Abstract
In the process of designing an economical structure, safety along with total cost must be balanced. This can be attained by design optimization, however the complex nature of the algorithms involved hinders its application. Further, there is a severe lack of research on the optimization of reinforced concrete (RC) isolated footings. Therefore, the main objective of this research is to develop a user-friendly tool for the optimization of RC isolated footings using advanced metaheuristic algorithms to make it more practical and convenient to adopt for design optimization. For this purpose, a spreadsheet-based interface is created in which input parameters from the original design can be entered to find the best option for the minimum cost design. The Evolutionary Algorithm (EA) and the Genetic Algorithm (GA) are used as metaheuristic techniques for optimization. The original design of four examples from the literature is compared with the optimized design obtained from the developed tool to demonstrate its efficiency. For the considered case studies, cost-saving of up to 44% has been obtained. Furthermore, a parametric investigation for the minimum cost objective using the GA has been performed through which a detailed analysis of geometric reinforcement and material strength variables is conducted. The results lead to the derivation of useful thumb rules for the economical design and proportioning of isolated footings.