Embodied Energy Optimization of Prestressed Concrete Road Flyovers by a Two-Phase Kriging Surrogate Model

Area of Science:

• Civil Engineering
• Sustainable Construction
• Structural Optimization

Background:

• Embodied energy in construction materials significantly impacts environmental sustainability.
• Lightened road flyovers offer potential for reduced material usage but require careful design for efficiency.
• Optimizing structural design is crucial for minimizing the environmental footprint of infrastructure projects.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate a methodology for optimizing embodied energy in the construction of lightened road flyovers.
• To identify key design variables influencing the energy efficiency of bridge decks.
• To establish a framework for reducing the energy cost associated with bridge deck construction.

Main Methods:

• A cross-sectional analysis based on an exhaustive literature review to identify critical design parameters.
• Application of Latin Hypercube Sampling (LHS) for efficient sampling of deck variables and response surface generation.
• Kriging-based optimization model to refine the response surface and achieve optimal design parameters.

Main Results:

• Identification of design variables that enhance the energy efficiency of bridge decks.
• Development of a two-phase optimization methodology combining statistical sampling and advanced modeling.
• Demonstration of a methodology capable of reducing the embodied energy in lightened slab bridge decks.

Conclusions:

• The developed methodology effectively reduces the energy cost of constructing lightened slab bridge decks.
• Recommendations for improved energy efficiency include high slenderness ratios (approx. 1/28), minimized concrete and active reinforcement, and increased passive reinforcement.
• Optimized design strategies are essential for sustainable and energy-efficient infrastructure development.