Structural Engineering International

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A New ANN Based Rapid Assessment Method for

RC Residential Buildings

Eray Özkan, Ali Demir(Prof.) & Mustafa Erkan Turan(Assoc. Prof.)

To cite this article: Eray Özkan, Ali Demir(Prof.) & Mustafa Erkan Turan(Assoc. Prof.) (2023) A
New ANN Based Rapid Assessment Method for RC Residential Buildings, Structural Engineering
International, 33:1, 32-40, DOI: 10.1080/10168664.2021.1961654

To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/10168664.2021.1961654

Published online: 31 Jan 2022.

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A New ANN Based Rapid Assessment Method for RC
Residential Buildings
Eray Özkan , PhD, Graduate School of Applied and Natural Sciences, Department of Civil Engineering, Manisa Celal Bayar
University, Manisa, Turkey; Ali Demir , PhD, Prof.; Mustafa Erkan Turan , PhD, Assoc. Prof., Department of Civil Engineering,
Manisa Celal Bayar University, Manisa, Turkey. Contact: ozkan.eray@gmail.com
DOI: 10.1080/10168664.2021.1961654

Abstract different regions was developed. Satis-

factory results were obtained for some
This study is about the development of an Artificial Neural Network (ANN) regions where all entries were found.
based practical rapid assessment method for Reinforced Concrete (RC) Analyses of the buildings were not
buildings by using the minimum possible number of input data. The problem made according to any code or regu-
is formulated as a classification problem and evaluated as two sub-problems. lation; instead, assessments were
Feed Forward Back Propagation (FFBP) and Generalized Regression Neural made according to the damaged con-
Networks (GRNNs) are used in each case and eight different ANN models ditions of existing buildings. Later,
are developed. To develop ANN models, a total of 402 residential building the damage of 2D RC frames by
models are generated of three types and up to eight storeys. The earthquake ANN according to the “Damage
performance of these building models is investigated through the nonlinear Index Value” defined by the finite
incremental mode combination method. By using the building properties as element method was estimated.16
inputs and the results of structural analyses as outputs, the ANN models are Three-dimensional building models
trained and tested. Additionally, existing buildings are used for validation. The were not used in this study. On the
results show that the earthquake behavior of RC buildings can be predicted other hand, an ANN based assessment
successfully using an ANN. method for buildings in Malaysia using
Keywords: Residential RC buildings; ANN; earthquake behavior; rapid the “Damage Index Value” for 3D
assessment; FFBP; GRNN building models was developed.17 In
a different study18 earthquake per-
formance levels of RC residential
Introduction Some of the important ones are buildings were obtained according to
FEMA 154-155, ATC 40, FEMA 273, structural analyses using the TEC-
Prediction of the exact location and FEMA 356 and FEMA 440,1–6 prepared 2007 regulations, and a rapid assess-
magnitude of possible earthquakes is by the Applied Technology Council ment technique was developed with
still a mystery with today’s technology. (ATC) and published by the Federal ANN according to the data obtained.
Hence, it is extremely important to Emergency Management Agency In the development stage of the tech-
take necessary precautions in order to (FEMA). Another internationally nique, 66 building models were used
minimize loss of life and property. In accepted method is the Japanese with cross-validation, and earthquake
this case, one of the most important Seismic Index Method published by the performance of the building models
issues to be considered is the evaluation Japan Building Disaster Prevention was estimated with an accuracy of
of existing buildings. To determine the Association (JBDPA),7 which is widely 64.26%. In Ref. [19] ANN was used
earthquake behavior of existing build- used in Japan. The Canada Seismic in a damage assessment method in
ings, many detailed investigations are Screening Method, published by the which modal data was used as inputs.
required according to the regulations, National Research Council of Canada Moreover, incomplete modal data
such as core testing, building surveys (NRCC),8 and Eurocode 8.3, published was used in the dynamic analysis of
and structural analyses. Considering the by the European Committee for Stan- damaged structures as input par-
excessive amount of building stock, dardization,9 are two other important ameters. The last study mentioned
implementation of these processes will studies in this field. Regarding the dom- here is Ref. [20] in which maximum
not only require much labor and signifi- estic studies, the number of the studies relative floor displacement values
cant material expenditure, but will also on rapid assessment methods increased were calculated by nonlinear time
take many years. Given the possibility as a result of the announcement of the history analysis. Damage detection
of a devastating earthquake at any Turkish Earthquake Code (TEC- was determined over this value and
moment, the existing building stock 2007).10 Some of the well-known ones then the assessment with ANN was
needs to be evaluated quickly and econ- are the Street Screening Method,11 the emphasized. The damage levels were
omically. In this study, it is aimed to P-25 scoring technique12,13 and PERA14. only determined by the maximum
develop a practical and efficient rapid
Advances in technology and artificial storey drift ratio, and no additional
evaluation method with the minimum
intelligence have pushed researchers procedure was used.
possible number of input data. Many
rapid assessment methods have been to use different methods in rapid In almost all of the studies mentioned,
developed in order to evaluate existing assessment techniques, so ANN based observed properties of buildings were
structures in terms of earthquake safety methods have also been used in some used and the buildings were evaluated
in a fast and practical manner. Early studies. In one of these,15 a damage successfully. However, when the
studies in the United States have been estimation method with ANN by assessment results of these rapid tech-
summarized in several regulations. using data from damaged buildings in niques are compared within each

