Approach to Optimization of Uncertain Structures Based on Non-probabilistic Reliability
Cao Hongjun,Duan Baoyan
(School of Electromechanical Engineering, Xidian University, Xi'an 710071, China)

Abstract: The optimization problem of uncertain structures based on non-probabi listic reliability is investigated. The uncertain parameters are bounded by con vex models. The non-probabilistic reliability index is adopted to evaluate safety of structures and taken as a design constraint so that the optimum design can resist a given level of uncertainty. Since the non-probabilistic reliability index is defined by a min-max model, the reliability-based design is a two-level optimization problem that involves a nested loop procedure for the overall optimization and iterative reliability evaluation. To solve this problem efficiently, a sequential linearization method is developed. The method is easily integra ted into sequential linear programming (SLP) algorithm and can be used in cases of the mixture of ellipsoidal convex models and interval variables. A simple exa mple is given to demonstrate the proposed approach.
Keywords: structural optimization, non-probabilistic reliability, ellipsoidal model, interval variables.