Second-Order Fourth-Moment Method for Structural Reliability
Publication: Journal of Engineering Mechanics
Volume 143, Issue 4
Abstract
In the second-order reliability method (SORM), the failure probability is generally estimated based on parabolic approximation of the performance function. In the present paper, the first four moments (i.e., the mean, standard deviation, skewness, and kurtosis) of the second-order approximation of performance functions are obtained using the definition of the probability moment. Based on the recently developed fourth-moment standardization function, an explicit second-order fourth-moment reliability index is proposed for the estimation of failure probability corresponding to both the simple and general parabolic approximations. The simplicity and accuracy of the second-order fourth-moment reliability index is demonstrated using numerical examples. It can be concluded that the proposed method is applicable to the second-order approximation of performance functions with strong nonnormality and is accurate enough to improve the existing SORM in structural reliability analysis with minimal additional computational effort.
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Acknowledgments
The research described in this paper was financially supported by grants from the Project of Innovation-Driven Plan in Central South University (2015CXS014), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 51422814, U1134209, U1434204, and 51278496), and the Program for Changjiang Scholars and Innovative Research Team in University (PCSIRT) (Grant No. IRT1296). The support is gratefully acknowledged.
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Published In
Journal of Engineering Mechanics
Volume 143 • Issue 4 • April 2017
Copyright
©2016 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Dec 16, 2015
Accepted: Sep 19, 2016
Published online: Nov 29, 2016
Published in print: Apr 1, 2017
Discussion open until: Apr 29, 2017
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