32 Scientific Paper Structural Engineering International Nr. 1/2023

other, different predictions can be
observed. On the other hand, there
are studies on structural damage
identification techniques such as the
application of optimization algorithms
and artificial neural networks.21–26
In this study, an ANN based rapid
assessment method is proposed using
the minimum possible number of
input data. Additionally, the input
data selected are as easily obtainable
as possible to increase applicability.
Moreover, considering the correct
assessment percentage of 93.75%
obtained, it is expected that this study
will attract researchers in the field of
the rapid assessment of buildings to
study ANN-based techniques. Also, a
validation for the performance of the
method has been made by using exist-
ing structures that had been subjected
to earthquakes.
Methodology
A new method has been developed by
using ANN in order to predict the
earthquake performance of residential
buildings with RC frame structural
systems in a practical and precise
manner. A total number of 402 build-
ing models were developed with up
to eight storeys having different struc-
tural characteristics. As the network
architectures, Generalized Regression
Neural Networks (GRNNs) and Feed
Forward Back Propagation Neural
Networks (FFBPs) are used.
To generate the proposed method, the
building models were created first.
After that, structural analyses of the
building models were made and the
performance levels obtained. Then,
ANN inputs from the building model
properties and output data from the
structural analyses results were
obtained and the ANN models were
created according to this data. After
the test stage, ANN models were veri-
fied by using existing buildings.
Structural Analyses
In this study, the performance of build-
ings were evaluated according to TEC-
200710 regulations. The basic principles
of the evaluation were adopted from
ATC-40 and FEMA-356,3,5 compatible
with the common properties of the
Turkish building stock. In TEC-
2007,10 the boundary conditions are
defined for the ductile structural
elements by the force/deformation
characteristics and four different
Structural Engineering International Nr. 1/2023
earthquake performances for the build-
ings are defined as: Immediate Occu-
pation; Life Safety; Collapse
Prevention; and Collapse. Collapse Pre-
vention and Collapse performance
levels are combined under Collapse
level, so three performance levels are
used in this study: (1) Immediate Occu-
pation; (2) Life Safety; and (3) Collapse.
In this study, the structural analyses
are performed by the incremental
mode combination method. The
design load applied is an earthquake
with a probability exceeding 10%
within a 50-year period. The mode com-
bination method is a nonlinear method
used for structural analysis, by which
the maximum internal forces and dis-
placements are obtained by statistically
combining the maximum contributions.
These contributions are calculated for
each of a sufficient number of natural
vibration modes of the building. The
objective of this method is to implement
the mode combination method incre-
mentally based on modal displacements
or modal earthquake loads. These loads
and displacements are incremented
monotonously and suitably scaled to
each other in proportion to a sufficient
number of natural vibration modes
representing the behavior of the struc-
tural system. This method can be sum-
marized as a pushover analysis method
based on “step by step linear elastic”
behavior in the structural system, in
each pushing step between two succes-
sive plastic hinge formations.10
Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs)
The ANN is a method used for many
purposes, such as: forecasting; cluster-
ing; classification; and modeling. It
has many applications. ANNs were
developed by the mathematical mod-
eling of neurons. Although there are
Fig. 1: The schematic structure of a typical GRNN model
ANNs with different architectures,
generally an ANN model is obtained
through training and testing stages.
In the training stage, the aim is for
the ANN to learn the relationship
between input data and output data.
Whereas in the test stage, it is
expected that the ANN will predict
the test outputs correctly. It is
desirable to obtain an ANN model
that adequately expresses the
relationship between input data and
output data according to the perform-
ance criteria determined by the train-
ing and test stages. In this study, two
different ANN architectures of
Generalized Regression Neural Net-
works (GRNNs) and Feed Forward
Back Propagation Neural Networks
(FFBPs) are used. Since studies
using these network architectures are
quite numerous in the literature,
ANN architectures will be mentioned
here only in summary.
Generalized Regression Neural
Networks (GRNNs)
Generalized Regression Neural Net-
works (GRNNs) were first introduced
in 1991.27,28 In a GRNN network, a
prediction function is obtained in the
training stage, using input and output
data. This training stage is a non-itera-
tive process. The GRNN consists of
four layers: input; pattern; summation;
and output units. The schematic struc-
ture of the network model is given in
Fig. 1. Each layer in the network has
a different number of neurons, and
the neurons in each layer are associ-
ated with the neurons in the next
layer. The good performance of a
GRNN method depends on a spread
parameter. Hence, the optimum
spread parameter has to be searched
for.
Scientific Paper 33
Feed Forward Back Propagation
Neural Networks (FFBPs) Values

