Multiple linearization method for nonlinear reliability analysis

A multiple linearization algorithm for the reliability analysis of nonlinea r limit states is presented in this paper. This method identifies several h yperplane approximations to the limit state and computes the failure probab ility through the union or intersection of the failure domains correspondin g to each segment. This approach is useful for both component and system le vel reliability problems. The multiple linearization points are determined through the secant method. Correlation information about the hyperplanes is used to achieve computational efficiency. Numerical examples are presented to show the benefits of the proposed method.