The Weakness of Robustness
Publication: Journal of Structural Engineering
Volume 147, Issue 11
Abstract
Having a sufficient degree of robustness is generally believed to be an essential property of a safe structure. However, there is a lot of confusion about the exact meaning of the word as well as the way how this criterion should be interpreted in various circumstances. Of course, the notion has been translated into quite a number of codified rules that can be prescribed by authorities and can be dealt with by designers. Although there is some basic logic in the rules, the background is quite weak. Many studies focus on the structural behavior under extreme conditions, but relatively little research is done on the underlying effectivity and cost efficiency of the applied safety measures. Given the large epistemic uncertainties involved, the reluctance to deal with such issues is understandable. Nevertheless this paper aims at discussing these aspects and making them more prominent on the research agendas.
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Data Availability Statement
No data, models, or codes were generated or used during the study.
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Published In
Journal of Structural Engineering
Volume 147 • Issue 11 • November 2021
Copyright
© 2021 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Mar 30, 2021
Accepted: Jul 21, 2021
Published online: Sep 3, 2021
Published in print: Nov 1, 2021
Discussion open until: Feb 3, 2022
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