RETAINING WALL DESIGN-AN EXAMPLE OF SMALL-SCALE OPTIMIZATION

THE FEASIBILITY OF THE APPLICATION OF OPTIMIZATION TECHNIQUES TO RELATIVELY SMALL CIVIL ENGINEERING PROBLEMS AS TYPIFIED BY RETAINING WALL DESIGN IS PRESENTED. THE OBJECTIVE FUNCTION AS MEASURED BY THE COST OF CONCRETE AND REINFORCING STEEL IS MINIMIZED WITH RESPECT TO THE TOE, HEEL, STEM BASE AND FOOTING THICKNESS DIMENSIONS. FOUR DIFFERENT NUMERICAL SEARCH TECHNIQUES ARE EMPLOYED IN CONJUNCTION WITH A DIGITAL COMPUTER. THEY INCLUDE: AN EXHAUSTIVE SEARCH, THE CONVERGING GRADIENT ASCENT, THE STEEPEST ASCENT AND THE RANDOM SEARCH METHODS. THE RELATIVE EFFICIENCIES OF THE VARIOUS APPROACHES ARE DISCUSSED AND COMPARED. BASED ON COMPUTER RUNNING TIME AND PROGRAMMING EFFORT REQUIRED, IT WOULD APPEAR THAT THE STATE OF THE ART HAS REACHED THE POINT WHERE VERY LITTLE ADDITIONAL EXPENDITURE IS REQUIRED IN ORDER TO OPTIMIZE THE DESIGN OF CERTAIN TYPES OF RELATIVELY SMALL, COMMON CIVIL ENGINEERING PROBLEMS. /AUTHOR/

• Record URL:
  • http://onlinepubs.trb.org/Onlinepubs/hrr/1968/249/249-005.pdf
• Supplemental Notes:
  • Paper sponsored by Committee on Mechanics of Earth Masses and Layered Systems, and presented at the 47th Annual Meeting. Distribution, posting, or copying of this PDF is strictly prohibited without written permission of the Transportation Research Board of the National Academy of Sciences. Unless otherwise indicated, all materials in this PDF are copyrighted by the National Academy of Sciences. Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.
• Authors:
  • Schimming, B B
  • FISCHER, J F
• Publication Date: 1968

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Features: Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: pp 44-51
• Monograph Title: Retaining Walls and Culverts
• Serial:
  • Highway Research Record
  • Issue Number: 249
  • Publisher: Highway Research Board

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Civil engineering; Concrete; Costs; Design; Digital computers; Dimensional analysis; Earth pressure; Reinforcing steel; Retaining walls; Soils; Structural design; Thickness
• Uncontrolled Terms: Design criteria
• Old TRIS Terms: Dimensional measurement; Soil pressure (Distribution); Thickness design
• Subject Areas: Bridges and other structures; Design; Finance; Geotechnology; Highways;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00208884
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS, TRB
• Created Date: Jan 8 1994 12:00AM