Structural optimization by wavelet transforms and neural networks

An efficient methodology is presented to achieve optimal design of structures for earthquake loading. In this methodology a combination of wavelet transforms, neural networks and evolutionary algorithms are employed. The stochastic nature of the evolutionary algorithms makes the slow convergence. Specially, when earthquake induced loads are taken into account. To reduce the computational burden, a discrete wavelet transform is used by means of which the number of points in the earthquake record is decreased. Then, by using a surrogate model, the dynamic responses of the structures are predicted. In order to investigate the efficiency of the proposed methodology, two structures are designed for optimal weight. The numerical results demonstrate the computational advantages of the proposed hybrid methodology to optimal dynamic design of structures.