The FFBP is one of the most common Property Minimum Maximum Used
ANN architectures and consists of Number of storeys 1 8 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8
three layer groups: the input layer;
the hidden layer(s); and the output Earthquake zone 1 4 1, 2, 3, 4
layer. The input layer receives infor- Type of steel reinforcement S220 S420 S220, S420
mation, whereas the computation
takes place in the hidden layer and Stirrup densification Non- Exists Exists/Non-
the output layer transverses the pro- existent existent
cessed information. In FFBP neural Class of concrete C5 C30 C5, C10, C20, C30
networks, the neurons in each layer
are fully interconnected with the Column dimensions (cm) 30*30 60*60 30*30, 25*40,
neurons in the next layer. The direc- 60*60
tion of the information travel is Longitudinal reinforcement in columns Ø12 Ø16 Ø12, Ø14, Ø16
forward, as can be seen in Fig. 2, and
the errors propagate backwards from Storey height (m) 2.85 3.25 2.85, 3.00, 3.25
the output layer to the hidden layer(s). Overhang Non- Exists Exists/Non-
In an FFBP, the network has to learn existent existent
the relationship between the input and Soft storey (ground storey height Non- Exists Exists/Non-
output data by experience at the train- 4.5 m) existent existent
ing stage. That’s why it is necessary to
supply enough example data. In the Shear wall Non- Exists Exists/Non-
process of training, the inputs are existent existent
received and multiplied by randomly Table 1: Properties of the building models
corresponding weights. The products
are summed, and the error is deter-
mined from the target value. Then the number of columns varies between The properties considered and the
error is back propagated and the 16 and 24, and the number of beams values used are given in Table 1. A
weights are re-adjusted. This compu- varies between 24 and 38 for each total number of 402 building models
tation process is repeated until the floor. The slab thickness in each type were generated by changing these
error is minimized. By the process, the of building model is 12 cm and brick properties in all three building types.
optimum weights are determined to walls are designed as 19 cm wide side
get close to the target values. By the walls and 13 cm partition walls. Con-
sidering the structural properties Determination of the Earthquake
completion of the training procedure,
that have been listed in literature29 Performance of Building Models
the weight values are locked, and the
algorithm becomes ready for testing. as affecting earthquake performance, Structural analyses of the 402 building
a number of different properties models were performed by the incre-
were examined on building models. mental mode combination method in
The change in earthquake perform- accordance with TEC-2007 by using
Procedure
ance of building models and network as the design load an earthquake with
Properties of the Building Models model accuracy rates were carefully a probability exceeding 10% within a
followed in the process of the selec- 50-year period. The performance
The building models are designed tion of properties. levels of the building models were
with the aim of showing structural fea-
tures similar to those encountered
commonly in building stock in
Turkey. As can be seen in Fig. 3, build-
ing models are generated using three
different architectures. Floor areas
vary between 100 and 160 m2, the

Fig. 2: The schematic structure of a FFBP

model Fig. 3: Floor plans of three types of building models (units: cm)

