RELIABILITY ANALYSIS FORMAT FOR OFFSHORE STRUCTURES

The reliability assessment of offshore platform structures depends on an understanding of complex environmental phenomena, such as storm and seismic loadings, and an accurate analysis of structural capacity. An incremental loading approach to structural reliability analysis is presented and illustrated. The structure is progressively "unzipped" as successive members reach their capacity, until overall structural collapse occurs. The method accounts for different types of member behavior, different structural arrangements, and statistical and mechanical correlation between structural elements.