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Explicitly accounting for uncertainties is paramount to the safety of engineering structures. Optimization which is often carried out at the early stage of the structural design offers an ideal framework for this task. When the uncertainties are mainly affecting the objective function, robust design optimization is traditionally considered. This work further assumes the existence of multiple and competing objective functions that need to be dealt with simultaneously. The optimization problem is formulated by considering quantiles of the objective functions which allows for the combination of both optimality and robustness in a single metric. By introducing the concept of common random numbers, the resulting nested optimization problem may be solved using a general-purpose solver, herein the non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm (NSGA-II). The computational cost of such an approach is however a serious hurdle to its application in real-world problems. We therefore propose a surrogate-assisted approach using Kriging as an inexpensive approximation of the associated computational model. The proposed approach consists of sequentially carrying out NSGA-II while using an adaptively built Kriging model to estimate the quantiles. Finally, the methodology is adapted to account for mixed categorical-continuous parameters as the applications involve the selection of qualitative design parameters as well. The methodology is first applied to two analytical examples showing its efficiency. The third application relates to the selection of optimal renovation scenarios of a building considering both its life cycle cost and environmental impact. It shows that when it comes to renovation, the heating system replacement should be the priority. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reliability-based design optimization (RBDO) is an active field of research with an ever increasing number of contributions. Numerous methods have been proposed for the solution of RBDO, a complex problem that combines optimization and reliability analysis. Classical approaches are based on approximation methods and have been classified in review papers. In this paper, we first review classical approaches based on approximation methods such as FORM, and also more recent methods that rely upon surrogate modelling and Monte Carlo simulation. We then propose a generalization of the existing surrogate-assisted and simulation-based RBDO techniques using a unified framework that includes three independent blocks, namely adaptive surrogate modelling, reliability analysis, and optimization. These blocks are non-intrusive with respect to each other and can be plugged independently in the framework. After a discussion on numerical considerations that require attention for the framework to yield robust solutions to various types of problems, the latter is applied to three examples (using two analytical functions and a finite element model). Kriging and support vector machines regression together with their own active learning schemes are considered in the surrogate model block. In terms of reliability analysis, the proposed framework is illustrated using both crude Monte Carlo and subset simulation. Finally, the covariance matrix adaptation-evolution scheme (CMA-ES), a global search algorithm, or sequential quadratic programming (SQP), a local gradient-based method, is used in the optimization block. The comparison of the results to benchmark studies shows the effectiveness and efficiency of the proposed framework. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Global sensitivity analysis aims at quantifying respective effects of input random variables (or combinations thereof) onto variance of a physical or mathematical model response. Among the abundant literature on sensitivity measures, Sobol indices have received much attention since they provide accurate information for most of models. We consider a problem of experimental design points selection for Sobol' indices estimation. Based on the concept of D-optimality, we propose a method for constructing an adaptive design of experiments, effective for calculation of Sobol' indices based on Polynomial Chaos Expansions. We provide a set of applications that demonstrate the efficiency of the proposed approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fragility curves are commonly used in civil engineering to assess the vulnerability of structures to earthquakes. The probability of failure associated with a prescribed criterion (e.g., the maximal inter-storey drift of a building exceeding a certain threshold) is represented as a function of the intensity of the earthquake ground motion (e.g., peak ground acceleration or spectral acceleration). The classical approach relies on assuming a lognormal shape of the fragility curves; it is thus parametric. In this paper, we introduce two non-parametric approaches to establish the fragility curves without employing the above assumption, namely binned Monte Carlo simulation and kernel density estimation. As an illustration, we compute the fragility curves for a three-storey steel frame using a large number of synthetic ground motions. The curves obtained with the non-parametric approaches are compared with respective curves based on the lognormal assumption. A similar comparison is presented for a case when a limited number of recorded ground motions is available. It is found that the accuracy of the lognormal curves depends on the ground motion intensity measure, the failure criterion and most importantly, on the employed method for estimating the parameters of the lognormal shape. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Uncertainties are inherent to real-world systems. Taking them into account is crucial in industrial design problems and this might be achieved through reliability-based design optimization (RBDO) techniques. In this paper, we propose a quantile-based approach to solve RBDO problems. We first transform the safety constraints usually formulated as admissible probabilities of failure into constraints on quantiles of the performance criteria. In this formulation, the quantile level controls the degree of conservatism of the design. Starting with the premise that industrial applications often involve high-fidelity and time-consuming computational models, the proposed approach makes use of Kriging surrogate models (a.k.a. Gaussian process modeling). Thanks to the Kriging variance (a measure of the local accuracy of the surrogate), we derive a procedure with two stages of enrichment of the design of computer experiments (DoE) used to construct the surrogate model. The first stage globally reduces the Kriging epistemic uncertainty and adds points in the vicinity of the limit-state surfaces describing the system performance to be attained. The second stage locally checks, and if necessary, improves the accuracy of the quantiles estimated along the optimization iterations. Applications to three analytical examples and to the optimal design of a car body subsystem (minimal mass under mechanical safety constraints) show the accuracy and the remarkable efficiency brought by the proposed procedure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of the present paper is to develop a strategy for solving reliability-based design optimization (RBDO) problems that remains applicable when the performance models are expensive to evaluate. Starting with the premise that simulation-based approaches are not affordable for such problems, and that the most-probable-failure-point-based approaches do not permit to quantify the error on the estimation of the failure probability, an approach based on both metamodels and advanced simulation techniques is explored. The kriging metamodeling technique is chosen in order to surrogate the performance functions because it allows one to genuinely quantify the surrogate error. The surrogate error onto the limit-state surfaces is propagated to the failure probabilities estimates in order to provide an empirical error measure. This error is then sequentially reduced by means of a population-based adaptive refinement technique until the kriging surrogates are accurate enough for reliability analysis. This original refinement strategy makes it possible to add several observations in the design of experiments at the same time. Reliability and reliability sensitivity analyses are performed by means of the subset simulation technique for the sake of numerical efficiency. The adaptive surrogate-based strategy for reliability estimation is finally involved into a classical gradient-based optimization algorithm in order to solve the RBDO problem. The kriging surrogates are built in a so-called augmented reliability space thus making them reusable from one nested RBDO iteration to the other. The strategy is compared to other approaches available in the literature on three academic examples in the field of structural mechanics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An analytical model for assessing the global elastoplastic behaviour of inclusion-reinforced materials is presented in this contribution. It is based upon a description of the reinforced material as a two-phase composite system, namely a matrix material and the reinforcements which are assumed to behave as tensile-compressive load carrying elements. An anisotropic elastoplastic constitutive law exhibiting work-hardening is then derived in an explicit form. It involves a number of hardening parameters equal to the number of reinforcing directions. Such a model, which is readily implementable in a finite element computer code, is applied to the numerical simulation of the settlement of a shallow strip footing resting upon a soil reinforced in two symmetric directions (“micropiling technique”). The load-settlement curve predicted from using the work-hardening model is finally compared with that deduced from a previously-adopted elastic perfectly plastic schematization of the reinforced soil. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]