Efficient reliability-based robust design optimization of structures under extreme wind in dual response surface framework

Abstract

This paper deals with an efficient reliability-based robust design optimization (RBRDO) of structures under extreme wind excitation. To solve such problems in the direct Monte Carlo simulation (MCS) framework, extensive computational time is required. To circumvent this, a new CDF-based RBRDO approach is proposed using the dual response surface method (RSM) framework. In the proposed approach, once the response surfaces are obtained by the dual RSM, the direct MCS can be fully avoided during optimization. Thereby, the approach evades several repetitive executions of finite element analyses code inside the optimization loop. Generally, RSM uses least squares method (LSM) which is reported to be a major source of error in few recent studies. Thus, the proposed approach utilizes the adaptive nature of moving least squares method (MLSM) for construction of response surfaces. The RBRDO is performed by using a two-criterion equivalent optimization problem, where the mean value of the cost of a structure and its standard deviation are optimized—ensuring constraint feasibility under parameter uncertainty. The dynamic response of structures necessary to define constraint functions is obtained using a random wind field model, which considers the effect of coherence and wind directionality. Two illustrative examples are presented to demonstrate the efficiency of the proposed RBRDO approach. When benchmarked through direct MCS results, the proposed MLSM-based RBRDO approach yields more accurate and robust solutions compared with that of the conventional LSM-based approach.