34 Scientific Paper Structural Engineering International Nr. 1/2023


Number of building
Performance level models
Immediate 112
occupancy
Life safety 129
Collapse 161
Table 2: Results of structural analyses
investigated as “Immediate Occu-
pancy”, “Life Safety” or “Collapse”
and the results are shown in Table 2.
ANN Models
In this study, performance assessment
was considered as a classification
problem and ANN models were devel-
oped for two different sub-problems.
In the first one, the purpose was to
find whether the buildings provide
the Life Safety performance level;
while in the second sub-problem, the
aim was to estimate the exact perform-
ance level of the buildings in terms of
Immediate Occupancy, Life Safety or
Collapse. The input data for both
sub-problems consisted of the same
values obtained from the building
models. Additionally, the two most
commonly used architectures, FFBP
and GRNN, were used for both sub-
problems. The problem is schematized
in Fig. 4.
The output variables can be expressed
in different ways in modeling the
classification problems by ANN. One
of them is encoding output variables
and the other one is assigning values.
In this study, output variables under
two sub-problems were expressed in
two different ways. As a result, four
ANN models with different output
data sets were developed. In this way,
Model-1 and Model-3 have three
output variables, whereas Model-2
and Model-4 have two output vari-
ables for 12 inputs. The output vari-
ables as performance levels and the
related values for all the ANN
models are given in Table 3.
Fig. 4: Definition of the classification
problem
Structural Engineering International Nr. 1/2023
their centroidal x- and y-axes separ-
ANN output variables ately, and these sums are divided into
the floor area. The values obtained
Model Performance level Value
for the x- and y-axes are compared
ANN Immediate Occupancy 1 and the smaller one is selected. Differ-
Model-1 ent from their first introduction, the
Life Safety
units of this index used in this study
Collapse 0 are square centimeters and it is not
ANN Immediate Occupancy 1–0 multiplied by 1000. This index is calcu-
Model-2 lated with the following formulas:
Life Safety
Collapse 0–1 MNLSTFI = min (Inx , Iny ) (1)



ANN Immediate Occupancy 1 (Icol )x + (Isw )x
Model-3 Inx = (2)
Life Safety 0.5 As
Collapse 0


(Icol )y + (Isw )y
ANN Immediate Occupancy 1–0–0
Iny = (3)
As
Model-4
Life Safety 0–1–0
where: Inx and Iny are the total normal-
Collapse 0–0–1 ized moment of inertia of all members
about
the x- and y-directions, respect-
Table 3: Output variables used in the ANN

models ively; (Icol )x and (Icol )y are sum-
mations of the moments of inertia of
all columns about their centroidal x-
Input Variables and y-directions, respectively;



Most of the input variables of ANN (Isw )y and (Isw )y are summations
of the moments of inertia of all struc-
models are the structural properties
mentioned in the section Properties tural walls about their centroidal x-
and y-axes, respectively; and AS is the
of the Building Models, the remaining
part consists of the inputs developed storey area of the ground floor. As an
example, MNLSTFI can be calculated
using the features related to the plan
geometry of the buildings. The aim of for a typical type-1 model building as
shown in Fig. 3, having a total of 16
using these variables is not only to take
into consideration the effect of plan geo- columns with dimensions 30 × 30 cm
and storey dimensions 1000 ×
metry on earthquake behavior and to
increase the accuracy of the method, 1000 cm, as follows:
but also to increase the applicability of
the method to different structures by
. (Icol )x = (Icol )y
formulation of the geometrical features. =

(30 × 30

3
)/12 = 67, 500.00 cm4
These features are, namely: floor area;
. (Icol )x = (Icol )y = (Icol )x
cross-sectional area of the columns, the ×16

= 1, 080,
000.00 cm
4
position and rotation of the columns,
. (Isw )y = (Isw )y = 0
the placement of frames; and the
. As = 1000 × 1000 = 1, 000,
largest section area in the critical 000.00 cm2
storey. Input variables developed using
. Inx = Iny = 1, 080, 000.00/1, 000,
these features are described below. 000.00 = 1.08 cm2
. MNLSTFI = 1.08
Minimum Normalized Lateral
Stiffness Index—MNLSTFI Frame Layout Index—FLI
This index was first introduced in Ref. This index was developed in this study
[30]. MNLSTFI is the indication of to indicate the uniformity of frame dis-
the lateral rigidity of the ground tributions along the storey area. In a
storey, which is usually the most criti- frame-type structure, frames distribute
cal storey. If the storey height, bound- lateral forces throughout the structural
ary conditions of the individual system and buckling irregularities may
columns and the properties of the occur if the frames are not evenly dis-
materials used are kept constant, this tributed. In this index, the ratio of
index would also represent the stiff- current distribution over the distri-
ness of the ground story.30 In the calcu- bution in the case where frames are
lation of this input, the moments of distributed with equal spacing is calcu-
inertia of the column and shear walls lated. The closer this index is to the
in the structure are calculated about value one, the more uniformly
Scientific Paper 35
distributed the frames will be. The
critical storey, which is usually the
ground floor, is taken into account.
FLI is calculated with the following
formulas:

fr
FLI =  
fr eq. dist.
 
