Performance-Based Design of Structures and Methodology for Performance Reliability Evaluation

This chapter presents a performance-based approach for the design and assessment of structures through the implementation of the probabilistic reliability method. The basis of the method is explained and it is shown to be present in modern structural design codes of practice. The various reliability methods used to compute the safety classification of structures were shown, along with the evaluation of software applications which implement the method. The chapter presents the modeling of the basic variables for load and resistance, and highlights the sensitivity of the method to input parameters. From a time-dependent reliability assessment, a reliability index profile can be created over a period of time. The chapter concludes that the reliability method is a powerful tool in the assessment of structural safety and performance, and greatly exceeds the limitations of the standard deterministic method.