Application of artificial neural networks to the response prediction of geometrically nonlinear truss structures

This paper examines the application of artificial neural networks (ANN) to the response prediction of geometrically nonlinear truss structures. Two types of analysis (deterministic and probabilistic analyses) are considered. A three-layer feed-forward backpropagation network with three input nodes, five hidden layer nodes and two output nodes is firstly developed for the deterministic response analysis. Then a back propagation training algorithm with Bayesian regularization is used to train the network. The trained network is then successfully combined with a direct Monte Carlo Simulation (MCS) to perform a probabilistic response analysis of geometrically nonlinear truss structures. Finally, the proposed ANN is applied to predict the response of a geometrically nonlinear truss structure. It is found that the proposed ANN is very efficient and reasonable in predicting the response of geometrically nonlinear truss structures.