Limit and shakedown analysis of plates and shells including uncertainties

Abstract

The reliability analysis of plates and shells with respect to plastic collapse or to inadaptation is formulated on the basis of limit and shakedown theorems. The loading, the material strength and the shell thickness are considered as random variables. Based on a direct definition of the limit state function, the nonlinear problems may be efficiently solved by using the First and Second Order Reliability Methods (FORM/SORM). The sensitivity analyses in FORM/SORM can be based on the sensitivities of the deterministic shakedown problem. The problem of reliability of structural systems is also handled by the application of a special barrier technique which permits to find all the design points corresponding to all the failure modes. The direct plasticity approach reduces considerably the necessary knowledge of uncertain input data, computing costs and the numerical error.