n 
m Another important point is about man-
fr = (lfx )i
i=1 i=1
 inputs, but there are some other
where: fr is the multiplication of the
length of
each frame along the x- and
y-axes, fr eq. dist. is the multipli-
cation of the length of each frame
along the x- and y-axes in the case
where the lengths of the frames are
distributed equally for the same
number of frames; n and m are
number of frames along the x- and y-
axes, respectively; and lfx and lfy are
the lengths of the frames along the x-
and y-axes, respectively. As an
example, FLI can be calculated for a
typical type-1 model building as
shown in Fig. 3, having three frames
in each direction of lengths 300, 400
and 300 cm and storey dimensions
1000 × 1000 cm, as follows:
 be obtained within the limits of the
. fr = 300 × 400 × 300 × 300 × 400
 = 1.2960 × 10 cm
×300 15 6
3
. fr eq. dist. = (1000/3) ×
(1000/3)3 = 1.3720 × 1015 cm6
. FLI = 1.2960 × 1015 /1.3720 × 1015 =
0.9448
Critical Loading Index—CLI:
This index was developed in this study
to represent the distribution of vertical
loading to the structure. Columns are
the main elements carrying the vertical
loads in a frame type structural system
and each column carries loads related
to its tributary area. The larger the
area, the more the incoming loads are
increased. This index takes into
account the largest area that is most
critical for vertical loads. When calcu-
lating the coefficient, the largest area
surrounded by four columns in the
storey plan is divided by the total
floor area as per the following formula:
Ac
CLI =
AS
where AC is the critical area of the
building and AS is the storey area of
the ground floor. As an example, CLI
can be calculated for a typical type-1
36 Scientific Paper
model building as shown in Fig. 3,
having the largest area of dimensions
400 × 400 cm and storey dimensions
1000 × 1000 cm, as follows:
. AC = 400 × 400 = 160,000.00 cm²
. AS = 1000 × 1000 = 1,000,000.00 cm²
(4) . CLI = 160,000.00 /1,000,000.00 = 0.16
In addition to these inputs related to
(lfy )i (5) the building geometrical character-
istics, many of the properties used in
the development of the building
models were used as ANN inputs.
Since all of the input and output data
must be in numerical values, variables
represented by “exist/not exist” are
expressed as “1/0” numerically. The
input variables and values used in the
ANN models are given in Table 4.
Limitations
The range of applicability of this high-
accuracy method is limited by the
characteristics of the building models
used in the learning stage. Thus, RC
residential buildings up to eight
storeys having flat-type slabs are con-
sidered to be within the scope of this
method. Also, the plan should be rec-
tangular and all the input data should
data used in the training stage.
These constraints mainly arise from
the building models used in the
method development stage, since the
ANN algorithm may not successfully
Input variables
Minimum Normalized Lateral Stiffness Index (MNLSTFI)
Frame Layout Index (FLI)
Critical Loading Index (CLI)
Number of storeys
Earthquake zone
Strength of the reinforcement steel bars used in the columns
(MPa)
Existence of stirrup densification in the columns
Strength of the concrete (MPa)
Diameter of the reinforcement steel bars used in the columns
(mm)
(6)
Storey height (m)
Existence of overhang
Existence of soft storey (ground storey height 4.5 m)
Table 4: Input variables and values
Structural Engineering International Nr. 1/2023
predict outputs if the test input data
is not within the learning input data
range. Actually, ANN algorithms can
predict correct assessments with
wrong or missing data. The idea is
that, if the missing or over-limit input
presents a monotonic nature, then it
can be accepted, but if it does not do
so, it may cause a misleading result.
ufacturing deficiencies and defects.
Common ones are selected as ANN
defects, such as those caused by under/
over reinforcement, inadequate dimen-
sions of beams or inadequate column–
beam connections. These kinds of
defect are considered to be not able
be seen in engineered structures. For
this reason, structures that do not
receive engineering services during the
design and construction stages are
excluded from the scope of this method.
Results and Discussion
Structural analyses results of the 402
building models were observed to
identify the effect of input variables
to earthquake behavior. The most
effective properties were observed as:
Earthquake Zone and Number of
Storeys.
The rapid assessment of buildings was
investigated by using GRNN and
FFBP architectures. Both of these
were trained for the four different
Values
Minimum Maximum
1.01 29.70
0.50 0.94
0.10 0.26
1 8
1 4
220 420
0 1
5 30
12 16
2.85 3.25
0 1
0 1
 Training and test data were selected
randomly.

