Effects of Constant Parameters on Optimum Design of Axially Symmetric Cylindrical Reinforced Concrete Walls

Abstract

This paper presents a metaheuristic-based optimization methodology for optimum design of axially symmetric cylindrical reinforced concrete walls that are a type of thin shells. In the methodology, recently proposed metaheuristic algorithm called Jaya algorithm is conducted with well-known method called flexibility theory. The thickness of the wall is defined as a design variable of the optimization problem and the total material cost, including concrete and steel bars, is the objective function. Reinforced concrete design is done according to rules of regulation ACI 318-Building code requirements for structural concrete. The proposed method is performed for different numerical cases of design constants to investigate effects of the wall height, dome height and thickness, and specific weight of stored liquid on optimum parameters for different support conditions. The investigation includes the optimum design of axially symmetric cylindrical reinforced concrete walls with and without domes. Analyzes were done for a total of 13,650 different situations, and various expressions such as linear, parabolic, and exponential were also proposed to assist engineers in their practical applications. According to the results of the analysis, it has been revealed that each investigated case has an effect on the optimum results and the proposed equations are successful in finding values quite close to the optimum design.