• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.33-48
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• 2007

An Articulated tower is one of the compliant offshore structures connected to the sea-bed through a universal joint which is the most vulnerable location of the tower that sustains the randomly fluctuating shear stresses. The time history response of the bottom hinge shear is obtained and presented in the spectral form. The fatigue and fracture reliability assessment of the tower joint against randomly varying shear stresses have been carried out. Non-linear limit state functions are derived in terms of important random variables using S-N curve and fracture mechanics approaches. Advanced First Order Reliability Method is used for reliability assessment. Sensitivity analysis shows the influence of various variables on the hinge safety. Fatigue life estimation has been made using probabilistic approach.

• International Journal of Reliability and Applications
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.27-36
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• 2001

This Paper proposes a new methodology for assessing the reliability of an accident management, which Is based on the reliability physics and the scheme to generate dynamic event tree. The methodology consists of 3 main steps: screening; uncertainty propagation; and probability estimation. Sensitivity analysis is used for screening the variables of significance. Latin Hypercube sampling technique and MAAP code are used for uncertainty propagation, and the dynamic event tree generation method is used for the estimation of non-success probability of implementing an accident management strategy. This approach is applied in assessing the non-success probability of implementing a cavity flooding strategy, which is to supply water into the reactor cavity using emergency fire systems during the sequence of station blackout at the reference plant.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.57-69
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• 2010

A major consideration in the design of tunnels in urban areas is the prediction of the ground movements and surface settlements associated with the tunneling operations. Excessive ground movements can damage adjacent building and utilities. In this paper, a neural network model is used to predict the maximum surface settlement, based on instrumented results from three separate EPB tunneling projects in Singapore. This paper demonstrates that by coupling the trained neural network model to a spreadsheet optimization technique, the reliability assessment of the settlement serviceability limit state can be carried out using the first-order reliability method. With this method, it is possible to carry out sensitivity studies to examine the effect of the level of uncertainty of each parameter uncertainty on the probability that the serviceability limit state has been exceeded.

• Progress in Superconductivity and Cryogenics
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.19-22
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• 2008

The power systems should be improved to reduce the number of black-out events occurring throughout the world. Quantitative evaluation of composite power system reliability is very important in a competitive electricity environment. The reason is that the successful operation of electric power systems under a deregulated electricity market depends on transmission system reliability management. This paper presents sensitivity analysis of probabilistic reliability indices of Korea power systems with checking application of HTS-FCL.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.367-382
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• 2015

This paper aims to conduct the reliability-based assessment of the welded joint in the orthotropic steel bridge deck by use of a mesh-insensitive structural stress (MISS) method, which is an effective numerical procedure to determine the reliable stress distribution adjacent to the weld toe. Both the solid element model and the shell element model are first established to investigate the sensitivity of the element size and the element type in calculating the structural stress under different loading scenarios. In order to achieve realistic condition assessment of the welded joint, the probabilistic approach based on the structural reliability theory is adopted to derive the reliability index and the failure probability by taking into account the uncertainties inherent in the material properties and load conditions. The limit state function is formulated in terms of the structural resistance of the material and the load effect which is described by the structural stress obtained by the MISS method. The reliability index is computed by use of the first-order reliability method (FORM), and compared with a target reliability index to facilitate the safety assessment. The results achieved from this study reveal that the calculation of the structural stress using the MISS method is insensitive to the element size and the element type, and the obtained structural stress results serve as a reliable basis for structural reliability analysis.

• Structural Monitoring and Maintenance
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• v.3 no.4
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• pp.335-347
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• 2016

One of major errors in flow rate measurement for two-phase flow using an Electrical Capacitance Sensor (ECS) concerns sensor sensitivity under temperature raise. The thermal effect on electrical capacitance sensor (ECS) system for air-water two-phase flow monitoring include sensor sensitivity, capacitance measurements, capacitance change and node potential distribution is reported in this paper. The rules of 12-electrode sensor parameters such as capacitance, capacitance change, and change rate of capacitance and sensitivity map the basis of Air-water two-phase flow permittivity distribution and temperature raise are discussed by ANSYS and MATLAB, which are combined to simulate sensor characteristic. The cross-sectional void fraction as a function of temperature is determined from the scripting capabilities in ANSYS simulation. The results show that the temperature raise had a detrimental effect on the electrodes sensitivity and sensitive domain of electrodes. The FE results are in excellent agreement with an experimental result available in the literature, thus validating the accuracy and reliability of the proposed flow rate measurement system.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.24 no.5 s.176
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• pp.1133-1145
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• 2000

It is necessary to develop an efficient analysis method to identify the dynamic characteristics of a large mechanical structure and update its finite element model. That is because these processes need the huge computation of a large structure and iterative estimation due to the use of the first- order sensitivity. To efficiently carry out these processes, a new method, called the generalized free-interface mode sensitivity method, has been proposed in the authors' preceeding paper. This method is based on substructuring approach such as a free-interface method and a generalized synthesis algorithm. In this paper, the proposed method is applied to the model updating of a car body structure to verify its accuracy and reliability for a large mechanical structure.

