Deriving Probability Models for Stress Analysis

This paper presents an approach to derive probability models for use in structural reliability studies. Two main points are made. First, that it is possible to translate engineering and physics knowledge into a requirement on the form of a probability model. And second, that making assumptions about a probability model for structural failure implies either explicit or hidden assumptions about material and structural properties. The work is foundational in nature, but is developed with explicit examples taken from planar and general stress problems, the von Mises failure criterion, and a modified Weibull distribution.