Course Details

Theory of Structures Reliability

Academic Year 2025/26

NDA029 course is part of 1 study plan

​ NPC-SIK Summer Semester 1st year

Course Guarantor

prof. Ing. Drahomír Novák, DrSc.

Institute

Institute of Structural Mechanics

Language of instruction

Czech

Credits

4 credits

Semester

summer

Forms and criteria of assessment

course-unit credit and examination

Offered to foreign students

Not to offer

Course on BUT site

https://www.vut.cz/en/students/courses/detail/295878

Lecture

13 weeks, 2 hours/week, elective

Syllabus

  • 1. Introduction of reliability theory, reliability background of standards for structural design (Eurocodes), structural resistance and load action as two independent random variables, reliability condition, reserve of reliability.
  • 2. Limit state and philosophy of design by standards.
  • 3. Reliability standards: theoretical failure probability, reliability index.
  • 4. Aproximation methods FORM a SORM.
  • 5. Numerical simulation method Monte Carlo in applications.
  • 6. Computation model, model uncertainty, grosses errors.
  • 7. Numerical simulation methods Latine Hypercube Sampling, Importace Sampling in applications.
  • 8. Random process and random fields – Stochastic finite element methods and these applications.
  • 9. Probabilistic optimization, problems of live-time of structures.
  • 10. Weibull theory.
  • 11. Unbalanced levels of the failure probability of the structures designed by standards, option of input variability modelling.
  • 12. Introduction of Risk engineering.
  • 13. Reliability software – summary and conclusion.

Exercise

13 weeks, 2 hours/week, compulsory

Syllabus

  • 1. Statistical evaluation of random variable.
  • 2. Recapitulation of probability and statistics using simple examples.
  • 3. Examples on usage of Cornell reliability index.
  • 4. Simple example to learn Monte Carlo simulation method using Excel.
  • 5. Calculations of failure probability via Latin Hypercube Sampling in Excel.
  • 6. More complex examples on simulation methods using Excel.
  • 7. Evaluation of previous examples in Freet.
  • 8. Failure probability estimation using FORM method (First Order reliability Method).
  • 9. Calculation of failure probability using Importance Sampling.
  • 10. Introduction to individual semestral project.
  • 11.–13. Work on individual semestral projects.