• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.89-110
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• 2012

This study was intended to efficiently perform the probabilistic optimal safety assessment of steel cable-stayed bridges (SCS bridges) using stochastic finite element analysis (SFEA) and expected life-cycle cost (LCC) concept. To that end, advanced probabilistic finite element algorithm (APFEA) which enables to execute the static and dynamic SFEA considering aleatory uncertainties contained in random variable was developed. APFEA is the useful analytical means enabling to conduct the reliability assessment (RA) in a systematic way by considering the result of SFEA based on linearity and nonlinearity of before or after introducing initial tensile force. The appropriateness of APFEA was verified in such a way of comparing the result of SFEA and that of Monte Carlo Simulation (MCS). The probabilistic method was set taking into account of analytical parameters. The dynamic response characteristic by probabilistic method was evaluated using ASFEA, and RA was carried out using analysis results, thereby quantitatively calculating the probabilistic safety. The optimal design was determined based on the expected LCC according to the results of SFEA and RA of alternative designs. Moreover, given the potential epistemic uncertainty contained in safety index, failure probability and minimum LCC, the sensitivity analysis was conducted and as a result, a critical distribution phase was illustrated using a cumulative-percentile.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.399-406
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• 2021

It is a key issue in the tunnel design to evaluate the stability of the excavation face. Two efficient analytical models in the context of the limit equilibrium method (LEM) and the limit analysis method (LAM) are used to carry out the deterministic calculations of the safety factor. The safety factor obtained by these two models agrees well with that provided by the numerical modelling by FLAC 3D, but consuming less time. A simple probabilistic approach based on the Mote-Carlo Simulation technique which can quickly calculate the probability distribution of the safety factor was used to perform the probabilistic analysis on the tunnel face stability. Both the cumulative probabilistic distribution and the probability density function in terms of the safety factor were obtained. The obtained results show the effectiveness of this probabilistic approach in the tunnel design.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Systems Engineering
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.82-90
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• 2021

The spent fuel pool (SFP) of a nuclear power plant functions to store the spent fuel. The spent fuel pool is designed to properly remove the decay heat generated from the spent fuel. If the cooling function is lost and proper operator action is not taken, the spent fuel in the storage pool can be damaged. Probabilistic safety assessment (PSA) is a safety evaluation method that can evaluate the risk of a large and complex system. So far, the probabilistic safety assessment of nuclear power plants has been mainly performed on the reactor. This study defined the requirements and the functional architecture for the probabilistic safety assessment of the spent fuel pool (SFP-PSA) by applying the systems engineering process. And, a systematic and efficient methodology was defined according to the architecture.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.44-48
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• 2012

The seismic safety of long-period cable-stayed bridges is assessed by probabilistic finite element analysis and reliability analysis under NFE. The structural response of critical members of cable-stayed bridges is evaluated using the developed probabilistic analysis algorithm. In this study, the real earthquake recording(Chi-Chi Earthquake; 1997) was selected as the input NFE earthquake for investigating response characteristics. The probabilistic response and reliability index shows the different aspect comparing the result from FFE earthquake. Therefore, the probabilistic seismic safety assessment on NFE earthquakes should be performed for the exact evaluation of long-period cable-stayed bridges and the earthquake resistant design criteria should be complemented.

• Journal of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.101-108
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• 2019

The seismic safety of nuclear power plants has always been emphasized by the effects of accidents. In general, the seismic safety evaluation of nuclear power plants carries out a seismic probabilistic safety assessment. The current probabilistic safety assessment assumes that damage to the structure, system, and components (SSCs) occurs independently to each other or perfect dependently to each other. In case of earthquake events, the failure event occurs with the correlation due to the correlation between the seismic response of the SSCs and the seismic performance of the SSCs. In this study, the EEMS (External Event Mensuration System) code is developed which can perform the seismic probabilistic safety assessment considering correlation. The developed code is verified by comparing with the multiplier n, which is for calculating the joint probability of failure, which is proposed by Mankamo. It is analyzed the changes in seismic fragility curves and seismic risks with correlation. As a result, it was confirmed that the seismic fragility curves and seismic risk change according to the failure correlation coefficient. This means that it is important to select an appropriate failure correlation coefficient in order to perform a seismic probabilistic safety assessment. And also, it was confirmed that carrying out the seismic probabilistic safety assessment in consideration of the seismic correlation provides more realistic results, rather than providing conservative or non-conservative results comparing with that damage to the SSCs occurs independently.