GRNN Models
The training stage is not iterative in
networks with GRNN architecture.
Instead, a suitable sigma (σ) value for
the scatter/spread parameter must be
determined for the network to
achieve better results. In this study,
the most accurate results were
obtained after a trial-and-error pro-
cedure with σ values of 0.7 and 0.1.
The confusion matrices of the test
stage assessment results for GRNN
models are given in Fig. 5.

FFBP Models
In the second network architecture of
FFBP, the training and test data used
were the same as for the GRNN net-
works. Since the training stage of the
FFBP network was different from the
GRNN and required an iterative
process, there were more parameters
to be selected. In this study, many
different options were tried and the
configuration with the highest accu-
racy rate was selected. The highest
accuracy was obtained with Leven-
berg–Marquardt training function and
Mean Squared Error performance
function. Four hidden layers and five
neurons in each hidden layer were
used in this configuration. The assess-
ment results for this configuration are
represented by confusion matrices in
Fig. 6.
The results obtained from the test
stage assessments of the network
models are summarized in Table 5. In
models 1 and 3, integer encoding, and
in models 2 and 4, one-hot encoding,
were used to show the output
options. The highest accuracy was
obtained by model 1, and the lowest
was obtained by model 3. This may
lead to confusion in the relationship
between encoding and the accuracy.
At this point, it is preferred to
observe the relationship between accu-
racy and the problem structure. When
the number of output classes was
increased by sub-problem 2, a decrease
in the accuracy was observed in all
models. Additionally, this decrease
Fig. 5: Test results of GRNN models
was higher in integer coding.

models mentioned earlier. Structural data—322 building models—were Validation of the Method on
analysis results from a total of 402 used during the training stage and Existing Buildings
building models were used in the 20% of them—80 building models— The method was applied on some
development process. 80% of these were used during the testing stage. existing buildings for validation.

