Implementation of a knowledge based seismic risk evaluation system on microcomputers

✍ Scribed by Glenn H Miyasato; Weimin Dong; Raymond E Levitt; Auguste C Boissonnade

• Publisher: Elsevier Science
• Year: 1986
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 730 KB
• Volume: 1
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0954-1810
• DOI: 10.1016/0954-1810(86)90032-4

✦ Synopsis

The introduction of microcomputers to the civil engineering community has gone hand in hand with an ever increasing population of engineering software. The recent development of microcomputer expert system shells opens the path to yet a new set of applications. This article reports on the use of an expert system to determine the level of risk a building may face due to seismic hazard. The risk level is dependent on the building use, design, construction, and the ground motion level to which the building may be exposed. Theories about the many factors involved in a seismic risk evaluation are not well defined. Measurements are difficult to verify. However, seismic risk experts do have judgemental and heuristic rules based upon their broad knowledge and experience. Using heuristics based upon such experience, a set of rules was developed and implemented on Deciding Factor ~rM~, a microcomputer program for developing expert systems. An internal validation performed over several buildings showed that the system evaluation corresponded favourably with the expert's opinion. When further validated and refined, this seismic risk evaluation system could be used to aid in city planning, insurance assessment, and disaster mitigation.