• Korean Journal of Adult Nursing
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• v.21 no.6
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• pp.559-569
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• 2009

Purpose: This study was to examine the reliability and validity of Patient-Generated Subjective Global Assessment (PG-SGA) as a nutritional measurement for stroke patients. Methods: This was a methodological study performed from May 6 to June 10, 2009 at a tertiary university hospital in Seoul. For reliability of PG-SGA, inter-rater reliability was used for statistics. For concurrent validity, BMI and biomarkers were compared between PG-SGA 0 ~ 8 and ${\geq}$ 9. In addition, sensitivity, specificity, and predictive value of PG-SGA compared with SGA were calculated using a contingency table. For predictive validity, hospital day, complications, and readmission within 1-month after discharge were compared between PG-SGA 0 ~ 8 and ${\geq}$ 9. Results: Correlation of PG-SGA score between two observers was 0.83, and kappa value for the agreement of severe malnutrition was 0.78(all $p_s$ < .001). The scored PG-SGA showed high sensitivity and specificity (100% and 96.7%, respectively). Severe undernourished patients (PG-SGA ${\geq}$ 9) had significantly low TLC, protein, albumin, and prealbumin (all $p_s$ < .01) compared with non-undernourished patients (PG-SGA 0 ~ 8). Also, in severe undernourished patients, complications and readmission (all $p_s$ = 0.01) were more often represented, and hospital days (p = .013) were significantly delayed. Conclusion: PG-SGA is a reliable and valid measurement to assess nutritional status for stroke patients.

• Journal of Korean Society of Coastal and Ocean Engineers
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.214-223
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• 2003

A reliability analysis is straightforwardly applied to the sloped coastal structures against the random wave overtopping. A reliability function can be directly derived from a empirical formula in which may take into account many variables associated with the random wave overtopping. The probability of failure exceeded the allowable overtopping discharge can be evaluated as a function of dimensionless crest height with some reasonable statistical properties and distribution functions of each random variable. Some differences of probabilities of failure occurred from variations of the slopes of structures as well as types of armour are investigated into quantitatively. Additionally, the effects of the crest width of units placed in front of the concrete cap on the probability of failure may be analyzed. Finally, the sensitivity analyses are carried out with respect to the uncertainties of random variables. It is found that the overall characteristics similar to the known experimental results are correctly represented in this reliability analyses. Also, it should be noted that the probabilities of failure may be quantitatively obtained for several structural and hydraulic conditions, which never assess in the deterministic design method. Thus, it may be possible for determination on the crest height of sloped coastal structures to consider the probability of failure of wave overtopping, by which may be increased the efficiency of practical design.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.32 no.9
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• pp.740-753
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• 2008

The conventional Split Hopkinson Pressure Bar (C-SHPB) technique with aluminum pressure bars to achieve a closer impedance match between the pressure bars and the specimen materials such as hot temperature degraded POM (Poly Oxy Methylene) and PP (Poly Propylene) to obtain more distinguishable experimental signals is used to obtain a dynamic behavior of material deformation under a high strain rate loading condition. An experimental modification with Pulse shaper is introduced to reduce the nonequilibrium on the dynamic material response during a short test period to increase the rise time of the incident pulse for two polymeric materials. For the dynamic stress strain curve obtained from SHPB experiment under high strain rate, the Johnson-Cook model is applied as a constitutive equation, and we verify the applicability of this constitutive equation to the probabilistic reliability estimation method. The methodology to estimate the reliability using the probabilistic method such as the FORM and the SORM has been proposed, after compose the limit state function using Johnson-Cook model. It is found that the failure probability estimated by using the SORM is more reliable than those of the FORM, and the failure probability increases with the increase of applied stress. Moreover, it is noted that the parameters of Johnson-Cook model such as A and n, and applied stress affect the failure probability more than the other random variables according to the sensitivity analysis.