• 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.

• 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.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.48 no.5
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• pp.266-271
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• 2022

Background: The selection of distributions of input parameters is an important component in probabilistic exposure assessment. Goodness-of-fit (GOF) methods are used to determine the distribution of exposure factors. However, there are no clear guidelines for choosing an appropriate GOF method. Objectives: The outcomes of probabilistic consumer exposure assessment were compared by using five different GOF methods for the selection of input distributions: chi-squared test, Kolmogorov-Smirnov test (K-S), Anderson-Darling test (A-D), Akaike information criterion (AIC) and Bayesian information criterion (BIC). Methods: Individual exposures were estimated based on product usage factor combinations from 10,000 respondents. The distribution of individual exposure was considered as the true value of population exposures. Results: Among the five GOF methods, probabilistic exposure distributions using the A-D and K-S methods were similar to individual exposure estimations. Comparing the 95th percentiles of the probabilistic distributions and the individual estimations for 10 CPs, there were 0.73 to 1.92 times differences for the A-D method, and 0.73 to 1.60 times differences (excluding tire-shine spray) for the K-S method. Conclusions: There were significant differences in exposure assessment results among the selection of the GOF methods. Therefore, the GOF methods for probabilistic consumer exposure assessment should be carefully selected.

• Proceedings of the KSME Conference
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• 2003.11a
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• pp.1211-1215
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• 2003

Pressure tubes are major component of nuclear reactor, but only selected samples are periodically examined due to numerous numbers of tubes. Current in-service inspection result show there is high probability of flaw existence at un-inspected pressure tube. Probabilistic analysis is applied in this study for the integrity assessment of un-inspected pressure tube. But all the current integrity evaluations procedures are based on conventional deterministic approaches. So many integrity evaluation parameters are not directly apply to probabilistic analysis. As a result of this study failure assessment diagram are proposed based on test data.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.53 no.11
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• pp.3465-3473
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• 2021

For a long time, research into integrated deterministic-probabilistic safety assessment has been continuously conducted to point out and overcome the limitations of classical ET (event tree)/FT (fault tree) based PSA (probabilistic safety assessment). The current paper also attempts to assert the reason why a technical transformation from classical PSA is necessary with a re-interpretation of the categories of risk. In this study, residual risk was classified into interpolating- and extrapolating-censored categories, which represent risks that are difficult to identify through an interpolation or extrapolation of representative scenarios due to potential nonlinearity between hardware and human behaviors intertwined in time and space. The authors hypothesize that such risk can be dealt with only if the classical ETs/FTs are freely relocated, entailing large-scale computation associated with physical models. The functional elements that are favorable to find residual risk were inferred from previous studies. The authors then introduce their under-development enabling techniques, namely DICE (Dynamic Integrated Consequence Evaluation) and DeBATE (Deep learning-Based Accident Trend Estimation). This work can be considered as a preliminary initiative to find the bridging points between deterministic and probabilistic assessments on the pillars of big data technology.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.64 no.4
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• pp.413-426
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• 2017

Probabilistic methods are used in engineering where a computational model contains random variables. The proposed method under development: Direct Optimized Probabilistic Calculation (DOProC) is highly efficient in terms of computation time and solution accuracy and is mostly faster than in case of other standard probabilistic methods. The novelty of the DOProC lies in an optimized numerical integration that easily handles both correlated and statistically independent random variables and does not require any simulation or approximation technique. DOProC is demonstrated by a collection of deliberately selected simple examples (i) to illustrate the efficiency of individual optimization levels and (ii) to verify it against other highly regarded probabilistic methods (e.g., Monte Carlo). Efficiency and other benefits of the proposed method are grounded on a comparative case study carried out using both the DOProC and MC techniques. The algorithm has been implemented in mentioned software applications, and has been used effectively several times in solving probabilistic tasks and in probabilistic reliability assessment of structures. The article summarizes the principles of this method and demonstrates its basic possibilities on simple examples. The paper presents unpublished details of probabilistic computations based on this method, including a reliability assessment, which provides the user with the probability of failure affected by statistically dependent input random variables. The study also mentions the potential of the optimization procedures under development, including an analysis of their effectiveness on the example of the reliability assessment of a slender column.

• 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.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.20 no.6
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• pp.1345-1368
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• 2016

This paper presents the probabilistic-based assessment of composite steel-concrete structures through an innovative framework. This framework combines model identification and reliability assessment procedures. The paper starts by describing current structural assessment algorithms and the most relevant uncertainty sources. The developed model identification algorithm is then presented. During this procedure, the model parameters are automatically adjusted, so that the numerical results best fit the experimental data. Modelling and measurement errors are respectively incorporated in this algorithm. The reliability assessment procedure aims to assess the structure performance, considering randomness in model parameters. Since monitoring and characterization tests are common measures to control and acquire information about those parameters, a Bayesian inference procedure is incorporated to update the reliability assessment. The framework is then tested with a set of composite steel-concrete beams, which behavior is complex. The experimental tests, as well as the developed numerical model and the obtained results from the proposed framework, are respectively present.

• Ecology and Resilient Infrastructure
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.55-64
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• 2024

The disaster impact assessment system was introduced in 2005 as a disaster prevention procedure for comprehensive and systematic developmental projects. However, according to the 'Practical Guidelines for Disaster Impact Assessment', Jeju Island's unique hydrogeological features necessitate the calculation of isohyetal-based probabilistic rainfall, which can reflect altitude, when estimating probabilistic rainfall for flood volume determination, rather than using conventional methods. Despite Jeju Island being centered around Hallasan, there are three Automatic Weather Stations (AWS) located at the summit of Hallasan, making weather stations denser than in other cities and provinces. Therefore, it is judged that there would be no difficulty in applying conventional methods, such as utilizing the probabilistic rainfall data from the weather stations or employing the Thiessen method, to estimate flood volumes for small-scale project areas. Accordingly, this study conducts a comparative analysis of the impact of applying general probabilistic rainfall from weather stations and isohyetal-based probabilistic rainfall in site in the context of Jeju Island's disaster impact assessment system.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.89 no.3
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• pp.309-321
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• 2024

In this paper, the effect of semi-rigid connections on the stability bearing capacity of cross-bracings in steel tubular transmission towers is investigated. Herein, a prediction method based on the hybrid model which is a combination of particle swarm optimization (PSO) and backpropagation neural network (BPNN) is proposed to accurately predict the stability bearing capacity of cross-bracings with semi-rigid connections and to efficiently conduct its probabilistic assessment. Firstly, the establishment of the finite element (FE) model of cross-bracings with semi-rigid connections is developed on the basis of the development of the mechanical model. Then, a dataset of 7425 samples generated by the FE model is used to train and test the PSO-BPNN model, and the accuracy of the proposed method is evaluated. Finally, the probabilistic assessment for the stability bearing capacity of cross-bracings with semi-rigid connections is conducted based on the proposed method and the Monte Carlo simulation, in which the geometric and material properties including the outer diameter and thickness of cross-sections and the yield strength of steel are considered as random variables. The results indicate that the proposed method based on the PSO-BPNN model has high accuracy in predicting the stability bearing capacity of cross-bracings with semi-rigid connections. Meanwhile, the semi-rigid connections could enhance the stability bearing capacity of cross-bracings and the reliability of cross-bracings would significantly increase after considering semi-rigid connections.