• Proceedings of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute Conference
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• 2004.10a
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• pp.445-450
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• 2004

Tunnel fire accident is one of the critical railway accidents, together with collision and derailment. For the safe operation many tunnel design guidelines are proposed but many Korean railway tunnels do not satisfy these guidelines. For the safety improvement, current safety level is estimated in this study. But so many uncertainties in major input parameters make the safety estimation difficult. In this study, probabilistic techniques are applied for the consideration of uncertainties in major input parameters. As results of this study, probabilistic safety estimation code is developed.

• Korean Journal of Culture and Social Issue
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• v.9 no.spc
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• pp.123-147
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• 2003

This paper provides a comparative analysis of the probabilistic versus deterministic view of accident and safety using the indigenous and cultural perspectives. Death and injury due to accidents is the leading cause of preventable death in most countries, including Korea. The first part of this paper delineates the limitation of the linear, deterministic model that has been adopted in social and applied sciences. The transactional model, advocated by indigenous psychology, is provided to understand the probabilistic nature of accident and safety at home, in the workplace and in society. Second, factors related to accidents and safety are reviewed. Third, application of the probabilistic model for preventing accidents and promoting safety in Korea is outlined.

• Proceedings of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute Conference
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• 1989.10a
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• pp.40-45
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• 1989

In order to take account of the statistical properties of random variables used in the structural analysis, the conventional approach usually adopts the safety factor based on past experiences for the qualitative assessment of structural safety problem. Recently, new approach based on the probabilistic concept has been applied to the assessment of structural safety in order to circumvent the difficulties of the conventional approach in choosing the appropriate safety factor. Thus, computer program called "Probabilistic finite element method" is developed by incorporation the probabilistic concept into the conventional matrix method in order to investigate the effects of the random variables on the final output of the structural analysis. From the comparison of some examples, it can be concluded that the PFEM developed in this study deals with consistently with the uncertainty of random variables and provides the rational tool for the assessment of structural safety of plane frame.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.98-103
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• 2003

Based on ASME probabilistic risk assessment (PRA) and NEI PRA peer review guidance, we evaluate a human reliability analysis (HRA) in probabilistic safety assessment (PSA) for Korea standard nuclear power plants, Ulchin Unit 3&4, to improve it performed at under design. The HRA for Ulchin Unit 3&4 is assessed as higher than Grade I based on ASME PRA standard and as higher than Grade 2 based on NEI PRA peer review guidance. The major items to be improved identified through the evaluation process are the documentation, the systematic human reliability analysis, the participitation of operators in the works and review of HRA. We suggest the guidance on the identification and qualitative screening analysis for pre-accident human errors and solve some items to be improved using the suggested guidance.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.49 no.2
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• pp.373-379
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• 2017

Seismic probabilistic safety assessments are used to help understand the impact potential seismic events can have on the operation of a nuclear power plant. An important component to seismic probabilistic safety assessment is the seismic hazard curve which shows the frequency of seismic events. However, these hazard curves are estimated assuming a normal distribution of the seismic events. This may not be a strong assumption given the number of recorded events at each source-to-site distance. The use of a normal distribution makes the calculations significantly easier but may underestimate or overestimate the more rare events, which is of concern to nuclear power plants. This paper shows a preliminary exploration into the effect of using a distribution that perhaps more represents the distribution of events, such as the t-distribution to describe data. The integration of a probability distribution with potentially larger tails basically pushes the hazard curves outward, suggesting a different range of frequencies for use in seismic probabilistic safety assessments. Therefore the use of a more realistic distribution results in an increase in the frequency calculations suggesting rare events are less rare than thought in terms of seismic probabilistic safety assessment. However, the opposite was observed with the ground motion prediction equation considered.