Structural Reliability Theory and Its Applications

by P. Thoft-Cristensen, M.J. Baker

Overview

Structural reliability theory is concerned with the rational treatment of uncertainties in structural engineering and with the methods for assessing the safety and serviceability of civil engineering and other structures. It is a subject which has grown rapidly during the last decade and has evolved from being a topic for academic research to a set of well-developed or develop­ ing methodologies with a wide range of practical applications. Uncertainties exist in most areas of civil and structural engineeri'1.g and rational design decisions cannot be made without modelling them and taking them into account. Many structural engineers are shielded from having to think about such problems, at least when designing simple structures, because of the prescriptive and essentially deterministic nature of most codes of practice. This is an undesirable situation. Most loads and other structural design parameters are rarely known with certainty and should be regarded as random variables or shastic processes, even if in design calculations they are eventually treated as deterministic. Some problems such as the analysis of load combinations cannot even be formulated without recourse to probabilistic reasoning.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9783642686993
Publisher:	Springer Berlin Heidelberg
Publication date:	12/10/2011
Edition description:	Softcover reprint of the original 1st ed. 1982
Pages:	268
Product dimensions:	6.69(w) x 9.61(h) x 0.02(d)

Table of Contents

1. The Treatment of Uncertainties in Structural Engineering.- 1.1 Introduction.- 1.2 Uncertainty.- 1.3 Structural Reliability Analysis and Safety Checking.- 2. Fundamentals of Probability Theory.- 2.1 Introduction.- 2.2 Sample Space.- 2.3 Axioms and Theorems of Probability Theory.- 2.4 Random Variables.- 2.5 Moments.- 2.6 Univariate Distributions.- 2.7 Random Vectors.- 2.8 Conditional Distributions.- 2.9 Functions of Random Variables.- 3. Probabilistic Models for Loads and Resistance Variables.- 3.1 Introduction.- 3.2 Statistical Theory Of Extremes.- 3.3 Asymptotic Extreme-Value Distributions.- 3.4 Modelling of Resistance Variables - Model Selection.- 3.5 Modelling of Load Variables - Model Selection.- 3.6 Estimation of Distribution Parameters.- 3.7 Inclusion of Statistical Uncertainty.- 4. Fundamentals of Structural Reliability Theory.- 4.1 Introduction.- 4.2 Elements of Classical Reliability Theory.- 4.3 Structural Reliability Analysis.- 5. Level 2 Methods.- 5.1 Introduction.- 5.2 Basic Variables and Failure Surfaces.- 5.3 Reliability Index for Linear Failure Functions and Normal Basic Variables.- 5.4 Hasofer and Lind’s Reliability Index.- 6. Extended Level 2 Methods.- 6.1 Introduction.- 6.2 Concept of Correlation.- 6.3 Correlated Basic Variables.- 6.4 Non-Normal Basic Variables.- 7. Reliability of Structural Systems.- 7.1 Introduction.- 7.2 Perfectly Brittle and Perfectly Ductile Elements.- 7.3 Fundamental Systems.- 7.4 Systems with Equally Correlated Elements.- 8. Reliability Bounds for Structural Systems.- 8.1 Introduction.- 8.2 Simple Bounds.- 8.3 Ditlevsen Bounds.- 8.4 Parallel Systems with Unequally Correlated Elements.- 8.5 Series Systems with Unequally Correlated Elements.- 9. Introduction to Shastic Process Theory and its Uses.- 9.1 Introduction.- 9.2Shastic Processes.- 9.3 Gaussian Processes.- 9.4 Barrier Crossing Problem.- 9.5 Peak Distribution.- 10. Load Combinations.- 10.1 Introduction.- 10.2 The Load Combination Problem.- 10.3 The Ferry Borges-Castanheta Load Model.- 10.4 Combination Rules.- 11. Applications to Structural Codes.- 11.1 Introduction.- 11.2 Structural Safety and Level 1 Codes.- 11.3 Recommended Safety Formats for Level 1 Codes.- 11.4 Methods for the Evaluation of Partial Coefficients.- 11.5 An Example of Probabilistic Code Calibration.- 12. Applications to Fixed Offshore Structures.- 12.1 Introduction.- 12.2 Modelling the Response of Jacket Structures for ReliaBility Analysis.- 12.3 Probability Distributions for Important Loading Variables.- 12.4 Methods of Reliability Analysis.- 12.5 Some Results from the Study of a Jacket Structure.- 13. Reliability Theory and Quality Assurance.- 13.1 Introduction.- 13.2 Gross Errors.- 13.3 Interaction of Reliability and Quality Assurance.- 13.4 Quality Assurance.- Appendix A. Random Number Generators.- 1. General.- 2. Uniform Random Number Generators.- 3. Multiplicative Congruence Method.- 5. Special Cases: Generation of Random Deviates Having Normal and Log-Normal Distributions.- Appendix B. Spectral Analysis of Wave Forces.- 1. Introduction.- 2. General Equations of Motion.- 3. Modal Analysis.- 4. Solution Strategy.- 5. Multiple Piles.- 6. Computational Procedure.