Earthquake engineering optimization of structures by economic criterion

The article deals with an economic optimization problem of structures designed on areas exposed to seismic hazard. Profit (cost-effectiveness) from building usage due its design life-cycle is considered as objective function in this optimization task. Building damage state evaluation procedure and repair cost estimation method are proposed in this study. A criterion and a variable parameter of an optimization problem is suggested here as well. There is an algorithm, which combines seismic computation results with economic performance indicators of damage state. The example of practical use of the algorithm is shown with the help of numerical simulations and economic parameters analysis for industrial building frame designed using different seismic retrofit schemes. Financial costs for each seismic retrofit scheme of a building are determined based on cost estimates, which allows to obtain the near-real estimation of seismic retrofit cost and financial losses from repair works of injured structural elements after various earthquakes.