Computer programs for reliability analysis of structural systems

This report outlines a list of computer programs written by the author. They have been used for reliability analysis of structural systems and to meet the needs for numerical reliability studies, at the very least, of some more realistic structures, rather than of the abstract series parallel systems. The details of the theoretical background may be consulted in the references. There are five parts to this report. Part 1 lists a program for calculating bounds on the failure probability of a series system. The development of these bounds can be found in the literature. Part 2 presents a program for estimating the probability of failure of a parallel system. The technique used is the first order structural reliability concept, instead of using the very time consuming numerical integration approach. Part 3 describes a program for identifying stochastically dominant mechanisms in plastic frames. A mechanism is defined as dominant if its probability of occurrence is above a defined target, the determination of which is based on the mechanism with the highest failure probability. The program is written for use on two dimensional frames of arbitrary geometrical configurations, and has been successfully tested on several frames. The programs described in part 4 are applicable to two dimensional pin jointed trusses. The emphasis here is on the reliability analysis of structures with non elastic plastic behaviour. Part 5 contains a program similar to the one in part 4, except that the structural geometry may be three dimensional. The member behaviour is, however, assumed to be elastic plastic.