Author(s):  
Jorge Mendoza ◽  
Jacopo Paglia ◽  
Jo Eidsvik ◽  
Jochen Köhler

Mooring systems that are used to secure position keeping of floating offshore oil and gas facilities are subject to deterioration processes, such as pitting corrosion and fatigue crack growth. Past investigations show that pitting corrosion has a significant effect on reducing the fatigue resistance of mooring chain links. In situ inspections are essential to monitor the development of the corrosion condition of the components of mooring systems and ensure sufficient structural safety. Unfortunately, offshore inspection campaigns require large financial commitments. As a consequence, inspecting all structural components is unfeasible. This article proposes to use value of information analysis to rank identified inspection alternatives. A Bayesian Network is proposed to model the statistical dependence of the corrosion deterioration among chain links at different locations of the mooring system. This is used to efficiently update the estimation of the corrosion condition of the complete mooring system given evidence from local observations and to reassess the structural reliability of the system. A case study is presented to illustrate the application of the framework.


Author(s):  
Pietro Croce ◽  
Paolo Formichi ◽  
Filippo Landi

<p>The impact of climate change on climatic actions could significantly affect, in the mid-term future, the design of new structures as well as the reliability of existing ones designed in accordance to the provisions of present and past codes. Indeed, current climatic loads are defined under the assumption of stationary climate conditions but climate is not stationary and the current accelerated rate of changes imposes to consider its effects.</p><p>Increase of greenhouse gas emissions generally induces a global increase of the average temperature, but at local scale, the consequences of this phenomenon could be much more complex and even apparently not coherent with the global trend of main climatic parameters, like for example, temperature, rainfalls, snowfalls and wind velocity.</p><p>In the paper, a general methodology is presented, aiming to evaluate the impact of climate change on structural design, as the result of variations of characteristic values of the most relevant climatic actions over time. The proposed procedure is based on the analysis of an ensemble of climate projections provided according a medium and a high greenhouse gas emission scenario. Factor of change for extreme value distribution’s parameters and return values are thus estimated in subsequent time windows providing guidance for adaptation of the current definition of structural loads.</p><p>The methodology is illustrated together with the outcomes obtained for snow, wind and thermal actions in Italy. Finally, starting from the estimated changes in extreme value parameters, the influence on the long-term structural reliability can be investigated comparing the resulting time dependent reliability with the reference reliability levels adopted in modern Structural codes.</p>


2019 ◽  
Vol 91 (4) ◽  
pp. 549-557
Author(s):  
Yuhui Wang ◽  
Peng Shao ◽  
Qingxian Wu ◽  
Mou Chen

Purpose This paper aims to present a novel structural reliability analysis scheme with considering the structural strength degradation for the wing spar of a generic hypersonic aircraft to guarantee flight safety and structural reliability. Design/methodology/approach A logarithmic model with strength degradation for the wing spar is constructed, and a reliability model of the wing spar is established based on stress-strength interference theory and total probability theorem. Findings It is demonstrated that the proposed reliability analysis scheme can obtain more accurate structural reliability and failure results for the wing spar, and the strength degradation cannot be neglected. Furthermore, the obtained results will provide an important reference for the structural safety of hypersonic aircraft. Research limitations/implications The proposed reliability analysis scheme has not implemented in actual flight, as all the simulations are conducted according to the actual experiment data. Practical implications The proposed reliability analysis scheme can solve the structural life problem of the wing spar for hypersonic aircraft and meet engineering practice requirements, and it also provides an important reference to guarantee the flight safety and structural reliability for hypersonic aircraft. Originality/value To describe the damage evolution more accurately, with consideration of strength degradation, flight dynamics and material characteristics of the hypersonic aircraft, the stress-strength interference method is first applied to analyze the structural reliability of the wing spar for the hypersonic aircraft. The proposed analysis scheme is implemented on the dynamic model of the hypersonic aircraft, and the simulation demonstrates that a more reasonable reliability result can be achieved.


2018 ◽  
Vol 3 (4) ◽  
pp. 48
Author(s):  
Albert de la Fuente ◽  
Vicente Alegre ◽  
Ana Blanco ◽  
Teresa Cavero ◽  
Roberto Quintilla

The Canal of Aragon and Catalonia (CAC) is 134 km long and irrigates 105,000 ha (131 irrigation user communities) and it is owned by the River Ebro’s Water Agency. The aqueducts are located between km 67 and 71 of the canal and were designed by the civil engineer Félix de los Ríos Martín in 1907. The cross-section of both aqueducts, Coll de Foix and Capdevila, was extended within the framework of the project by Fernando Hué Herrero in 1962 in order to reach design flows of 26.1 m3/s and 25.7 m3/s, respectively. The structural performance of the aqueducts has been satisfactory; nevertheless, the hydraulic capacity has reduced over the years. As a result, the irrigation user communities have expressed the need to extend the cross-section of the aqueducts to meet the irrigation demands. Given the age of the structure and the different design considerations at the time, it is paramount to verify the structural reliability of the aqueducts in the new load configuration. Therefore, the objective of this contribution is to present the structural safety analysis conducted and to describe the new extended cross-section for both aqueducts (maintaining the original structural typology).


