Quantifying reliability of sheetpile walls
report
The performance of existing quay walls and sheet pile walls reduces in time due to corrosion-induced degradation of the steel profiles. The safety verification of structures that do not belong to the primary flood defense system is currently based on limit state verifications at the semi-probabilistic level according to national and international codes. The aging of the structures poses the challenge of knowing the actual and future safety levels of a large stock of structures, in order to support decision making related to lifetime extension. The reliability requirements and partial factors behind the actual codes are in most cases based on a reference period of 50 years. The current approach is not suited for the assessment of existing structures for several reasons. Due to degradation, the safety evolution in time for periods shorter than the design lifetime is of interest for asset management. Moreover, the reliability of retaining structures like sheet pile walls and quay walls, is in most cases governed by time-invariant parameters (e.g. soil parameters and model uncertainties), leading to a considerable effect of past performance on the structural reliability. The actual approach to safety assessment is not capable of considering the effect of past performance on the reliability prediction for the remaining lifetime, as well as the effect of load tests, monitoring and inspections.
Topics
TNO Identifier
996972
Publisher
TNO
Collation
26 p.
Place of publication
Delft