Reliability based optimization of fiber reinforced elastomeric bearings

Abstract Seismic isolation achieved by placing a flexible layer between the structure to protect and the foundation has proven to reduce the seismic demand. Recently fiber reinforced elastomeric bearings (FREBs) consisting of alternating layers of elastomeric material and carbon or fiber glass fabric have awakened interest as a replacement for the conventional steel reinforced elastomeric bearings (SREBs). FREBs bring advantages as a reduction of production and transport costs, while maintaining a high bearing capacity. In the current work, an automated workflow for optimizing both the costs and bearing capacity is presented. The methodology includes using design of experiments techniques to reduce computation cost, building metamodels based on the generated data, optimizing the multi‐objective problem, validating the optimal model and finally using reliability based design optimization to find the optimal solution under uncertainty. Design variables and constraints, as well as a composite objective function that minimizes the production and transport costs and maximizes the vertical stiffness have been defined. The presented method can serve as basis for the extension of the problem to assess the horizontal performance of FREBs.