State of the art in performance-based design optimization

Two attractions to posing structural engineering design problems within the context of performance are that the design process becomes liberating to the engineer and understandable to the owner. The definition of performance is also flexible. Performance can be defined as strength under certain loading conditions, vibration minimization under others, or reliability (confidence) against exceeding damage states. These definitions of performance often require complex analytical models which present difficulty for direct application of traditional optimization and automated design algorithms. The presentation will discuss the basics of the performance based design methodology and how PBD might be applied to loading scenarios that extend beyond the traditional application of seismic resistant design. Formulations of optimized design problems suitable for a variety of performance-based design applications will be discussed. Finally, the presentation will discuss past efforts in automated and optimized design and their future application to performance-based design of building structures