Dolos Design Using Reliability Methods

Historically, concrete armor unit design has not included conventional structural design methods. The primary reason is the lack of knowledge of the loads and the resulting structural response. Also, complex and random boundary conditions and wave loading made the engineering problem difficult. With recent advances in concrete armor unit stress prediction and measurement methods, we can begin to utilize conventional structural design methods in concrete armor design. This paper adapts conventional structural reliability design methods in the Load and Resistance Factor Design (LRFD) format to allow a unified approach to both reinforced and unreinforced dolos design. Stress prediction methods are validated for several well known structures. Then LRFD methods are described and applied generically for both unreinforced and reinforced dolos design. The reliability methods described herein are adaptable for general concrete armor unit design.