MONTE-CARLO SIMULATION - TOOL FOR BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF LRFD

The current procedures for reliability assessment based on limit state s design method-load and resistance factor design (LRFD)-do not fully utilize the possibilities offered by advancing computer technology. A procedure is proposed based on the use of the Monte Carlo simulation, allowing to compute the frequency distributions for resulting reliabil ity of structural components expressed, e.g. by ln(R/Q), where R repre sents the resistance variables, and Q, the load-effects variables. The procedure introduced through selected examples may be considered as a tool for better understanding of interaction, effects, and relationsh ips of individual variables involved in the reliability assessment pro cess defined by specifications (e.g. LRFD and Eurocode). Computer prog ram M-Star for IBM PCs allows very fast calculation of algebraic, loga rithmic, exponential, and trigonometric functions (containing up to 26 variables expressed by histograms) representing the reliability. In t he discussed examples, the reliability is expressed by probability of exceedance (of failure), while nonnegligible dependence of the index o f reliability on the actual shape of frequency distributions of indivi dual variables is demonstrated.