Safety Assessment for Capacity Design of Bolted Steel Connections in Tension

Capacity design for bolted connections in tension means that yielding of the gross cross-section is decisive over the ultimate resistance of the net cross-section. If the requirement for capacity design is met, ductile connection behavior is achieved, and brittle failure is avoided. However, in many practical cases the bolt holes are too large...

Preload loss of stainless steel bolts in aluminium plated slip resistant connections

Bolted connections are applied in many aluminium structures. Stainless steel bolts are often preferred over carbon steel bolts in aluminium connections to prevent galvanic corrosion. However, current design standards and guidelines do not allow for using preloaded stainless steel bolts in slip resistant connections, mainly because of a lack of...

Calibrating partial factors - methodology, input data and case study of steel structures

Partial factors are commonly based on expert judgements and on calibration to previous design formats. This inevitably results in unbalanced structural reliability for different types of construction materials, loads and limit states. Probabilistic calibration makes it possible to account for plentiful requirements on structural performance,...

Reliability levels obtained by Eurocode partial factor design - A discussion on current and future reliability levels

To assess the reliability of a structure, reliability based codes such as EN1990:2002 allow for the application of full-probabilistic methods and semi-probabilistic methods (i.e. the partial factor method). In principle, both methods should be equivalent and lead to (approximately) the same reliability level. In this study, this equivalence is...

Compatibility of S-N and crack growth curves in the fatigue reliability assessment of a welded steel joint. 2nd International Conference on Structural Integrity, ICSI 2017, 4-7 September 2017, Funchal, Madeira, Portugal

Reliability analysis is a crucial phase in assessing the safety status of new and existing structures. One of its applications is to predict the fatigue life of fatigue prone details. Two models are used to formulate the fatigue limit state: S-N curves in combination with Palmgren-Miner damage accumulation rule and linear elastic fracture...

An adjusted partial factor method for temporary structures compatible with the Eurocode framework

The Eurocodes currently do not provide a coherent, straightforward framework for the semi-probabilistic design of temporary structures. Besides the need for suitable target reliability levels, a coherent definition of partial factors is needed in order to adjust them according to the chosen target reliability level and the intended reference...

The design value method and adjusted partial factor approach for existing structures

In contrast to the design of new structures, the assessment of existing structures often relies on the subjective judgement of the investigating engineer. An objective verification format for existing structures based on alternative partial factors is however feasible, enabling a rather simple and straightforward, but objective and coherent...

Safety assessment of existing concrete slab bridges for shear capacity

Evaluating and upgrading concrete slab bridges is an important issue. A large part of the existing infrastructure has been built about 50 years ago and the design life has been reached or will be reached in the near future. Also traffic loads have increased significantly over the last 50 years. These structures need to be reassessed in order to...

Safety philosophy for existing structures and partial factors for traffic loads on bridges

Evaluating and upgrading existing structures becomes more and more important. For a large part of the existing infrastructure and buildings the design life has been reached or will be reached in the near future. These structures need to be reassessed in order to find out whether the safety requirements are met. Not only for new structures but...

The fundamentals of structural building codes

Partial Factor Design is nowadays a generally accepted design method for building and civil engineering structures. For most engineers the general philosophy that the safety factors depend on the type of the load and on the limit state under consideration makes sense. However, the background, in particular the reliability aspect, seems to be...

Review of Probability based Limit State Design

The basic principles of probability based methods for the design and operation of offshore structures are presented. Basic formulae of the Load and Resistance Factor Design method, as well as the calibration principles are given and discussed. Design procedures in present day codes of practice are reviewed in the light of recent developments....