• Proceedings of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute Conference
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• 1989.04a
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• pp.11-16
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• 1989

This paper presents a fatigue reliability model for the reliability-based evaluation of remaining fatigue life of existing rail-road bridges. It is demonstrated that the simple fatigue reliability model based on the Weibull distribution of fatigue life can be extended by incorporating various effects due to the rate of the train-traffic increase and in-service Inspections. The paper also suggests the system fatigue reliability analysis using an approximate formulation and 2nd-order bound solutions. The application of the proposed model to existing rail-road brdiges based on field load tests shows that it may be practically used for the assessment of fatigue reliability, remaining life, and in-service inspection scheduling of existing rail-road bridges.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.127-145
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• 2009

A novel approach is proposed to effectively estimate the quantile functions of normalized performance indices of reliability constraints in a reliability-based optimization (RBO) problem. These quantile functions are not only estimated as functions of exceedance probabilities but also as functions of the design variables of the target RBO problem. Once these quantile functions are obtained, all reliability constraints in the target RBO problem can be transformed into non-probabilistic ordinary ones, and the RBO problem can be solved as if it is an ordinary optimization problem. Two numerical examples are investigated to verify the proposed novel approach. The results show that the approach may be capable of finding approximate solutions that are close to the actual solution of the target RBO problem.

• Journal of computational fluids engineering
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• v.11 no.1 s.32
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• pp.21-28
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• 2006

Reliability Based Design Optimization(RBDO) is one of the optimization methods that minimize the product failure due to small changes of operating conditions or process errors. It searches the optimum that satisfies the safety margin of each constraint, and it gives stable and reliable designs. However, RBDO requires many times oj computational efforts compared with the conventional deterministic optimization(DO) to evaluate the probability of failure about each constraint, therefore it is hard to apply directly to large-scaled problems such as a flexible wing shape design optimization. For the efficient reliability analysis, the approximate reliability analysis method with the two-point approximation(TPA) is proposed In this study, the lift-to-drag ratio maximization designs are performed with 3-dimensional Navier-Stokes analysis and NASTRAN structural analysis, and the optimization results about the deterministic, FORM and SORM are compared.

• International Journal of Reliability and Applications
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.35-53
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• 2015

This investigation deals with reliability and sensitivity analysis of a repairable embedded system with standby wherein repairman takes multiple vacations. The hardware system consists of 'M' operating and 'S' standby components. The repairman can leave for multiple vacations of random length during its idle time. Whenever any operating unit fails, it is immediately replaced by a standby unit if available. Moreover, governing equations of an embedded system are constructed using appropriate birth-death rates. The vacation and repair time of repairman are exponentially distributed. The matrix method is used to find the steady-state probabilities of the number of failed components in the embedded system as well as other performance measures. Reliability indexes are presented. Further, numerical experiments are carried out for various system characteristics to examine the effects of different parameter. Using a special class of neuro-fuzzy systems i.e. Adaptive Network-based Fuzzy Interference Systems (ANFIS), we also approximate various performance measures. Finally, the conclusions and future research directions are provided.

• Journal of Magnetics
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.378-384
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• 2014

Optimization design and robust design are significant measures for improving the performance and reliability of electromagnetic devices (EMDs, specifically refer to relays, contactors in this paper). However, the implementation of the above-mentioned design requires substantial calculation; consequently, on the premise of guaranteeing precision, how to improve the calculation speed is a problem that needs to be solved. This paper proposes a new method for establishing an approximate model for the EMD. It builds a relationship between the input and output of the EMD with different coil voltages and air gaps, by using a user-defined interpolating function. The coefficient of the fitting function is determined based on a quantum particle swarm optimization (QPSO) method. The effectiveness of the method proposed in this paper is verified by the electromagnetic force calculation results of an electromagnetic relay with permanent magnet.

• Journal of the Korean Data and Information Science Society
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.73-83
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• 1995

We construct the approximate bootstrap confidence intervals for reliability (R) when the distributions of strength and stress are both normal. Also we propose percentile, bias correct (BC), bias correct acceleration (BCa), and percentile-t intervals for R. We compare with the accuracy of the proposed bootstrap confidence intervals and classical confidence interval based on asymptotic normal distribution through Monte Carlo simulation. Results indicate that the confidence intervals by bootstrap method work better than classical confidence interval. In particular, confidence intervals by BC and BCa method work well for small sample and/or large value of true reliability.

• Journal of Industrial Technology
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• v.24 no.A
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• pp.205-214
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• 2004

Static reliability models are introduced to analyze the armor stability of rubble-mound breakwaters. Contrasted to the deterministic model, reliability models can estimate the probability of failure directly and calculate the influence of each design variables quantitatively. Thus, it can be possible to design armor units of the rubble-mound breakwaters rationally. In this study FMA(First-order Mean-value Approach), FDA(First-order Design-value Approach) and AFDA(Approximate Full Distribution Approach) of Level II approach of static reliability methods are used to analyze the armor stability of rubble mound breakwaters. The limitations and applications of each approach are studied straight-forwardly.

• International Journal of Reliability and Applications
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.31-52
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• 2008

In this paper generalized version of the geometric distribution is introduced. This distribution can be considered as a two-parameter generalization of the discrete geometric distribution. The main statistical and reliability properties of this distribution are discussed. Two methods of estimation, namely maximum likelihood method and the method of moments are used to estimate the parameters of this distribution. Simulation is utilized to calculate these estimates and to study some of their properties. Also, asymptotic confidence limits are established for the maximum likelihood estimates. Finally, the appropriateness of this new distribution for a set of real data, compared with the geometric distribution, is shown by using the likelihood ratio test and the Kolmogorove-Smirnove test.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.28 no.3
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• pp.263-280
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• 2008

Information on the distribution of the basic random variable is essential for the accurate analysis of structural reliability. The usual method for determining the distributions is to fit a candidate distribution to the histogram of available statistical data of the variable and perform approximate goodness-of-fit tests. Generally, such candidate distribution would have parameters that may be evaluated from the statistical moments of the statistical data. In the present paper, a cubic normal distribution, whose parameters are determined using the first four moments of available sample data, is investigated. A parameter table based on the first four moments, which simplifies parameter estimation, is given. The simplicity, generality, flexibility and advantages of this distribution in statistical data analysis and its significance in structural reliability evaluation are discussed. Numerical examples are presented to demonstrate these advantages.

• International Journal of Automotive Technology
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• v.4 no.3
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• pp.135-140
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• 2003

In the deterministic optimization of a structural system, objective function, design constraints and design variables, are treated in a nonstatistical fashion. However, such deterministic engineering optimization tends to promote the structural system with lest reliability redundancy than obtained with conventional design procedures using the factor of safety. Consequently, deterministic optimized structures will usually have higher failure probabilities than unoptimized structures. Therefore, a balance must be developed between the satisfactions of the design requirements and the objectives of reducing manufacturing cost. This paper proposes the reliability-based design optimization (RBDO) technique, which enables the optimum design that considers confidence level for the vibration characteristics of structural system. Response surface method (RSM) is utilized to approximate the performance functions describing the system characteristics in the RBDO procedure. The proposed optimization technique is applied to the pillar section design considering natural frequencies of a vehicle structure.