Reliability Based Criteria for Reinforced Concrete Design

Probabilistic limit states design concepts have evolved over the past decade because of the potential that they afford for simplifying the design process and placing it on a consistent basis for various construction materials. Several different criteria formats have been proposed, which have the common feature that their various load and resistance factors have a reliability basis. Two such criteria for reinforced concrete design are examined in this paper. The development of practical reliability based design criteria is also illustrated. While these are consistent with appropriate measures of design uncertainty and reliability and have a well-established rationale, they retain the simple characteristics of existing criteria with which designers in the United States feel comfortable.