Heuristic operator for reliability assessment of frame structures

Abstract

In structural design of steel frames, in order to achieve proper safety, the effect of uncertainties in the design and loading parameters of the structure must be considered. This approach is obtained by defining a reliability index. In this study, the Modified Dolphin Monitoring (MDM) operator was used to evaluate the reliability index of three well-known steel frame structures based on the Hasofer-Lind method. The reliability index was evaluated using the EVPS and VPS algorithms and with considering the MDM operator on them. The constraint of the last story drift is considered as limit state function. The random variables consist of external loads, modulus of elasticity, moment of inertia and cross-sectional areas. According to the number of evaluations of the limit state function, the results show the efficiency of this method in comparison to the Monte Carlo simulation method. Also, the values of the most probable point (MPP) are examined.