1986 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrzej S. Nowak ◽  
Raymond J. Taylor

The new Ontario Highway Bridge Design Code (OHBDC) is based on limit states theory and therefore uses a load and resistance factor format. This paper deals with the development of the basis for the timber bridge design provisions (OHBDC). Three structural systems are considered: sawn timber stringers, laminated nailed decks, and prestressed laminated decks. The latter system has been successfully used in Ontario for the last 7 years.The acceptance criterion in calculation of load and resistance factors is structural reliability. It is required that bridges designed using the new code must have a reliability equal to or greater than a preselected target value. Reliability is measured in terms of the reliability index. The safety analysis is performed for a structural system rather than for individual members. The live load model was developed on the basis of available truck survey data. Material properties are based on extensive in-grade test results. Numerical examples are included to demonstrate the presented approach. Key words: bridge deck, design code, prestressed timber, reliability, reliability index, stringers, structural safety, timber bridges.


Author(s):  
Xiaofei Che ◽  
Dayong Zhang ◽  
Qianjin Yue

Most of the ice-resistant jacket platforms in Bohai Sea have been close to or reached their service life. In order to keep the platforms perform safely, a reasonable risk assessment of the existing platforms should be considered. The hazard of the structural fatigue failure under the ice-induced vibrations is so serious, which plays an important role in the safety of the platforms. In this paper, the general process of the structural safety assessment based on the fatigue analysis is established. Firstly, risk assessment of fatigue failure needs to determine whether the cyclic stress of hot-spot induced by ice-vibrations under normal ice condition is so significant. Then, the method of estimating ice-induced fatigue life of existing platforms is developed based on the field data and the safe life design method. Finally, as an application example, the safety assessment of one old jacket platform in Bohai Bay is carried on, which can provide a warrant for owners to repair or reject platforms.


2010 ◽  
Vol 133-134 ◽  
pp. 753-758
Author(s):  
Tomaso Trombetti ◽  
Claudio Ceccoli ◽  
Giada Gasparini ◽  
Stefano Silvestri

The “Palazzo della Civiltà Italiana” is a monumental building characterized by a reinforced concrete structure composed of parallel (cast in situ) portal frames and composite (reinforced concrete + hollow bricks floors which spans between adjacent portals: a common construction technique in Italy. The floors being characterised by a large span of about 10.0 meters. The construction took place between 1939 and 1943, most likely according to the Italian building code published in 1939. The authors have coordinated a comprehensive experimental campaign aimed at (a) the identification of the characteristics of the structural materials and members, and (b) the identification of eventual damages. Based upon the experimental results a number of analytical and numerical investigations have been developed in order to assess the structural reliability of the “Palazzo” which up to date still is remains in its “original” configuration, as no substantial intervention of structural retrofit or rehabilitation have been implemented so far. These analysis allowed to identify two major reliability issues: (i) the load bearing capacities of the floors do not allow the intended use, and (ii) the seismic vulnerability of the building does not satisfy the reliability standards required by current codes. On the basis of all data acquired and investigations performed, a simple (non invasive) structural retrofit solution capable of bringing the “Palazzo” to the level of structural safety required by current codes is identified.


Author(s):  
A.A. Solovyova ◽  
◽  
S.A. Solovyov ◽  

Abstract. The reliability of load-bearing structural elements is one of the indicators of structural safety. The article presents methods for steel trusses bars reliability analysis according to the buckling criterion using p-boxes. A p-box consists of two boundary probability distribution functions that form the area of possible distribution functions. Such model used for modeling random variables in conditions of incomplete statistical data by quantity or quality. An algorithm for summing p-boxes of random load models is demonstrated on the example of a probabilistic estimate of the force in the truss bar. The result of reliability analysis using p-boxes is presented in interval form. The use of p-boxes makes it possible to obtain a more cautious assessment of reliability in case of incomplete statistical data. To increase the informativity of the reliability analysis result, it is necessary to obtain more statistical data about random variables in design mathematical models of limit state, which will allow forming p-boxes with narrower boundary distribution functions.


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