Determination of natural periods of vibration using genetic programming

Many building codes use the empirical equation to determine fundamental period of vibration where in effect of length, width and the stiffness of the building is not explicitly accounted for. Also the equation, estimates the fundamental period of vibration with large safety margin beyond certain height of the building. An attempt is made to arrive at the simple empirical equations for fundamental period of vibration with adequate safety margin, using soft computing technique of Genetic Programming (GP). In the present study, GP models are developed in four categories, varying the number of input parameters in each category. Input parameters are chosen to represent mass, stiffness and geometry of the buildings directly or indirectly. Total numbers of 206 buildings are analyzed out of which, data set of 142 buildings is used to develop these models. It is observed that GP models developed under B and C category yield the same equation for fundamental period of vibration along X direction as well as along Y direction whereas the equation of fundamental period of vibration along X direction and along Y direction is of the same form for category D. The equations obtained as an output of GP models clearly indicate the influence of mass, geometry and stiffness of the building over fundamental period of vibration. These equations are then compared with the equation recommended by other researcher.