cycle cost analysis, in conjunction with structural optimization, is believed to be a reliable procedure for assessing the performance of structures during their life time.

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