Using Mathematical Modelling and Optimization to Mitigate Earthquake Damage

The damages observed from seismic pounding, i.e., heavy and repeated collision of buildings, are devastating.  Earthquake-prone areas with high population density, such as the lower-mainland, are in particular danger.  Fortunately, modern engineering has demonstrated that damper connectors can reduce pounding damage and increase the seismic resistance of a structure.  Unfortunately, such connectors are very expensive and often intractable from a financial prospective.  In this talk we explore how mathematical modelling and optimization can be used to design and place a limited number of dampers to mitigate earthquake damage. We find it is often possible to gain the effect of full retrofit using a very little number of dampers.