BUCKLING FAILURE PROBABILITY OF IMPERFECT ELASTIC FRAMES

Abstract

Probabilistic buckling failure of random imperfect frames is studied via the stochastic finite clement method. The statistics of buckling strengths of elastic frames with random initial imperfections, uncertain sectional and material properties are inferred from the statistics of the basic system parameters through the utilization of the stochastic finite element method. The effects of variations in geometric imperfections, sectional and material properties on variation in buckling strength are investigated. The failure probability of imperfect frames consisting of random system parameters subject to random loads is computed in load space. Factors affecting the reliability of the frames are identified and discussed. It was found that sectional properties, the shape of geometric imperfection, and the magnitude of imperfection may have important effects on frame reliability.