Structural Engineering International Nr. 1/2023 Scientific Paper 37


Fig. 6: Test results of FFBP models
These buildings have been obtained
from the thesis studies by Tüysüz31
and Doğan.32 In these studies, the
earthquake performance of the build-
ings was investigated and compared
38 Scientific Paper
with existing damage levels caused by
earthquakes. Data from a total of 12
buildings were selected. The data set
of these structures was tested with
GRNN-Model 1, which has the
Structural Engineering International Nr. 1/2023
highest accuracy. The results obtained
are given in Table 6.
Unfortunately, Refs. [31,32] did not
provide the definitions of the observed
damage levels in their thesis studies.
Instead, the definitions made in Ref.
[33] were taken to compare the assess-
ment results. According to these defi-
nitions, it was assumed that
undamaged, light and moderately
damaged structures provide Life
Safety performance level, while highly
damaged and collapsed structures do
not meet this requirement. Compared
to the existing damage levels with the
results of ANN analysis, the same per-
formance levels were obtained for nine
buildings.
For the other three buildings, the
results of ANN assessment were
obtained to be Collapse, whereas the
existing damage level was moderately
damaged. Two of them were from the
study in Ref. [32] in which the con-
crete strength of the existing buildings
was assumed to be 10 MPa without a
core test. Nevertheless, the concrete
strength is decisive in the earthquake
behavior of buildings. In these two
buildings, the actual material
strengths might be the reason for
safer behavior. In other words,
although the performance of 3 of the
12 buildings were estimated incor-
rectly, more accurate results could be
obtained using real concrete strength
values. In light of this information,
the success rate was accepted to be
at least 75%.
Conclusions
In this study, a new method was devel-
oped using ANN in order to estimate
the earthquake performance of frame
type RC residential buildings. The
problem was considered as a classifi-
cation problem and ANN models
were developed for two different sub-
problems. Considering the general
aim of rapid assessment methods to
be to identify the dangerous buildings
quickly, the condition of ensuring the
Life Safety level was checked in the
first sub-problem. On the other hand,
the performance levels of the buildings
were predicted as Immediate Occu-
pancy, Life Safety or Collapse in the
second sub-problem, with the aim of
investigating the specific performance
levels of the buildings satisfying the
Life Safety condition. For both of the
two sub-problems, a number of
 of the method. The structural data on
ANN Number of test Number of correct Accuracy 12 existing structures compiled from
Type model models assessments (%) different studies in the literature were
GRNN Model 1 80 75 93.75 examined. Based on the application
results and explained assumptions,
Model 2 80 70 87.50 the existing building performance
Model 3 80 63 78.75 levels were estimated with an accuracy
of at least 75.00%. Considering the
Model 4 80 64 80.00 results, the present authors believe
that the method suggested can be
used to evaluate building stock in a
FFBP Model 1 80 70 87.50 quick and efficient manner.
Model 2 80 68 85.00 The aim of this study was to develop a
Model 3 80 58 72.50
fast and practical assessment method,
therefore most of the ANN inputs
Model 4 80 65 81.25 were selected to be easily obtainable.
Table 5: Test results of ANN models On the other hand, the properties of
structural materials were also among
the ANN inputs for the assessment.
different ANN architectures were were predicted by GRNN models Although there are a number of exper-
studied. The highest accuracy rates with the highest accuracy (93.75%), iments needed to obtain the material
were obtained by GRNN and FFBP and by FFBP models with an accuracy properties from existing buildings,
networks. Thus GRNN and FFBP net- of 87.50% at most. On the other hand, this input could not be removed from
works have been selected for the appli- the target performance levels were the method, because of the strong
cation of the method suggested herein. predicted by GRNN models with a effect on earthquake performance.
To show the applicability of the highest accuracy of 80.00%, and by
method, four different ANN models FFBP models with a highest accuracy Today, there are some non-destructive
were developed by using different of 81.25% in the second sub-problem. test methods using equipment such as
expressions for output values, so a Reinforcement Detector or Schmidt
Among the ANN models developed, Hammer to determine the properties
total of eight ANN models were pre-
GRNN-Model 1—having 93.75%
sented in this study. In the first sub- of structural materials. By improve-
accuracy—was selected for validation ments of these kinds of practical
problem, the target performances

Construction Number of Critical storey area Existing damage ANN

Source Building ID year storeys (m2) level output
Tüysüz31 04-ADN-YRG-M6 – 6 133 Moderately damaged Collapse
̇
01-IZM-KRM-N5 – 5 243 Undamaged LS

Doğan25 004-DUZ-R-05-CL 1990 5 465 Collapsed Collapse

005-DUZ-R-03- 1991 3 115 Highly damaged Collapse
HD
006-DUZ-R-07- 1996 7 220 Moderately damaged Collapse
MD
009-DUZ-R-05- 1991 5 225 Highly damaged Collapse
HD
010-DUZ-R-06-CL 1996 6 255 Collapsed Collapse
011-DUZ-R-06-CL 1984 6 225 Collapsed Collapse
012-DUZ-R-02- 1984 2 355 Highly damaged Collapse
HD
014-DUZ-R-05- 1991 5 190 Highly damaged Collapse
HD
016-DUZ-R-05- 1977 5 400 Moderately damaged Collapse
MD
017-DUZ-R-07-CL 1992 7 841 Collapsed Collapse
LS = Life Safety condition is provided; Collapse = Collapse (Life Safety condition is not provided).
Table 6: Damage levels and obtained assessment results for existing buildings

Structural Engineering International Nr. 1/2023 Scientific Paper 39

testing methods, the properties of struc-
tural materials will be easily obtained
and the proposed ANN assessment
method will become much more appli-
cable. In addition to improvements of
the test methods, by the development
of smartphone versions of the method
proposed in this study, building stock
can be evaluated in a fast and efficient
manner, and possible life and property
losses can be prevented in high level
earthquake zones. Future work will
progress in that direction.
Acknowledgements
This study is part of the research conducted
by the first author towards a PhD
dissertation.
ORCID
Eray Özkan http://orcid.org/0000-
0003-4755-8207
Ali Demir http://orcid.org/0000-
0001-9907-4074
Mustafa Erkan Turan http://orcid.
org/0000-0003-2501-2481
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