W. Zhao^1,2, J.K. Liu³, X.Y. Li², Q.W. Yang⁴, Y.Y. Chen⁵

CMES-Computer Modeling in Engineering & Sciences, Vol.93, No.6, pp. 469-488, 2013, DOI:10.3970/cmes.2013.093.469

Abstract In order to obtain reliable structural design, it is of extreme importance to evaluate the failure probability, safety levels of structure (reliability analysis) and the effect of a change in a variable parameter on structural safety (sensitivity analysis) when uncertainties are considered. With a computationally cheaper approximation of the limit state function, various response surface methods (RSMs) have emerged as a convenient tool to solve this especially for complex problems. However, the traditional RSMs may produce large errors in some conditions especially for those highly non-linear limit state functions. Instead of the traditional least squares… More >

Yao Hsu¹, Chih-Yen Su², Wen-Fang Wu^3,4

CMC-Computers, Materials & Continua, Vol.36, No.2, pp. 155-176, 2013, DOI:10.3970/cmc.2013.036.155

Abstract To study the fatigue reliability of a flip-chip chip scale package (FCCSP) subject to thermal cyclic loading, a Monte Carlo simulation-based parametric study is carried out in the present study. A refined procedure as compared with the recently released Probabilistic Design System (PDS) of ANSYS is proposed and employed in particular. The thermal-cyclic fatigue life of the package is discussed in detail since it is related directly to the reliability of the package. In consideration of the analytical procedure as well as real manufacturing processes, a few geometric dimensions and material properties of the package More >

C. Jiang^1,2, X. Han¹, D. Li³

CMC-Computers, Materials & Continua, Vol.27, No.3, pp. 275-304, 2012, DOI:10.3970/cmc.2011.027.275

Abstract For optimization or decision-making problems with interval uncertainty, the interval comparison relation plays a very important role, as only based on it a better or best decision can be determined. In this paper, a new kind of interval comparison relation termed as reliability-based possibility degree of interval is proposed to give quantitative evaluations on "how much better" of one interval than another, which is more suitable for engineering reliability analysis and numerical computation than the existing relations. In the new relation, the range of the comparing values is extended into the whole real number field, and the precise comparison More >

M. Q. Chau^1,2, X. Han¹, Y. C. Bai¹, C. Jiang¹

CMC-Computers, Materials & Continua, Vol.27, No.2, pp. 128-142, 2012, DOI:10.32604/cmc.2012.027.128

Abstract The first-order reliability method (FORM) is one of the most widely used structural reliability analysis techniques due to its simplicity and efficiency. However, direct using FORM seems disability to work well for complex problems, especially related to high-dimensional variables and computation intensive numerical models. To expand the applicability of the FORM for more practical engineering problems, a response surface (RS) approach based FORM is proposed for structural reliability analysis. The radial basis function (RBF) is employed to approximate the implicit limit-state functions combined with Latin Hypercube Sampling (LHS) strategy. To guarantee the numerical stability, the More >

M.M. Kamiński¹, J. Szafran¹

CMES-Computer Modeling in Engineering & Sciences, Vol.83, No.2, pp. 143-168, 2012, DOI:10.32604/cmes.2012.083.143

Abstract The main issue in this article is computational probabilistic analysis and reliability assessment of the steel telecommunication towers subjected to material and environmental uncertainty. Such a discussion is important since very wide, frequent and relatively modern application of these structures, which are subjected to various sources of uncertainty and having at this moment no rich and time-dependent failure evidence. Numerical analysis is based on the generalized stochastic perturbation technique implemented as the Stochastic Finite Elements using the Response Function Method applied with the use of computer algebra system. A simultaneous usage of the engineering FEM… More >

S.R. Santos¹, L.C. Matioli², A.T. Beck³

CMES-Computer Modeling in Engineering & Sciences, Vol.83, No.1, pp. 23-56, 2012, DOI:10.3970/cmes.2012.083.023

Abstract Solution of structural reliability problems by the First Order method require optimization algorithms to find the smallest distance between a limit state function and the origin of standard Gaussian space. The Hassofer-Lind-Rackwitz-Fiessler (HLRF) algorithm, developed specifically for this purpose, has been shown to be efficient but not robust, as it fails to converge for a significant number of problems. On the other hand, recent developments in general (augmented Lagrangian) optimization techniques have not been tested in aplication to structural reliability problems. In the present article, three new optimization algorithms for structural reliability analysis are presented.… More >

Yuan-Qi Li, Li-Ping Wang, Zu-Yan Shen

The International Conference on Computational & Experimental Engineering and Sciences, Vol.16, No.1, pp. 13-14, 2011, DOI:10.3970/icces.2011.016.013

Abstract In structural design, sometimes analysis methods in available specifications cannot be used directly for new materials or new structural configurations. A common way is to test and check the behavior in question of the prototype units including complete or parts of structures, individual members or connections for design assessment. How to directly obtain the design capacity with an expected reliability level according to the related codes from test results is a critical issue. Currently, there isn't any explicit specification for the above issues in Chinese codes, and few references are available. In this paper, referring More >

Mohsen Sadeghbeigi Olyaie¹, Mohammad Reza Razfar², Edward J. Kansa³

CMES-Computer Modeling in Engineering & Sciences, Vol.75, No.1, pp. 43-88, 2011, DOI:10.3970/cmes.2011.075.043

Abstract This paper presents integration of reliability analysis with topology optimization design for a linear mircroactuator, including multitude cantilever piezoelectric bimorphs. Each microbimoph in the mechanism can be actuated in both axial and flexural modes simultaneously. We consider quasi-static and linear conditions, and the smoothed finite element method (S-FEM) is employed in the analysis of piezoelectric effects. Since microfabrication methods are used for manufacturing this type of actuator, uncertainty variables become very important. Hence, these variables are considered as constraints during our topology optimization design process and reliability based topology optimization (RBTO) is conducted. To avoid… More >

Fangyi Li^1,2, Zhen Luo³, Guangyong Sun⁴

CMES-Computer Modeling in Engineering & Sciences, Vol.74, No.1, pp. 39-64, 2011, DOI:10.3970/cmes.2011.074.039

Abstract This paper studies the reliability-based multiobjective optimization by using a new interval strategy to model uncertain parameters. A new satisfaction degree of interval, which is significantly extended from [0, 1] to [–∞, +∞], is introduced into the non-probabilistic reliability-based optimization. Based on a predefined satisfaction degree level, the uncertain constraints can be effectively transformed into deterministic ones. The interval number programming method is applied to change each uncertain objective function to a deterministic two-objective optimization. So in this way the uncertain multiobjective optimization problem is transformed into a deterministic optimization problem and a reliability-based multiobjective More >

C. Wang¹, W. Gao¹, C.W. Yang¹, C.M. Song¹

CMC-Computers, Materials & Continua, Vol.25, No.1, pp. 19-46, 2011, DOI:10.3970/cmc.2011.025.019

Abstract The random interval response and probabilistic interval reliability of structures with a mixture of random and interval properties are studied in this paper. Structural stiffness matrix is a random interval matrix if some structural parameters and loads are modeled as random variables and the others are considered as interval variables. The perturbation-based stochastic finite element method and random interval moment method are employed to develop the expressions for the mean value and standard deviation of random interval structural displacement and stress responses. The lower bound and upper bound of the mean value and standard deviation More >