Dissertation Defense Announcement

Herff College of Engineering announces the Final Dissertation Defense of

Alireza Kashani

for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy

January 05, 2022 at 10:00 AM in Engineering Science building - Room 114

Advisor: Dr. Charles V. Camp

Metaheuristic optimization of geo-structures

ABSTRACT: "This dissertation addressed the mentioned concern in the field of structural optimization accordingly. In this way, different MATLAB codes are developed to automate the design procedures of reinforced concrete cantilever retaining walls (RCC wall), mechanically stabilized earth retaining walls (MSE wall), shallow foundations, and combined footing. Moreover, the performance of a wide range of swarm-intelligence-based and evolutionary algorithms are explored in solving the mentioned problems. A self-adaptive hybrid evolutionary optimization algorithm is developed based on combining genetic algorithm (GA) and particle swarm optimization (PSO) called GAPSO to enhance the performance of recent variants of GA and PSO as much as possible. This algorithm is applied to the problem of RCC wall optimization. Cost minimization and factor of safety (FOS) maximization as two conflicting objectives for retaining structures optimization problems are studied in a multi-objective optimization process. In this way, FOSs of the wall against overturning, sliding, and bearing capacity are summed up and are considered as a single objective. In all the design procedures, the requirements for structural strength and geotechnical stability are checked to guarantee the serviceability of the proposed designs."