UNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON
Cullen College of Engineering
CIVE 7397 – Reliability and Safety of Structures
Term: Spring 2012
Instructor: Asst. Prof. Bora Gencturk
Office: N124 Engineering Building 1
Office Hours: Tuesdays and Thursdays, 5-6 pm
Office Phone: (713) 743-4091
E-mail: bgencturk@uh.edu
Lectures: Monday and Wednesday, 7:00-8:30 PM, D3 E319
Textbook: No required textbook, selected readings will be provided in the class. See below
for recommended text.
Optional Texts:
• Primer: Ang, A. H-S. and Tang, W. H. (2006). Probability Concepts in Engineering:
Emphasis on Applications to Civil and Environmental Engineering, 2nd Edition,
Wiley (ISBN 978-0471720645).
• Ditlevsen, O. and Madsen, H. O. (1996). Structural Reliability Methods, Wiley (ISBN
978-0471960867), internet edition is available from
http://www.web.mek.dtu.dk/staff/od/books.htm.
• Melchers, R. E. (1999). Structural Reliability: Analysis and Prediction, 2nd Edition,
Wiley (ISBN 978-0471987710).
• Lemaire, M. (2009). Structural Reliability, Wiley (ISBN 978-1-84821-082-0).
• P. E. Pinto, R. Giannini and P. Franchin (2004). Seismic Reliability Analysis of
Structures, 1st Edition, IUSS Press (ISBN 88-7358-017-3).
Website: http://blackboard.egr.uh.edu (login with CougarNet ID)
Handouts, homework assignments, etc. will be posted on the Web Site. Most of the material
will be in PDF. You will need Adobe Reader installed on your computer.
Course Objectives and Emphasis: This graduate course offers a comprehensive review of
most commonly used structural reliability assessment methods and their applications to
engineering problems. Covered topics include formulation of the structural reliability
problem, different reliability indices, first-order and second-order reliability methods
(FORM and SORM), component and system reliability, structural reliability analysis under
model and statistical uncertainties, and simulation and uncertainty quantification methods.
The main objective of the course is to expose the students to fundamental concepts in
structural reliability analysis and reinforce their understanding through applications to
real life problems. Through a final project, each student will apply reliability methods to
solve a selected engineering problem.
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CIVE 7397 Reliability and Safety of Structures
Bora Gencturk, Ph.D.
Spring 2012
Computer Programs: Some homework assignments require the use of the reliability code,
FERUM, which is a Matlab toolbox for general structural reliability analysis and finite
element reliability analysis that was developed by Terje Haukaas. Matlab might also be
needed for assignments and project. Matlab is available on the computers at the
Engineering Computing Center (ECC) and FERUM can be downloaded from
http://www.ce.berkeley.edu/FERUM/. Students are also encouraged to use other
computer programs such as MS Excel, Mathematica and Mathcad.
Remarks:
• Homework to be turned in at the beginning of assigned lecture period.
• Students are encouraged to work together, exchange ideas and information
regarding homework assignments and projects; however, each student is
responsible for making a separate submission of his/her own (unless it is a group
assignment/project).
• See student handbook for University policy on academic honesty
(http://www.uh.edu/dos/pdf/2010-2011StudentHandbook.pdf).
• To insure that disability-related concerns are properly addressed from the
beginning, students with disabilities who require reasonable accommodations to
participate in this class and related activities are asked to register at the The Justin
Dart, Jr., Center for Students with DisABILITIES (CSD) at the University of Houston
and see the course instructor as early as possible. For more information on the
University’s accommodations and to request assistance, visit the following website:
http://www.uh.edu/csd/.
• To ensure you receive emergency email notifications and text messages, verify your
information in the myUH system. The entire emergency management plan as well as
instructions on how to update your information in the system can be reviewed here:
www.uh.edu/emergency.
Final Term Project: Each student is required to undertake a final term project. The project
paper should be word-processed and contain sufficient details. The students, depending on
their selection, either will be assigned a comprehensive project on seismic risk assessment
of a real building or asked to select a suitable topic of their interest. In the latter case, an
abstract (500 words maximum) of the project should be submitted to the instructor at least
four weeks before the last day of classes. The instructor will assess the suitability of the
project and make necessary changes to the scope (if needed). Two students will be allowed
to work on the same project; however, the amount of work will be commensurate with the
number of contributors. If two students choose to work together, the entire work should be
performed together (not in two parts). Each student (group) will make a 15 min oral
presentation on the final day, which will be graded as a part of the project.
Grading:
Attendance and in class participation
Homework assignments
Midterm exam
Final term project
5%
35%
30%
30%
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CIVE 7397 Reliability and Safety of Structures
Bora Gencturk, Ph.D.
Spring 2012
COURSE OUTLINE (SPRING 2012)
Topics
I.
II.
Introduction: Uncertainty & risk; structural and system reliability problems
Basic Theory of Probability and Statistics
Events and probability – set theory
Mathematics of probability: axioms, theorems and rules
Random variables
Probability functions and partial descriptors
Normal and lognormal distributions
Distributions related to Bernoulli sequence and Poisson process
Multiple random variables, joint probability functions, correlations
Math. expectations of functions of random variables (linear & nonlinear)
Distribution of functions and random variables
III. Structural Reliability – Component
Joint probability distribution models
Elementary reliability analysis and indices
Reliab. index by Mean-Value First-Order Second-Moment Method (MVFOSM)
Hasofer-Lind reliability index (HL/FOSM)
Generalized reliability index; Reliability “methods”
First-Order Reliability Method (FORM)
FORM examples and issues
Second-Order Reliability Method (SORM)
FORM importance vectors
FORM sensitivity measures
IV. Structural Reliability - System
Definition of “system”
“Structural” system reliability analysis
Inclusion-exclusion; Simulations; Theoretical bounding formulas; LP bounds
V. Structural Reliability under Model & Statistical Uncertainties
Bayesian parameter estimation
Reliability under epistemic uncertainties
VI. Simulation Methods
Monte Carlo simulations; Importance sampling, directional sampling, etc.
Simulations for system reliability analysis
VII. Uncertainty Quantification
Response surface method (design of experiment; reliability computation)
Dimension reduction method
VIII. Applications of Structural Reliability Methods: selected topics & examples
Matrix-based system reliability method
Probabilistic seismic hazard assessment (PSHA)
Systematic treatment of uncertainty in earthquake engineering research
Probabilistic codes and structural reliability (LRFD)
Probabilistic models based on experimental observations
Introduction to random vibrations
*
**
Reading
Lemaire
Ch1**
A&T*
CRC14**
ADK1**
CRC15**
ADK2**
REM
Ch3**
CRC19**
Papers
will be
assigned
Ang, A. H-S. and Tang, W. H. (2006). Probability Concepts in Engineering: Emphasis on Applications
to Civil and Environmental Engineering, 2nd Edition, John Wiley and Sons (ISBN 978-0471720645).
Electronic or paper copies will be provided by the instructor.
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