Rapid prediction of long-term deflections in composite frames

Deflection in a beam of a composite frame is a serviceability design criterion. This paper presents a methodology for rapid prediction of long-term mid-span deflections of beams in composite frames subjected to service load. Neural networks have been developed to predict the inelastic mid-span deflections in beams of frames (typically for 20 years, considering cracking, and time effects, i.e., creep and shrinkage in concrete) from the elastic moments and elastic mid-span deflections (neglecting cracking, and time effects). These models can be used for frames with any number of bays and stories. The training, validating, and testing data sets for the neural networks are generated using a hybrid analytical-numerical procedure of analysis. Multilayered feed-forward networks have been developed using sigmoid function as an activation function and the back propagation-learning algorithm for training. The proposed neural networks are validated for an example frame of different number of spans and stories and the errors are shown to be small. Sensitivity studies are carried out using the developed neural networks. These studies show the influence of variations of input parameters on the output parameter. The neural networks can be used in every day design as they enable rapid prediction of inelastic mid-span deflections with reasonable accuracy for practical purposes and require computational effort which is a fraction of that required for the available methods.