The Application of Artificial Neural Networks in Predicting Structural Response of Multistory Building in the Region of Sumatra Island

Artificial Neural Network (ANN) method is a prediction tool which is widely used in various fields of application. This study utilizes ANN to predict structural response (story drift) of multi-story reinforced concrete building under earthquake load in the region of Sumatera Island. Modal response spectrum analysis is performed to simulate earthquake loading and produce structural response data for further use in the ANN. The ANN architecture comprises of 3 layers: an input layer, a hidden layer, and an output layer. Earthquake load parameters from 11 locations in Sumatra Island, soil condition, and building geometry are selected as input parameters, whereas story drift is selected as output parameter for the ANN. As many as 1080 data sets are used to train the ANN and 405 data sets for testing. The trained ANN is capable of predicting story drift under earthquake loading at 95% rate of prediction and the calculated Mean-Squared Errors (MSE) as low as 1.6.10-4. The high accuracy of story drift prediction is more than 90% can greatly assist the engineer to identify the building condition rapidly due to earthquake loads and plan the building maintenance routinely