This book provides readers with an understanding of the fundamentals and applications of structural reliability, stochastic finite element method, reliability analysis via stochastic expansion, and optimization under uncertainty. It examines the use of stochastic expansions, including polynomial chaos expansion and Karhunen-Loeve expansion for the reliability analysis of practical engineering problems.
Optimization problems arising in practice usually contain several random parameters. Hence, in order to obtain optimal solutions being robust with respect to random parameter variations, the mostly available statistical information about the random parameters should be considered already at the planning phase. The original problem with random parameters must be replaced by an appropriate deterministic substitute problem, and efficient numerical solution or approximation techniques have to be developed for those problems. This proceedings volume contains a selection of papers on modelling techniques, approximation methods, numerical solution procedures for stochastic optimization problems and applications to the reliability-based optimization of concrete technical or economic systems.
Uncertainties about analytical models, fluctuations in loads, and variability of material properties contribute to the small but real probability of structure failures. This advanced engineering text describes methods developed to deal with stochastic aspects of structural behavior, providing a framework for evaluating, comparing, and combining stochastic effects. Starting with the general problem of consistent evaluation of the reliability of structures, the text proceeds to examination of the second-moment reliability index methods that describe failure in terms of one or more limit states. It presents first-order reliability methods for computation of failure probabilities for individual limit states and for systems; and it illustrates identification of the design parameters most affecting reliability. Additional subjects include a self-contained presentation of extreme-value theory and stochastic processes; stationary, evolutionary, and nonlinear aspects of stochastic response of structures; a stochastic approach to material fatigue damage and crack propagation; and stochastic models for several natural and manufactured loads.
Increasing demand on improving the resiliency of modern structures and infrastructure requires ever more critical and complex designs. Therefore, the need for accurate and efficient approaches to assess uncertainties in loads, geometry, material properties, manufacturing processes, and operational environments has increased significantly. Reliability-based techniques help develop more accurate initial guidance for robust design and help to identify the sources of significant uncertainty in structural systems. Reliability-Based Analysis and Design of Structures and Infrastructure presents an overview of the methods of classical reliability analysis and design most associated with structural reliability. It also introduces more modern methods and advancements, and emphasizes the most useful methods and techniques used in reliability and risk studies, while elaborating their practical applications and limitations rather than detailed derivations. Features: Provides a practical and comprehensive overview of reliability and risk analysis and design techniques. Introduces resilient and smart structures/infrastructure that will lead to more reliable and sustainable societies. Considers loss elimination, risk management and life-cycle asset management as related to infrastructure projects. Introduces probability theory, statistical methods, and reliability analysis methods. Reliability-Based Analysis and Design of Structures and Infrastructure is suitable for researchers and practicing engineers, as well as upper-level students taking related courses in structural reliability analysis and design.
This book – comprised of three separate volumes – presents the recent developments and research discoveries in structural and solid mechanics; it is dedicated to Professor Isaac Elishakoff. This third volume is devoted to non-deterministic mechanics. Modern Trends in Structural and Solid Mechanics 3 has broad scope, covering topics such: design optimization under uncertainty, interval field approaches, convex analysis, quantum inspired topology optimization and stochastic dynamics. The book is illustrated by many applications in the field of aerospace engineering, mechanical engineering, civil engineering, biomedical engineering and automotive engineering. This book is intended for graduate students and researchers in the field of theoretical and applied mechanics.
This book sheds light on the large-scale engineering systems that shape and guide our everyday lives. It does this by bringing together the latest research and practice defining the emerging field of Complex Engineered Systems. Understanding, designing, building and controlling such complex systems is going to be a central challenge for engineers in the coming decades. This book is a step toward addressing that challenge.
Researchers in the engineering industry and academia are making important advances on reliability-based design and modeling of uncertainty when data is limited. Non deterministic approaches have enabled industries to save billions by reducing design and warranty costs and by improving quality. Considering the lack of comprehensive and defini
Uncertainties play a dominant role in the design and optimization of structures and infrastructures. In optimum design of structural systems due to variations of the material, manufacturing variations, variations of the external loads and modelling uncertainty, the parameters of a structure, a structural system and its environment are not given, fi
The field of structural optimization is still a relatively new field undergoing rapid changes in methods and focus. Until recently there was a severe imbalance between the enormous amount of literature on the subject, and the paucity of applications to practical design problems. This imbalance is being gradually redressed now. There is still no shortage of new publications, but there are also exciting applications of the methods of structural optimizations in the automotive, aerospace, civil engineering, machine design and other engineering fields. As a result of the growing pace of applications, research into structural optimization methods is increasingly driven by real-life problems. Most engineers who design structures employ complex general-purpose software packages for structural analysis. Often they do not have any access to the source the details of program, and even more frequently they have only scant knowledge of the structural analysis algorithms used in this software packages. Therefore the major challenge faced by researchers in structural optimization is to develop methods that are suitable for use with such software packages. Another major challenge is the high computational cost associated with the analysis of many complex real-life problems. In many cases the engineer who has the task of designing a structure cannot afford to analyze it more than a handful of times.
