Optimal design of reinforced concrete cantilever retaining walls via simulated annealing
Abstract
This study investigates the optimal design of reinforced concrete cantilever (RCC) retaining walls considering both environmental and economic objectives under three concrete alternatives: green, sustainable, and traditional concrete. The design problem is formulated as two independent single-objective optimization models aimed at minimizing CO₂ emissions and material cost while satisfying geotechnical, structural, and material constraints. A simulated annealing-based approach is employed to efficiently explore and obtain the optimal design. The results demonstrate a strong interdependence between cost and emissions for all material types. Green concrete consistently provides the lowest CO₂ emissions and cost values, followed by sustainable concrete, while traditional concrete yields the highest values for both objectives. Furthermore, the traditional concrete configurations require greater material consumption compared to green and sustainable alternatives, whereas green concrete consistently achieves the most efficient overall performance. Green concrete consistently achieved the best performance, reducing the material cost by up to 16.9% and carbon emissions by up to 20.3% compared with traditional concrete while satisfying all structural and geotechnical design requirements. Overall, the findings confirm that the proposed simulated annealing approach is a robust and effective tool for the two independent single-objective optimization of RCC retaining walls, enabling efficient decision-making between environmental and economic criteria.
Keywords
References
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