Reliability assessment of granular filters in embankment dams

Empirical criteria have been used successfully to design filters of most embankment large dam projects throughout the world. However, these empirical rules are only applicable to a particular range of soils tested in laboratory and do not take into account the variability of the base material and filter particle sizes. In addition, it is widely accepted that the safety of fill dams is mainly dependent on the reliability of their filter performance. The work herein presented consists in a new general method for assessing the probability of fulfilling any empirical filter design criteria accounting for base and filter heterogeneity by means of first‐order reliability methods (FORM), so that reliability indexes and probabilities of fulfilling any particular criteria are obtained. This method will allow engineers to estimate the safety of existing filters in terms of probability of fulfilling their design criteria and might also be used as a decision tool on sampling needs and material size tolerances during construction. In addition, sensitivity analysis makes possible to analyse how reliabilities are influenced by different sources of input data. Finally, in case of a portfolio risk assessment, this method will allow engineers to compare the safety of several existing dams in order to prioritize safety investments and it is expected to be a very useful tool to evaluate probabilities of failure due to internal erosion. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

基于可靠度理论的黄土高边坡优化设计

对黄土高边坡进行可靠性分析，应用数学原理和优化原理，建立了黄土高边坡的优化模型，对铜黄一级公路黄土高边坡进行分析验证。结果表明，该方法计算的结果与实际较接近．应用中易操作。     

Reliability assessment of serviceability performance of braced retaining walls using a neural network approach

In urban environments, one major concern with deep excavations in soft clay is the potentially large ground deformations in and around the excavation. Excessive movements can damage adjacent buildings and utilities. There are many uncertainties associated with the calculation of the ultimate or serviceability performance of a braced excavation system. These include the variabilities of the loadings, geotechnical soil properties, and engineering and geometrical properties of the wall. A risk‐based approach to serviceability performance failure is necessary to incorporate systematically the uncertainties associated with the various design parameters. This paper demonstrates the use of an integrated neural network–reliability method to assess the risk of serviceability failure through the calculation of the reliability index. By first performing a series of parametric studies using the finite element method and then approximating the non‐linear limit state surface (the boundary separating the safe and ‘failure’ domains) through a neural network model, the reliability index can be determined with the aid of a spreadsheet. Two illustrative examples are presented to show how the serviceability performance for braced excavation problems can be assessed using the reliability index. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Reliability-Based Optimal Design for Very Large Floating Structure

1 .ＩｎｔｒｏｄｕｃｔｉｏｎＴｈｅａｐｐｒａｉｓａｌｏｆａｇｏｏｄｄｅｓｉｇｎｆｏｒａｖｅｒｙｌａｒｇｅｆｌｏａｔｉｎｇｓｔｒｕｃｔｕｒｅ(ＶＬＦＳ)ｔｈａｔｗｉｌｌｓｅｒｖｅｉｎａｓｐｅｃｉ ｆｉｅｄｏｃｅａｎａｒｅａｒｅｑｕｉｒｅｓｔｈａｔｔｈｅｓｔｒｕｃｔｕｒａｌｓｙｓｔｅｍｂｅｅｃｏｎｏｍｉｃａｌｌｙｄｅｓｉｇｎｅｄ ,ｔｈｅｒｅｑｕｉｒｅｍｅｎｔｓｆｏｒｉｔｓｆｕｎｃｔｉｏｎｂｅｓａｔｉｓｆｉｅｄａｎｄｔｈｅｓｔｒｕｃｔｕｒｅｋｅｅｐｓｓｔａｂｌｅｉｎｉｔｓｗｈｏｌｅｓｅｒｖｉｃｅｐｅｒｉｏ…     

Fuzzy Fatigue Reliability Analysis of Offshore Platforms in Ice-Infested Waters

1 .IntroductionTheBohaiGulfisinfestedbyiceinthewholewinter,andoffshorestructuresthereexperiencenotonlywind ,waves ,currentsandearthquake ,butalsoiceloadswhicharecomplicatedbecauseofthedynamicinteractionbetweenicesheetsandstructures.Duanetal.( 2 0 0 0 )hadacomprehensivere viewofthelatestadvancesonice inducedvibration ,fatigueandfractureofoffshorestructures ,payingmuchattentiontothedifferencesinicebreakingmodeanddynamicsofstructuresindifferentice in festedwaters .Theypresentedcriticallythelates…     

Semi-Probabilistic Evaluation of System Redundancy for Existing Offshore Structures

In this paper, a new definition of structure system redundancy is proposed in view of the various measures for structure redundancy. By introducing the terms of structure system failure at the mechanism level and equivalent reliability index, the safety for existing offshore platforms can be evaluated by the semi-probabilistic method presented in this paper. Some numerical examples are given and satisfactory results have been obtained.     

基于塑性极限分析理论和神经网络响应面的结构系统可靠性分析

根据多层神经网络映射存在定理，提出了基于神经网络响应面和塑性极限分析理论的结构系统可靠性分析的新方法。数值试验表明，该方法可以快速、高质量地求出结构系统可靠性指标，是一个具有发展前景的新方法。     

海底油气集输管网可靠性评估

对海底油气集输管网进行了可靠性评估，提出了一种适用于树状海底油气集输管网可靠性评价的方法，将流可靠度和单元重要度的概念引入到海底油气集输管网可靠性的分析中，该方法能够有效地评价海底油气集输管网的可靠性。     

可靠性约束下的海底油气集输管网系统优化

在管网系统满足一定可靠度的基础上，以费用最小为优化目标，对系统进行了优化，求出了满足一定可靠度指标的费用最小的管网布置方案。对树状网络可靠性进行了评估，提出了一个0-l规划模型，并运用图论和网络理论将管网系统的优化问题转变为求可靠度至少为α的网络固的最小生成树问题。     

On the estimation of mooring line characteristic resistance for reliability analysis

The main aim of this work is to derive a correct formulation for the characteristic resistance of a mooring line segment with lognormally distributed component resistances and substitute an equation proposed by Vazquez-Hernandez et al. [Vazquez-Hernandez AO, Ellwanger GB, Sagrilo LVS. Reliability-based comparative study for mooring lines design criteria. Appl Ocean Res 2006; 28(6):398–406] in a paper published in this journal, which is not correct. The mooring line is considered as a series system and the resistances of individual components of a line segment are statistically independent and identically distributed; furthermore, the case of normally distributed component resistances is also discussed. A comparison with the corresponding equation proposed by DNV-OS-E301 is given. Results show that the formula proposed by Vazquez-Hernandez et al. [Vazquez-Hernandez AO, Ellwanger GB, Sagrilo LVS. Reliability-based comparative study for mooring lines design criteria. Appl Ocean Res 2006; 28(6):398–406] overestimates quite significantly the characteristic resistance of a mooring line segment.