STRUCTURAL RELIABILITY-ANALYSIS METHOD FOR VISCOELASTIC MEMBERS

The structural performance of viscoelastic materials may be strongly d ependent on the temporal characteristics of the applied loadings. This time dependence cannot be properly considered in structural reliabili ty studies using the conventional analysis techniques such as first-or der, second-moment methods. However, Monte Carlo simulation can be ada pted for this purpose provided time-dependent stochastic load models a nd stress-strain models are available. In this paper, a structural rel iability analysis method is presented which includes both time-depende nt structural loads and material response. The application of the meth od to a reliability analysis of a deflection serviceability limit stat e is presented for illustration.