Investigating the Performance of Data-Driven Ensemble Machine Learning Models in Preliminary Designing Multi-Stage Friction Pendulum Bearings

Abstract

Over the last few decades, the field of base isolation systems has demonstrated enormous advancements through the innovation of novel systems, and there has been an enhancement in the performance of structures equipped with isolation under conditions of moderate and severe seismic activity. One of the most important systems is the multi-stage friction pendulum, which offers a spectrum of effective pendulums across different regimes, thereby achieving enhanced capability for energy dissipation. The difficulty in designing these bearings at the preliminary stage comes from the fairly long process of trials and errors in selecting the properties of each sliding surface so that the required effective period, effective damping, and displacement capacities are achieved. This study investigates the performance of various data-driven ensemble machine learning models in directly designing multi-stage friction pendulum bearings. Within the context of the analysis, the most recent generation of friction pendulum that has been introduced to the literature, the quintuple friction pendulum, is used as the investigation employs a case to assess the dependability of the design strategy and the efficacy of a multi-output machine learning techniques. In general, the findings of this study have shown that machine learning models provide an accurate way to directly design quintuple friction pendulum isolators and attain the necessary properties of the isolators. The practicality of this research lies in highlighting how machine learning can be applied to considerably expedite the design and optimization of multi-stage friction pendulum bearings and in defining the most suitable machine learning technique to adopt in such tasks.