Stability analysis of steel space structures with system parametric uncertainties

A very promising method is proposed to solve the stability problem of steel space structures with system parametric uncertainties. Generalized random variables are presented to characterize such large complex space structures while reducing the number of variables in the structural analysis. The pro posed method uses Response Surface Methodology (RSM) to describe random fie lds. Stability behaviours of space structures are investigated considering the effects of uncertain material properties and initial imperfections. A g ood agreement between the results by the finite element analysis (FEA) and those predicted by the proposed method has been found in this paper. Copyri ght (C) 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.