• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.46 no.4
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• pp.447-458
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• 2013

Splitting tensile strength (STS) is a respectable mechanical property reflecting ability of the concrete. The STS of concrete is mainly related to compressive strength (CS), water/binder (W/B) ratio and concrete age. In this study, the assessment of STS is made by a novel uncertainty-oriented method which uses least square optimization and then predicts STS of concrete by uncertain (fuzzy) numbers. The approximation method addresses a novel integration of fuzzy set theory and multivariate statistics. The numerical examples showed that the method is applicable with relatively limited data. In addition, the prediction of uncertainty at various levels of possibility can be described. In conclusion, the uncertainty-oriented interval analysis can be suggested an effective tool for appraising the uncertainties in concrete technology.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.42 no.2
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• pp.163-174
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• 2010

As pointed out in the OECD BEMUSE Program, when a high computation time is taken to obtain the relevant output values of a complex physical model (or code), the number of statistical samples that must be evaluated through it is a critical factor for the sampling-based uncertainty analysis. Two alternative methods have been utilized to avoid the problem associated with the size of these statistical samples: one is based on Wilks' formula, which is based on simple random sampling, and the other is based on the conventional nonlinear regression approach. While both approaches provide a useful means for drawing conclusions on the resultant uncertainty with a limited number of code runs, there are also some unique corresponding limitations. For example, a conclusion based on the Wilks' formula can be highly affected by the sampled values themselves, while the conventional regression approach requires an a priori estimate on the functional forms of a regression model. The main objective of this paper is to assess the feasibility of the ACE-RSM approach as a complementary method to the Wilks' formula and the conventional regression-based uncertainty analysis. This feasibility was assessed through a practical application of the ACE-RSM approach to the LOFT L2-5 LBLOCA PCT uncertainty analysis, which was implemented as a part of the OECD BEMUSE Phase III program.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.329-340
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• 2011

The probability concepts mainly used for rainfall or flood frequency analysis in water resources planning are the frequentist viewpoint that defines the probability as the limit of relative frequency, and the unknown parameters in probability model are considered as fixed constant numbers. Thus the probability is objective and the parameters have fixed values so that it is very difficult to specify probabilistically the uncertianty of these parameters. This study constructs the uncertainty evaluation model using Bayesian MCMC and Metropolis -Hastings algorithm for the uncertainty quantification of parameters of probability distribution in rainfall frequency analysis, and then from the application of Bayesian MCMC and Metropolis- Hastings algorithm, the statistical properties and uncertainty intervals of parameters of probability distribution can be quantified in the estimation of probability rainfall so that the basis for the framework configuration can be provided that can specify the uncertainty and risk in flood risk assessment and decision-making process.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.51-70
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• 2008

CFD is applied to evaluate pedestrian wind comfort at outdoor platforms in a high-rise apartment building. Model validation is focused on generic building sub-configurations that are obtained by decomposition of the actual complex building geometry. The comfort study is performed during the design stage, which allows structural design changes to be made for wind comfort improvement. Preliminary simulations are performed to determine the effect of different design modifications. A full wind comfort assessment study is conducted for the final design. Structural remedial measures for this building, aimed at reducing pressure short-circuiting, appear to be successful in bringing the discomfort probability estimates down to acceptable levels. Finally, the importance of one of the main sources of uncertainty in this type of wind comfort studies is illustrated. It is shown that the uncertainty about the terrain roughness classification can strongly influence the outcome of wind comfort studies and can lead to wrong decisions. This problem is present to the same extent in both wind tunnel and CFD wind comfort studies when applying the same particular procedure for terrain relation contributions as used in this paper.

• Journal of Climate Change Research
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• v.5 no.3
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• pp.199-208
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• 2014

According to "IPCC guide line for national greenhouse gas inventories" each country should develop the 'Country-specific emission factor' and apply it to estimate greenhouse gases emissions from landfill. It could reflect properties of country and make estimation more accurate. For that accuracy, developed country-specific emission factor should be assessed and be verified consistently. Developed emission factors should be assessed in terms of Representative, Emission Property, Accuracy and Uncertainty, but there is no study about weighted assessment factors under each emission variable. This study do survey targeting public officials, professors and other experts for Analytical Hierarchy Process(AHP), mostly use to make decisions, to weight assessment factors. We investigated the weighted values per Emission factor for Representative, Emission property, Accuracy and Uncertainty on AHP survey, and Representative factor was the highest, and then in the order of Emission property (0.26), Accuracy(0.22), Uncertainty (0.15).

