Evolutionary Algorithms And Metaheuristics In Civil Engineering And Construction Management

This book focuses on civil and structural engineering and construction management applications. The contributions constitute modified, extended and improved versions of research presented at the minisymposium organized by the editors at the ECCOMAS conference on this topic in Barcelona 2014.

This book discusses the application of metaheuristic algorithms in a number of important optimization problems in civil engineering. Advances in civil engineering technologies require greater accuracy, efficiency and speed in terms of the analysis and design of the corresponding systems. As such, it is not surprising that novel methods have been developed for the optimal design of real-world systems and models with complex configurations and large numbers of elements. This book is intended for scientists, engineers and students wishing to explore the potential of newly developed metaheuristics in practical problems. It presents concepts that are not only applicable to civil engineering problems, but can also used for optimizing problems related to mechanical, electrical, and industrial engineering. It is an essential resource for civil, mechanical and electrical engineers who use optimization methods for design, as well as for students and researchers interested in structural optimization.

The book presents recently developed efficient metaheuristic optimization algorithms and their applications for solving various optimization problems in civil engineering. The concepts can also be used for optimizing problems in mechanical and electrical engineering.

This timely book deals with a current topic, i.e. the applications of metaheuristic algorithms, with a primary focus on optimization problems in civil engineering. The first chapter offers a concise overview of different kinds of metaheuristic algorithms, explaining their advantages in solving complex engineering problems that cannot be effectively tackled by traditional methods, and citing the most important works for further reading. The remaining chapters report on advanced studies on the applications of certain metaheuristic algorithms to specific engineering problems. Genetic algorithm, bat algorithm, cuckoo search, harmony search and simulated annealing are just some of the methods presented and discussed step by step in real-application contexts, in which they are often used in combination with each other. Thanks to its synthetic yet meticulous and practice-oriented approach, the book is a perfect guide for graduate students, researchers and professionals willing to applying metaheuristic algorithms in civil engineering and other related engineering fields, such as mechanical, transport and geotechnical engineering. It is also a valuable aid for both lectures and advanced engineering students.

Due to an ever-decreasing supply in raw materials and stringent constraints on conventional energy sources, demand for lightweight, efficient and low-cost structures has become crucially important in modern engineering design. This requires engineers to search for optimal and robust design options to address design problems that are commonly large in scale and highly nonlinear, making finding solutions challenging. In the past two decades, metaheuristic algorithms have shown promising power, efficiency and versatility in solving these difficult optimization problems. This book examines the latest developments of metaheuristics and their applications in structural engineering, construction engineering and earthquake engineering, offering practical case studies as examples to demonstrate real-world applications. Topics cover a range of areas within engineering, including big bang-big crunch approach, genetic algorithms, genetic programming, harmony search, swarm intelligence and some other metaheuristic methods. Case studies include structural identification, vibration analysis and control, topology optimization, transport infrastructure design, design of reinforced concrete, performance-based design of structures and smart pavement management. With its wide range of everyday problems and solutions, Metaheursitic Applications in Structures and Infrastructures can serve as a supplementary text for design courses and computation in engineering as well as a reference for researchers and engineers in metaheuristics, optimization in civil engineering and computational intelligence. Review of the latest development of metaheuristics in engineering. Detailed algorithm descriptions with focus on practical implementation. Uses practical case studies as examples and applications.

Due to an ever-decreasing supply in raw materials and stringent constraints on conventional energy sources, demand for lightweight, efficient and low-cost structures has become crucially important in modern engineering design. This requires engineers to search for optimal and robust design options to address design problems that are commonly large in scale and highly nonlinear, making finding solutions challenging. In the past two decades, metaheuristic algorithms have shown promising power, efficiency and versatility in solving these difficult optimization problems. This book examines the latest developments of metaheuristics and their applications in structural engineering, construction engineering and earthquake engineering, offering practical case studies as examples to demonstrate real-world applications. Topics cover a range of areas within engineering, including big bang-big crunch approach, genetic algorithms, genetic programming, harmony search, swarm intelligence and some other metaheuristic methods. Case studies include structural identification, vibration analysis and control, topology optimization, transport infrastructure design, design of reinforced concrete, performance-based design of structures and smart pavement management. With its wide range of everyday problems and solutions, Metaheursitic Applications in Structures and Infrastructures can serve as a supplementary text for design courses and computation in engineering as well as a reference for researchers and engineers in metaheuristics, optimization in civil engineering and computational intelligence. Review of the latest development of metaheuristics in engineering. Detailed algorithm descriptions with focus on practical implementation. Uses practical case studies as examples and applications.

This book presents essential concepts of traditional Flower Pollination Algorithm (FPA) and its recent variants and also its application to find optimal solution for a variety of real-world engineering and medical problems. Swarm intelligence-based meta-heuristic algorithms are extensively implemented to solve a variety of real-world optimization problems due to its adaptability and robustness. FPA is one of the most successful swarm intelligence procedures developed in 2012 and extensively used in various optimization tasks for more than a decade. The mathematical model of FPA is quite straightforward and easy to understand and enhance, compared to other swarm approaches. Hence, FPA has attracted attention of researchers, who are working to find the optimal solutions in variety of domains, such as N-dimensional numerical optimization, constrained/unconstrained optimization, and linear/nonlinear optimization problems. Along with the traditional bat algorithm, the enhanced versions of FPA are also considered to solve a variety of optimization problems in science, engineering, and medical applications.

Noise pollution is one of the factors that affect the quality of life of the general population, especially in urban areas, where the noise levels are often high due to the presence of numerous sources, such as transport infrastructures, activities production and commercial areas, entertainment venues and other sound sources which, although temporary, such as construction sites and outdoor music events, affect general noise levels. Even if noise is one of the oldest pollutants referred to in history, for years, the problem of noise pollution has been often considered less important than others related to the environment, such as air pollution, water pollution, and waste management.The regulations in force to contain the noise have become increasingly stringent as each individual is constantly exposed to noise and often the noise is treated just as a scourge of modern society. Making noise is becoming easier and cheaper each day, but just the opposite for controlling it. Deeper studies are needed to understand the core of current noise problems; new materials and techniques are needed to control them. This book is a combination of theory and practice based on the latest research. The studies in this book range from evaluation methods for the perception of noise and outline forecast criteria that can be integrated with applications for acoustic mapping as well as the use of innovative techniques and materials for its abatement. The main purpose of this book, organized in 8 chapters, is to provide an overview of the recent studies in this field and the applications in different research studies. The authors, contributing to the success of this book, provide a series of practical applications of their recent studies aimed at the reduction of noise in different environments. The editors would like to thank all the authors who, through their studies and research, have accepted our invitation to share recent discoveries in this field with the scientific community.