Non-Deterministic Structural Response and Reliability Analysis Using a Hybrid Perturbation-Based Stochastic Finite Element and Quasi-Monte Carlo Method

The random interval response and probabilistic interval reliability of structures with a mixture of random and interval properties are studied in this paper. Structural stiffness matrix is a random interval matrix if some structural parameters and loads are modeled as random variables and the others are considered as interval variables. The perturbation-based stochastic finite element method and random interval moment method are employed to develop the expressions for the mean value and standard deviation of random interval structural displacement and stress responses. The lower bound and upper bound of the mean value and standard deviation of random interval structural responses are then determined by the quasi-Monte Carlo method. The structural reliability is not a deterministic value but an interval as the structural stress responses are random interval variables. Using a combination of the first order reliability method and interval approach, the lower and upper bounds of reliability for structural elements, series, parallel, parallel-series and series-parallel systems are investigated. Three numerical examples are used to demonstrate the effectiveness and efficiency of the proposed method.