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.51 no.2
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• pp.607-617
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• 2019

Global warming and climate change are increasing the intensity of typhoons and hurricanes and thus increasing the risk effects of typhoon and hurricane hazards on nuclear power plants (NPPs). To reflect these changes, a new NPP should be designed to endure design-basis hurricane wind speeds corresponding to an exceedance frequency of $10^{-7}/yr$. However, the short typhoon and hurricane observation records and uncertainties included in the inputs for an estimation cause significant uncertainty in the estimated wind speeds for return periods of longer than 100,000 years. A logic-tree framework is introduced to handle the epistemic uncertainty when estimating wind speeds. Three key parameters of a typhoon wind field model, i.e., the central pressure difference, pressure profile parameter, and radius to maximum wind, are used for constructing logic tree branches. The wind speeds of the simulated typhoons and the probable maximum wind speeds are estimated using Monte Carlo simulations, and wind hazard curves are derived as a function of the annual exceedance probability or return period. A logic tree decreases the epistemic uncertainty included in the wind intensity models and provides reasonably acceptable wind speeds.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.29 no.5
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• pp.681-690
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• 2013

Watershed models have been increasingly used to support an integrated management of land and water, non-point source pollutants, and implement total daily maximum load policy. However, these models demand a great amount of input data, process parameters, a proper calibration, and sometimes result in significant uncertainty in the simulation results. For this reason, uncertainty analysis is necessary to minimize the risk in the use of the models for an important decision making. The objectives of this study were to evaluate three different uncertainty analysis algorithms (SUFI-2: Sequential Uncertainty Fitting-Ver.2, GLUE: Generalized Likelihood Uncertainty Estimation, ParaSol: Parameter Solution) that used to analyze the sensitivity of the SWAT(Soil and Water Assessment Tool) parameters and auto-calibration in a watershed, evaluate the uncertainties on the simulations of runoff and sediment load, and suggest alternatives to reduce the uncertainty. The results confirmed that the parameters which are most sensitive to runoff and sediment simulations were consistent in three algorithms although the order of importance is slightly different. In addition, there was no significant difference in the performance of auto-calibration results for runoff simulations. On the other hand, sediment calibration results showed less modeling efficiency compared to runoff simulations, which is probably due to the lack of measurement data. It is obvious that the parameter uncertainty in the sediment simulation is much grater than that in the runoff simulation. To decrease the uncertainty of SWAT simulations, it is recommended to estimate feasible ranges of model parameters, and obtain sufficient and reliable measurement data for the study site.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.311-326
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• 2024

Transmission tower structures are particularly susceptible to damage and even collapse under strong seismic ground motions. Conventional seismic analyses of transmission towers are usually performed by considering only ground motion uncertainty while ignoring structural uncertainty; consequently, the performance evaluation and failure prediction may be inaccurate. In this context, the present study numerically investigates the seismic responses and failure mechanism of transmission towers by considering multiple sources of uncertainty. To this end, an existing transmission tower is chosen, and the corresponding three-dimensional finite element model is created in ABAQUS software. Sensitivity analysis is carried out to identify the relative importance of the uncertain parameters in the seismic responses of transmission towers. The numerical results indicate that the impacts of the structural damping ratio, elastic modulus and yield strength on the seismic responses of the transmission tower are relatively large. Subsequently, a set of 20 uncertainty models are established based on random samples of various parameter combinations generated by the Latin hypercube sampling (LHS) method. An uncertainty analysis is performed for these uncertainty models to clarify the impacts of uncertain structural factors on the seismic responses and failure mechanism (ultimate bearing capacity and failure path). The numerical results show that structural uncertainty has a significant influence on the seismic responses and failure mechanism of transmission towers; different possible failure paths exist for the uncertainty models, whereas only one exists for the deterministic model, and the ultimate bearing capacity of transmission towers is more sensitive to the variation in material parameters than that in geometrical parameters. This research is expected to provide an in-depth understanding of the influence of structural uncertainty on the seismic demand assessment of transmission towers.

• International Journal of Safety
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.1-6
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• 2007

Operation of human-centered robot, in general, facilitates the creation of new process that may potentially harm the human operators. Design of safety-guaranteed operation of human-centered robots is, therefore, important since it determines the ultimate outcomes of operations involving safety of human operators. This study discusses the application of geometric tolerance and head injury criteria to safety assessment of human-centered robotic operations. Examples show that extending "Work Area" has more significant effect on the uncertainty in safety than extending the system range in the presence of velocity control.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Precision Engineering
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• v.16 no.6
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• pp.100-107
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• 1999

This paper describes a probabilistic remaining life assessment program for the creep crack growth. The probabilistic life assessment program is developed to increase the reliability of life assessment. The probabilistic life assessment involves some uncertainties, such as, initial crack size, material properties, and loading condition, and a triangle distribution function is used for random variable generation. The resulting information provides the engineer with an assessment of the probability of structural failure as a function of operating time given the uncertainties in the input data. This study forms basis of the probabilistic life assessment technique and will be extended to other damage mechanisms.