NON-DESTRUCTIVE STRUCTURAL TEST USING WAVES AND SOFT COMPUTING. CASE STUDY: PILE INTEGRITY INSPECTION USING GENETICALLY OPTIMIZED NEURAL NETWORKS
Keywords: inverse problems, non-destructive testing, wave propagation, pile integrity testing, island genetic algorithm, neural detectors
ABSTRACT
Non-destructive testing of structures using wave propagation and reflection and soft computing for the post-processing of the results is addressed in this contribution. As a case study, a neural network based scheme and its decision mechanism are utilized to classify defects in piles. Numerical simulation results are used, in combination to an island genetic algorithm, for the neural detector initialization, as well as, for performance validation.
Biography
Luís Bragança is Professor at the Civil Engineering Department, is Director of the Building Physics and Construction Technology Laboratory and is Director of the Master Course in Sustainable Construction and Rehabilitation. He is Ph.D., M.Sc. and Licentiate in Civil Engineering and his main areas of interest are: Sustainable Construction Development (assessment tools, life-cycle analysis and building sustainable technologies), Building Acoustics and the Rational Use of Energy in Buildings. He participates actively in the national standardizing work concerning Sustainable Construction, Building Thermal Performance and Building Acoustics.
He coordinates and participates in several international and national research projects. He is author and co-author of more than 200 publications, including books, chapters of books, and articles in international and national journals and papers in international and national conferences.
Professor Luis Braganca is the President of the International Initiative for a Sustainable Built Environment (iiSBE), Chairman of the Technical Committee on Sustainability & Eco-Efficiency of the Steel Construction of the European Convention for Constructional Steelwork (ECCS TC14), Chairman of the Education Committee of iiSBE, Board Director of the Association iiSBE Portugal, is involved in R&D and standardization (CEN/TC350 Sustainability of construction works), is the representative of the Portuguese Construction Technology Platform in ECTP (European Construction Technology Platform) and is the representative of Portugal in the COST Domain Committee "Transport and Urban Development".
 | Prof. Dr. Polat Gülkan |
| | Chair of the Department of Civil Engineering Çankaya University , Ankara, Turkey |
| | E-mail: polatgulkan@cankaya.edu.tr |
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HOW WELL DO SEISMIC PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENT METHODS PERFORM IN THE LIGHT OF FIELD DATA
Keywords: Damage, performance based seismic engineering, reinforced concrete buildings, nonlinear capacity estimate
ABSTRACT
The goodness of estimates for regional urban seismic risk for buildings has not been fully tested in the light of field data. This stems from a dearth of studies related to how well performance assessment procedures forecast individual buildings. Three identical buildings were subjected to strong ground motions over an eleven-year period in Turkey. With extensive documentation for the input motions and the resulting damages it was possible to test how well those damages could have been forecast. Analytical studies are not encouraging.
 | Professor Antonio Capsoni |
| | Politecnico di Milano |
| | e-mail : Antonio Capsoni <antonio.capsoni@polimi.it>; |
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He earned a PhD in Structural Engineering form Politecnico di Milano, where he is actually Associate Professor of Theory and Stability of Structures. As an academic he has published researches related to several scientific and technical subjects, ranging from theoretical and computational mechanics to structural dynamics, stability and optimisation.
In the last two decades he also gained a sound experience as a Structural Designer and Advisor, having been involved in many relevant building-related and infrastructural projects, and awarded in several Bridge Design Competitions. He has also a specific skill in Assessment and Retrofit of existing structures and Historical Buildings.
Since 1999 he is Partner and Principal of the Structural Engineering firm B&C Associati.
Lecture Title: Damping models in continuum methods for dynamic analysis of buildings
Abstract:
ABSTRACT
Condensed 1D continuum models, called "Replacement Beams" (RBs), often provide an useful tool to capture basic features of the static response of a wide class of regular buildings, among which high rises. Despite potential capabilities of RB models, up to now few attempts have been done toward their adoption in dynamical calculations considering structural damping, as well as in modelling passive-damping devices, more and more frequently provided in order to attain comfortable, robust and resilient structural arrangement in hazard prone conditions with sustainable constructional indexes and material savings. The introduction of simple damping mechanisms and an overview on potentialities in passive damping optimization analysis are therefore briefly outlined in order to show potentialities of these approaches in producing feasible dynamic estimations.
