Optimization as a Tool for Seismic Protection of Structures*

Scientific research within seismic protection techniques is still nowadays an actual and vibrant field. The main goal of earthquake protection is to alleviate the effects of seismic events on civil structures and infrastructures to reduce both human losses and socio-economical impacts in the medium and long-term. Seismic protection techniques are mainly related to the base isolation systems for buildings or bridges, and to energy dissipation-based solutions with the adoption of special devices, e.g. metal hysteretic dampers, viscous dampers, and friction dampers. The optimization procedures play a fundamental role in the dynamic parametric identification of such devices. Current trends in the optimization field are the adoption of computational intelligence meta-heuristic algorithms, which have been inspired by a conjunction of the artificial intelligence community and nature-inspired phenomena. Specifically, the widespread use of meta-heuristic techniques combined with proper seismic protection optimization problem formulations leads to more cost-effective, high-performing, and innovative design solutions. In the present study, a brief review is argued presenting some optimization procedures to accomplish seismic protection tasks.