A Fuzzy Inference System in Constructional Engineering Projects to Evaluate the Design Codes for RC Buildings

Economical design of a building is one of the main aims that should be followed because of its importance in constructional projects. In order to have an economical design, longitudinal reinforcing bars in the reinforced concrete members are among those parts of the structure that can be designed economically. The application of fuzzy inference systems provides an effective tools to handle the uncertainties and subjectivities arising in the designing process of buildings. Therefore, the main purpose of this paper is to propose a fuzzy inference system to evaluate the building design codes from an economical point of view. For this purpose, after designing the mentioned fuzzy inference system, three examples of three-dimensional concrete buildings are analyzed and designed using different codes. For all these codes, the structural properties of concrete buildings, the gravity and the seismic loads are considered to be the same. Finally, it finds that the fuzzy logic theory is an effective and practical tool to compute a value that shows the distance between the designed building and the economically designed building. Also, it concludes that between the studied codes, (EUROCODE 2-1992, Hong Kong CP-04, CSA A23.3-04 and ACI 318-05), the ACI 318-05 and Hong Kong CP04 codes lead to a more economical design for taller buildings. For low-rise buildings, the CSA A23.3-04 and ACI 318-05 codes lead to an economical design. Also, the EUROCODE 2-1992 has a minimum value for the economical design of all the considered buildings.

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