Hybrid Swarm Intelligence Optimization Methods for Low-Embodied Energy Steel-Concrete Composite Bridges

Abstract

Bridge optimization is a significant challenge, given the huge number of possible configurations of the problem. Embodied energy and cost were taken as objective functions for a box-girder steel–concrete optimization problem considering both as single-objective. Embodied energy was chosen as a sustainable criterion to compare the results with cost. The stochastic global search TAMO algorithm, the swarm intelligence cuckoo search (CS), and sine cosine algorithms (SCA) were used to achieve this goal. To allow the SCA and SC techniques to solve the discrete bridge optimization problem, the discretization technique applying the k-means clustering technique was used. As a result, SC was found to produce objective energy function values comparable to TAMO while reducing the computation time by 25.79%. In addition, the cost optimization and embodied energy analysis revealed that each euro saved using metaheuristic methodologies decreased the energy consumption for this optimization problem by 0.584 kW·h. Additionally, by including cells in the upper and lower parts of the webs, the behavior of the section was improved, as were the optimization outcomes for the two optimization objectives. This study concludes that double composite action design on supports makes the continuous longitudinal stiffeners in the bottom flange unnecessary.

Optimal Deep Learning Assisted Design of Socially and Environmentally Efficient Steel Concrete Composite Bridges under Constrained Budgets

“…This clear difference is shown in Figure 8.9, where it can be seen that cost reduction gives an ELCA and SLCA reduction, but not necessarily the opposite. This results are in line with the ones obtained by Martínez-Muñoz et al [298], [311] this confirms that the CO 2 emissions and the embodied energy can be a good approximation to environmental sustainability. The best individual results comparison have been show that ELCA and SLCA reach solutions with higher yield stress than cost, and obtaining a compromise solution can only be done by applying a multi-objective optimization strategy, which will be interesting to consider in future studies.…”

“…Another consequence of the amount of steel scrap used in the steel manufacturing process is shown in Figure 8.9. Recent studies that solve this optimization problem while considering CO 2 and embodied energy as sustainable criteria [298], [310], [311], and the LCA of SCCB [279], indicate that the environmental and social impact of steel is independent of the yield stress; it only depends on the amount of steel scrap used in the manufacturing process. In contrast, cost depends strongly on the yield strength.…”

“…This study aims to optimize the structure of a 60-100-60 meter SCCB deck with a box-girder geometry. Prior research has defined the optimization problem and employed single-objective metaheuristic optimization methods to evaluate cost, CO 2 emissions, and embodied energy [298], [310], [311]. In this paper, we present a metamodel-assisted strategy that utilizes deep neural networks (DNN) to conduct environmental and social life cycle assessment (LCA) optimization.…”

“…Because construction is a carbon-intensive [3] business, much of the research has focused on minimizing emissions, as it is increasingly crucial to minimize the environmental effect of construction projects. In a search for state-of-the-art, studies have been carried out on sustainable building [167], [169], optimization of energy consumption [298], in addition to the analysis of the life cycle of CO2 emissions from concrete structures [282], [299], [300].…”

Exploring Initialization Strategies for Metaheuristic Optimization: Case Study of the Set-Union Knapsack Problem

“…To evaluate the statistical significance of the differences, the Wilcoxon signed-rank test was applied with a significance level of 0.05. This test was selected following the methodology delineated in [31]. The Shapiro-Wilk normality test is utilized first in this process.…”