Optimization of Structural Design Checking
Publication: Journal of Structural Engineering
Volume 115, Issue 10
Abstract
It is generally acknowledged that design checking reduces the incidence of structural failure. Because checking is often seen as nonproductive and costs money, the optimal degree of design checking is of interest. In the present paper, a decision model is developed to determine the optimal level of design checking. It is applied to the design of a steel rafter for a portal frame building. The model incorporates the effect of either an insured or an uninsured designer. Optimization was achieved by maximizing the expected utility. Using the model, it was found that the use of thorough self‐checking and overview checking only is the optimal strategy, unless the consequences of failure are expected to be catastrophic, in which case one independent “design check” is also necessary.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
References
1.
Antill, J. M. (1973). Civil engineering management. McGraw‐Hill, Sydney, Australia.
2.
Benjamin, J. R., and Cornell, C. A. (1970). Probability, statistics and decision for civil engineers. McGraw‐Hill, New York, N.Y.
3.
Challis, J. M. (1977). The architect and engineer and their professional liabilities. The Royal Australian Inst. of Architects, South Melbourne, Australia.
4.
Giberson, K. C. (1983). “Management of small and medium size civil engineering firms.” J. Prof. Issues in Engrg., ASCE, 109(1), 18–20.
5.
Engineering Risk. (1984). Report of the Presidents Task Committee on Professional Practice and Risk 1983, Inst. of Professional Engrs. New Zealand, Wellington, New Zealand.
6.
Kalelkar, A. S., Partridge, L. J., and Brookes, R. E. (1974). “Decision analysis in hazardous material transportation.” Nat. Conf. on Control of Hazardous Material Spills, Amer. Inst. of Chem. Engrs., San Francisco, Calif.
7.
Keeney, R. L. (1977). “The art of assessing multiattribute utility functions.” Organizational Behaviour and Human Performance, 19, 267–310.
8.
Keeney, R. L., and Raiffa, H. (1976). Decisions with multiple objectives: Preferences and value tradeoffs. John Wiley and Sons, New York, N.Y.
9.
Lind, N. C., and Basler, E. (1972). “Safety level decisions.” Int. Conf. on Planning and Design of Tall Buildings, Lehigh Univ., Bethlehem, Pa.
10.
Madge, P. (1968). Professional indemnity insurance. Butterworth and Co., London, U.K.
11.
Markowitz, H. (1952). “The utility of wealth.” J. Political Economy, 60(2), 151–158.
12.
Matousek, M., and Schneider, J. (1976). “Untersuchungen zür struktur des sicherheitsproblems bei bauwerken.” Bericht No. 59, Institut für Baustatik und Konstruktion, ETH, Birkhauser Verlag, Zurich, Switzerland (in German).
13.
Melchers, R. E. (1978). “The influence of control processes in structural engineering.” Inst. of Civ. Engrs., 65(2), 791–807.
14.
Melchers, R. E. (1979). “Selection of control levels for maximum utility of structures.” Third Int. Conf. on Appl. of Statistics and Probability in Soil and Struct. Engrg., Sydney, Australia, 839–849.
15.
Melchers, R. E. (1987). “Structural reliability assessment and human error.” Proc., Fifth Int. Conf. Appl. of Statistics and Probability in Soil and Struct. Engrg., N. C. Lind, ed., Vancouver, Canada, Inst. for Risk Res., Univ. of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, 46–54.
16.
Nessim, M. A. (1983). “Decision‐making and analysis of errors in structural reliability.” Thesis presented to the Department of Civil Engineering, University of Calgary, at Calgary, Alberta, Canada, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy.
17.
Rackwitz, R. (1976). “Die Anwendung der bayesschen statistischen entcheidungstheorie auf probleme der qualitatskontrolle von beton. Res. Rept. No. 15, Berichte zür Sicherheitstheorie der Bauwerke, LKI, Technische Universität, München, W. Germany (in German).
18.
Rackwitz, R. (1977). “Note on the treatment of errors in structural reliability.” Res. Rept. No. 21, Technische Universität, München, W. Germany, 23–25.
19.
“Rationalisation of safety and serviceability factors in structural codes.” (1977). Rept. 31, Constr. Industry Res. and Info. Assoc., London, U.K.
20.
Reynolds, G. M. (1980). “Legal and insurance trends in engineerig.” J. Prof. Activities, ASCE, 107(1), 3–10.
21.
Rodriguez, A. P. (1981). “Is the Risk Insurable?” J. Prof. Activities, ASCE, 107(4), 281–287.
22.
Schoemaker, P. J. H. (1980). Experiments on decisions under risk: The expected utility hypothesis. Martinus Nijhoff Publishing, Boston, Mass.
23.
Sprigge, D. (1987). “Liability explosion causes grave concern.” Engineers Australia, 59(12), 16–17.
24.
Stewart, M. G. (1987). “Control of human errors in structural design.” Thesis presented to the Department of Civil Engineering and Surveying, University of Newcastle, at New South Wales, Australia, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy.
25.
Stewart, M. G., and Melchers, R. E. (1985). “Human error in structural reliability—IV: Efficiency in design checking.” Res. Rept. No. 3/1985, Dept. of Civ. Engrg., Monash Univ.
26.
Stewart, M. G., and Melchers, R. E. (1986). “Human error in structural reliability—V: Efficiency in self‐checking.” Res. Rept. No. 018.12.86, Dept. of Civ. Engrg. and Surveying, Univ. of Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia.
27.
Stewart, M. G., and Melchers, R. E. (1987a). “Human error in structural reliability—VI: Overview checking.” Res. Rept. No. 019.01.87, Dept. of Civ. Engrg. and Surveying, Univ. of Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia.
28.
Stewart, M. G., and Melchers, R. E. (1988). “Simulation of human error in a design loading task.” Struct. Safety, 5, 285–297.
29.
Stewart, M. G., and Melchers, R. E. (1989). “Error control in member design.” Struct. Safety, in press.
30.
Walker, A. C. (1980). “Study and analysis of the first 120 failure cases.” Symp. on Struct. Failures in Buildings, Inst. of Struct. Engrs., London, U.K. 15–40.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Structural Engineering
Volume 115 • Issue 10 • October 1989
Pages: 2448 - 2460
Copyright
Copyright © 1989 ASCE.
History
Published online: Oct 1, 1989
Published in print: Oct 1989
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.